NCC To Auction 5G Spectrum At $197.4m In December
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has concluded plans to hold a mock auction of the 5G spectrum services on December 10, 2021, before a formal auction to generate $197.4 million on December 13, 2021.
The Director of spectrum administration at the commission, Oluwatoyin Asaju, announced the plans on Thursday at a stakeholders’ consultative forum in Lagos.
Asaju noted that the reserved price for the 3.5GHz spectrum auction had been fixed at $197.4 million.
He explained: “A reserve price of approximately N75 billion (USS197,400,000.00) is to be used. An Initial Bid Deposit (IBD) equal to 10 per cent of the reserve price is adopted in line with the previous auction.
“New entrants are allowed to participate in the auction in addition to existing licensees.Licensees with outstanding debts that have secured Management’s approval for a payment plan will be allowed to participate.”
In his welcome address, the Executive Vice Chairman/CEO, NCC, Umar Garba Danbatta said that the NCC had developed a 5G policy plan through the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy secured the approval of the Federal Government for the deployment of 5G in Nigeria.
Danbatta noted that the global impact of 4G technology had brought about increase in mobile usage and network performance, stressing that 5G technology would leverage on this momentum, bringing substantial network improvements, including higher connection speed, mobility and capacity as well as low-latency capabilities.
He explained: “In doing so, it enables novel use cases and applications that will positively impact on different sectors of the economy and improve our efforts towards achieving the Digital Economy objectives of the Federal Government as contained in the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS 2020-2030) and Nigerian National Broadband Plan (NNBP 2020 – 2025).
“5G technology does not only offer enhanced broadband and ultra-reliable low latency communications, it also provides massive machine type communications, where lots of devices will seamlessly connect and interact independently with the Internet without human intervention.
“Thus, enabling our Smart City Initiatives and making Broadband Use Cases a reality. Given the importance of 5G technology and the critical role of Spectrum, the International Telecommunications Union Radio Communication Sector (ITU-R) conducted studies in its last two study cycles during the World Radio Communication Conferences of 2015 and 2019 (WRC-15 & WRC-19) and identified Spectrum for 5G technology including the 3.5GHz band, which stands out due to its excellent propagation characteristics which offer both capacity and coverage.
“The commission in line with its mandate as enshrined in the Nigerian Communication Act, 2003 and our Strategic Vision Plan (SVP) 2021-2025, has committed enormous resources to ensure harmonized Spectrum is secured and released in a timely manner for present and future deployment of services that will underpin the fourth industrial revolution, including International Mobile Telecommunication (IMT-2020) services. We have kept ourselves abreast of developments at international fora, including ITU-R study groups to enable the allocation of strategic Spectrum to IMT services especially IMT 2020 which has been in the front burner in the last two ITU-R study cycles.”
He said that through the collaborative efforts of the National Frequency Management Council (NFMC) and Nigerian Communication Satellite Limited (NigComSat), the commission was able to secure the necessary 3.4 – 3.9GHz C-band for deployment of 5G services in Nigeria, noting that the C-band was globally accepted as the candidate of choice for 5G deployment due to its excellent propagation characteristics.
According to him, “Having put in these efforts and resources to secure amongst others the contiguous Spectrum in the 3.5GHz premium band (with about 70 percent of 5G global deployment so far), it has become imperative to immediately license the 3.5GHz band in Nigeria for the deployment of 5G services.
“The Commission has developed a 5G policy plan and through the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital economy secured the approval of the Federal Government for the deployment of 5G in Nigeria. In addition, the commission constituted a committee to auction some slots in the 3.5GHz band for the deployment of 5G services. This Committee has since gone to work and developed a draft Information Memorandum (IM) for the Auction of the 3.5GHz band.
“As you may be aware, we published the draft IM on our website to enable our stakeholders peruse and make inputs and comments. We are here today, to deliberate on those areas you think may need improvements. It is expected that at the end of this forum, we all shall be part of the future in the management and utilization of this resource in line with global best practices.”
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