The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has presented the final letters of award of the Fifth Generation (5G) Spectrum Licences to MTN and Mafab Communications.
The presentation followed their emergence as the winners of the 3.5 gigahertz (GHz) spectrum auction conducted by the NCC on Monday, December 13, 2021.
According to the statement issued and made available to The Star on Wednesday by the NCC spokesperson, Dr Ikechukwu Adinde, the Executive Vice Chairman of the commission, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, confirmed the latest development to the Board of Commissioners at the Board’s Special Meeting, which took place on Wednesday, April 20 and Thursday, April 21, 2022.
Danbatta noted that with the issuance of the final letters of award of 5G spectrum and in line with the 5G auction’s Information Memorandum (IM), the two licensees would accelerate the deployment of 5G network that would usher Nigeria into a more robust Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and a more digitised Nigerian economy among the comity of nations.
He added that in line with the terms and conditions of the 5G licence, the licensees would commence rollout of 5G services from August 24, 2022.
The NCC boss noted that the 5G network, when deployed, would bring a lot of benefits and opportunities that would engender accelerated growth and smart living in the country.
According to Danbatta, the technology is also expected to bring substantial network improvements, including higher connection speed, mobility and capacity, as well as low-latency capabilities.
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The National Frequency Management Council (NFMC), chaired by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, had on February 22, 2022, officially handed over the spectrum allocation for 5G deployment as well as Federal Government-approved National Policy on 5G to the commission.
Subsequently, the NCC, on February 24, 2022, confirmed the full payment of $273.6 million each by the two spectrum winners, in addition to the spectrum assignment fee paid by MTN, for the 5G spectrum licence.
The NCC boss, however, stated that the commission “is optimistic that effective implementation of the National Policy on 5G will accelerate the actualisation of the national targets in the Nigerian National Broadband Plan (NNBP) 2020-2025, the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) 2020-2030, as well as other sectoral policies designed to enhance Nigeria’s digital transformation.”
He, therefore, called for collective efforts and support of the private sector and government toward transforming every aspect of Nigeria’s economy through 5G, which will herald greater transformation than what the country witnessed with the 1G, 2G, 3G and 4G.
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