By Ismail Auwal
Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said that it has successfully carried out a mock session for the 3.5 gigahertz (GHz) spectrum auction for the deployment of the Fifth Generation (5G) network in the country.
The NCC announced that three telecommunications companies have qualified as approved bidders for 5G, having met all requirements for participation in the licensing process.
The simulated auction serves as a warm-up for the main auction, which is set to take place on Monday at the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja.
“The conduct of the simulation exercise was in line with the requirements stipulated in the Information Memorandum (IM) for 3.5 GHz spectrum auction,” a statement signed by Ikechukwu Adinde, NCC’s director of public affairs, said.
“The IM is a document that defines the process for the licensing of the 3.5 GHz spectrum band earlier published in the Commission’s website at the inception of the auction process.”
The three qualified bidders namely MTN Nigeria, Mafab Communications Ltd, and Airtel Networks Ltd, participated in the software-based simulated auction exercise, using the Ascending Clock Auction System for the mock session, NCC said.
The auction on Monday will be a turning point in Nigeria’s determination to harness the benefits of 5G for the country’s socioeconomic growth, as concrete 5G roll-out begins in 2022.
The commission set the bid price at N75 billion ($197.4 million) in November, but the telecommunications giants requested that the licence fee be reduced.
