Stakeholders, NCC in Talks Ahead of Fresh Auction of Another Two 3.5GHz Spectrum Worth $273.6m

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said it plans to hold a public Consultation in respect of the draft information Memorandum on the on 3.5 GHz Spectrum Auction

In a document made available to TechTV Network, the forum billed for 15 November 2022 is to give stakeholders and interested parties an opportunity to review and comment on the draft information Memorandum before the final document is published.

The NCC had in December 2021, conducted an auction of two lots of 100 MHz TDD in the 3.5 GHz band to support the delivery of ubiquitous broadband services, and following its success, the Commission said it is now desirous of auctioning the remaining two lots of 100 MHz TDD in the 3.5 GHz band to support the delivery of ubiquitous broadband services in line with the NNBP 2020-2025.

Acc0rding to the document, the reserve price for the spectrum is put at a minimum price for one Lot of 100MHz TDD for a ten year licence tenure fixed at US$273,600,000.00 or its equivalent in Naira at the prevailing Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) rates at the time of the auction.

Commenting on the pre-qualification process, the NCC stated that will not reserve Spectrum for any group adding that reservation is considered as discriminatory and capable of creating an uneven playing field. Any Licensee of the Commission or any entity that has up to 100MHz in the 3.5GHz band in Nigeria will not be eligible to participate in this Auction.

It added that applicants (Domestic and Foreign) are not required to be Licensed Network Operators but must be
incorporated in Nigeria before the Licence is issued stressing that applicants will be subject to a set of pre-qualification criteria and only those that meet these criteria will be allowed to take part in the Auction.