The federal government’s decision to peg the reserve bid price of 5G license at N75 billion has been opposed by telecommunications operators in Nigeria.
This is as the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said that the two spectrum slots reserved for 5G operations would be auctioned at N75 billion reserved price each on December 13.
NCC made the disclosure at a stakeholders engagement forum on draft information memorandum for 3.5 Hgz Spectrum auction, held at Mariot Hotel, Ikeja Lagos.
In spectrum auctioning, reserved price means the starting point at which those interested to acquire the slots will bid.
According to its schedules, December 10 is the date for for the mock auction, while the actual auction is fixed for December 13, 2021. It said interested operators are expected to pay 10 per cent of the reserved price of $197.4 million to qualify to participate in the auction.
However, the Chairman Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria, Alton, Engineer Gbenga Adebayo has expressed concern that the price is high for the operators considering the huge investments they needed to make to ensure a robust 5G roll out in the country. Adebayo reasoned that the best government should have done is to make the spectrum license as affordable as possible so that the country will maximise all the potential of 5G technology when it is rolled out.
” Let me say that the telcos will do everything possible to support the government to see out a successful auctioning and a smooth 5G roll out in the country.
”However, our concern is on the reserved price for the auction. That is where the issue is and that is where all the Stakeholders should look into”, he posited.
Although Adebayo, being the leader of the umbrella body, was believed to have spoken for all the telcos, but their individual companies who sent representatives to the forum, like MTN, Airtel, Globacom, 9Mobile, Smile among others, told Hi-Tech that they have sent their concerns directly to the NCC on the high price of the license fee as well as other issues which they want the Commission to look into.
The operators’ responses might be be connected to concerns raised by the global body for all GSM companies, GSM Association, GSMA which had earlier called on Nigeria to ensure its spectrum price is brought down to enable telcos roll out 5G services conveniently. There is the belief that spectrum pricing in Nigeria is one of the highest in Africa. The reserved price for the GSM auction in 2001 was fixed at $100million and the Operators ended up paying up to $285 million at the end of the auction.