MTN says it’s set to get cracking ahead of August timeline
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Buoyant MTN says it is ready to hit the ground running with 5G service three months ahead of the timeline set by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for the 3.5 gigahertz (GHz) spectrum.
The terms and conditions the NCC set out in the Information Memorandum (IM) for the auction last December expect 5G licensees to begin service by 24 August 2022.
But MTN Nigeria Chief Executive Officer Karl Toriola says the telecom market leader is fully set to launch the service and there is no need to wait any longer.
“We are ready. We won the licence through a transparent auction process and we congratulate the NCC on this,” he said in Lagos.
“We paid the full licence fee a month ahead of schedule. Within the information memorandum of the NCC issued, there was a timeline which indicated that we can launch in H2 [half year 2022].
“We are prepared to launch on the day the IM allows us to do so and we will explore with the NCC if they allow …. So we are ready, even before that timeline.”
MTN and Mafab Communication won the two slots on offer during the auction that had $197.4 million as Reserve Price.
The two winners and Airtel submitted bids with an initial bid deposit (IBD) of $19.74 million, or 10 per cent of the Reserve Price of the 3.5GHz spectrum by the close of the bid submission on 29 November 2021.
MTN and Mafab were required to pay the balance of the bid price of $253.86 million on or before 24 February 2022. MTN beat the deadline, Mafab paid at its expiration.
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5G policy expectations
The NCC has issued the final letters of award, and, in line with the IM, MTN and Mafab are now expected to accelerate 5G deployment to usher Nigeria into a robust Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and a more digitised economy.
5G technology is expected to bring a lot of benefits and opportunities that will accelerate economic growth and smart living as well as network improvement, including faster connection, mobility, and low-latency capability, per The Nation.
The National Frequency Management Council (NFMC) chaired by Communications and Digital Economy Minister Isa Pantami on 22 February 2022 handed over to the NCC both the 5G spectrum allocation and the National Policy on 5G.
The NCC confirmed on 24 February full payment of $273.6 million by MTN and Mafab in addition to spectrum assignment fee paid by MTN.
The NCC has expressed optimism that effective implementation of the National Policy on 5G will accelerate the achievement of targets in
- the Nigerian National Broadband Plan (NNBP) 2020-2025
- the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) 2020-2030 and
- other sectoral policies on digital transformation.
5G licensees are expected to meet the rollout timeline and the NCC also requires the support of the government and the private sector to transform all sectors of the economy through 5G.
