NCC offers $547.2m licences in round two of Nigeria 5G spectrum auctions

Nigeria has offered two frequency spectrum for $547.2 in a fresh round of upcoming auctions of 5G mobile licences, the telecoms regulator said at the weekend.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) pegged $273,600,000.00 as the reserve price for each of the slots of the 3.5GHz spectrum band for 5G service in the auctions coming after round one held December 13, 2021, in Abuja.

The reserve price, NCC says, “is the minimum price for one Lot of 100MHz TDD for a ten (10) year licence tenure fixed at Two Hundred and Seventy-Three Million and Six Hundred Thousand United States Dollars only (US$273,600,000.00) or its equivalent in Naira at the prevailing Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) rates at the time of the auction.”

Nigeria 5G Spectrum Auctions Round Two

Intending bidders must transfer $27,360,000.00 representing the Intention-to-bid deposit by December 5 to prequalify, according to the Draft Information Memorandum (IM) released weekend for the upcoming auctions to sell off the “remaining lots of 2 x 100MHz in the 3.5GHz spectrum band to support 5G deployment in Nigeria.”

Nigeria 5G Spectrum Auctions: Available 3.5GHz Frequency
Lot	Frequency ( MHz)
1	3400 – 3500
2	3600 – 3700

NCC plans to “hold a Public Consultation in respect of the Draft IM on Tuesday, November 15, 2022. This is in line with the Commission’s participatory rule-making process for the communications sector, to give stakeholders and interested parties an opportunity to review and comment on the draft IM before the final document is published,” Mr Reuben Muoka, NCC Director of Public Affairs says.

Just like in round one of the spectrum auctions held last year, the upcoming bids will be open as applicants (domestic and foreign) are not required to be Licensed Network Operators but must be incorporated in Nigeria before the Licence is issued,” NCC says noting that “applicants will be subject to a set of pre-qualification criteria and only those that meet these criteria will be allowed to take part in the Auction.”

According to the Information Memorandum, NCC “is offering the remaining 2 Lots of 100 MHz TDD Spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band ranging from 3400 – 3500 MHz and 3600 – 3700 MHz, totalling 200 MHz for auction.

“On completion of the Auction, each Successful Bidder will be deemed to have been awarded a provisional licence and will be required to pay the balance (Winning Bid Amount Less the IBD) of the spectrum licence fees due to the Commission on or before 20 January 2023.”