Disregarding the perceived fears envisaged by the telecoms industry regulator and the industry stakeholders that MTN Nigeria may dominate the 5G space and create market monopoly for itself, if allowed to participate in the next 3.5GHz spectrum auction that is coming up on December 19, 2022, the telecom operator has said it is eligible to participate to clinch another 3.5GHz spectrum licence that will enable it expand its operations and 5G network rollout. Speaking at a stakeholders’ forum organised by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in Lagos, where NCC presented the draft Information Memorandum (IM) on the 3.5GHz spectrum auction to industry stakeholders, for their inputs before the final IM is published, the General Manager, Regulatory Affairs and Corporate Relations at MTN, Mr. Ikenna Ikeme, cited section 5.30 of the draft Information Memorandum, which discussed spectrum cap, and noted with concern, the provision of the draft IM which provides that: “the Commission places a cap of 100MHz as the maximum amount of spectrum that a licensee can acquire in the 3.5GHz band.” According to Ikeme, the IM clearly restricts operators who participated and won in the 2021 auction of spectrum in the 3.5GHz spe
THISDAY