MTN Nigeria and Mafab Communication have reportedly sorted their license fee to acquire the Nigerian Communication Communication’s license for deploying the fifth generation broadband connection, 5G. Both telecoms are mandated to pay the $273.6m autonomously to the NCC.
Recall, MTNN completed their payment to the NCC in the wake of February — while the countdown to the NCC deadline elapsed already. The NCC Director of Public Affairs, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde confirmed both MTNN and Mafab have made complete payments to gain the commission’s 5G spectrum license.
“The Provisional winners of the 3.5 Gigahertz (GHz) spectrum license, MTN Communications Nigeria Plc, and Mafab Communications Limited, have made their full payment of $273.6 million each for the 5G Spectrum license to the Nigerian Communications Commission. The NCC chairman, Danbatta also commend the telecom behemoth committed to 5G broadband installation in the country.
“The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, officially confirmed the payment status today, February 24, 2022, just as the deadline set for the two winners of the spectrum auction elapsed. The Provisional winners of the 3.5 Gigahertz (GHz) spectrum license, MTN Communications Nigeria Plc, and Mafab Communications Limited, have made their full payment of $273.6 million each for the 5G Spectrum license to the Nigerian Communications Commission. The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, officially confirmed the payment status today, February 24, 2022, just as the deadline was set for the two winners of the spectrum auction elapsed. As part of the auction process emplaced by the Commission in the Information Memorandum (IM), three companies, namely MTN Nigeria, Mafab Communications Ltd, and Airtel Networks Ltd submitted bids with an initial bid deposit (IBD) of $19.74 million, representing 10 percent of the Reserve Price of the 3.5GHz Spectrum by the close of the Bid submission date of November 29, 2021. Following the successful auction on December 13, 2021, and the emergence of MTN and Mafab as winners, they were required to pay the balance of the bid amount of $253.86 million on or before February 24, 2022.”
— The NCC Director of Public Affairs, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde.
Danbatta acknowledged the commission is keen on regulating the telecommunications industry. The NCC chairman also acknowledged the federal government for endorsing the push for low-latency capabilities to communications services in Nigeria, and higher connection speed.
Danbatta officially acknowledged MTNN and Mafab for making complete payment “for their acquisition of 1 slot of 100Mhz each in the 3.5Ghz spectrum auction, which was successfully conducted by the Commission on December 13, 2021. They both met the deadline of February 24, 2022, as set by the Commission.”
The capacity of the 3.5 Gigahertz (GHz) 5G broadband connectivity is mobile and the commission is “look forward to accomplishing other deployment timelines in the 5G deployment roadmap, as articulated in the National Policy on 5G Networks for Nigeria’s Digital Economy.”
Remember the NCC published a public notice about the reserve slots for the 5G spectrum installation. At the time Airtel Nigeria, MTN Nigeria, and Mafab Communication LTD booked the NCC’s slot to participate when they rolled out the information memorandum to commence the auction bidding for the slot endorsed by the government permitting 5G installation. Only MTNN and Mafab emerged winners of the NCC’s bid application.
