NCC Concludes Award of 5G Licences to MTN and Mafab
By Sahabi Abdul
Telecoms regulator, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said it has concluded the formal process for the award of Fifth Generation (5G) radio spectrum licences to MTN Nigeria and Mafab Communications, winners of the auction held in December.
Both winners have been issued with “the final letters of award,” said Ikechukwu Adinde, NCC spokesman, in a statement on the agency’s website. “The two licensees are now expected to accelerate deployment of the 5G network.”
Nigeria expects that the faster data speeds associated with the 5G spectrum will help create a “more digitized Nigerian economy” and usher the country into a new industrial revolution, according to the regulator. Under the terms of the licensing, deployment of the network is expected to start by August 24 this year.
MTN and Mafab paid $273.6 million each to secure the license. MTN is Nigeria’s biggest wireless operator with about 70 million subscribers. Little known Mafab, which doesn’t operate a mobile-phone network, was the surprise winner of the second license, beating better known network operators including Airtel Africa, Glo and 9Mobile.