The Nigerian Communications Commission has closed bidding process for the deployment of 5G spectrum after Airtel Network Limited emerged as sole bidder.
The NCC said only Airtel emerged as a sole bidder for its 3.5GHz spectrum band for 5G deployment in the nation.
With Airtel emergence, the regulator said there won’t be anymore auction and that Airtel would be assigned one of the available lots of 100 MHz TDD Spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band for the NCC’s reserve price of $273.60 million.
These were contained in a statement released by the NCC on Wednesday.
The statement said by the close of business on Monday, December 5, 2022, only two companies had expressed interest in the auction of its 3.5GHz spectrum band, but only one paid required intention to bid deposit.
The statement read, “However, only Airtel paid the Intention to Bid Deposit as stipulated in the Information Memorandum, whereas, Standard Network sent an email appeal for the deadline to be extended by 12 working days which was not acceptable in view of the auction timetable.
“Having met all the provision in the IM, Airtel has, therefore, emerged as the sole Bidder. Consequently, there shall be no further bidding and the Commission will proceed to the assignment stage in line with the published Information Memorandum guiding the licensing process.”
