The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has put up two slots of spectrum in the 3.5GHz Spectrum band for auction before the end of 2022, to boost deployment of the fifth generation (5G) services in Nigeria.
The process, which was made public on October 21, 2022 with the publication of the draft information memorandum (IM) for the auction on the commission’s website, invited stakeholders to study the memorandum for purposes of making submissions ahead of a review of the IM on November 16, 2022.
The final IM is slated for publication on December 18, 2022, while applications will be received by the commission from November 21, 2022. The closing date for the submission of application, the deadline for payment of mandatory intention-to-bid deposit (IBD) and the pre-qualification stage is set for December 5, 2022.
Qualified bidders would be notified on December 5, 2022, while notification and publication of the mock auction and auction dates will occur on the same day. The mock auction is billed for December 16, 2022 while the auction proper takes place three days later, on December 19, 2022.
A statement by the director, public affairs, NCC, Reuben Muoka said the process is anticipated to enter its grant stage on December 21, 2022, with the publication of provisional bid winners and the notification of provisional award of licence.
The year 2023 will open with the payment for spectrum licence and operational licence, where applicable, on January 20, 2023 and, on January 23, 2023, the auction process will be concluded with the publication of the result.
Meanwhile, according to the information memorandum, pursuant to the issuance of the IM, the commission reserves the right to make available additional information through the publication of further documentation. Therefore, interested parties are advised to stay abreast with developments in the licensing process by checking regularly for updates on the commission’s website.
