How NCC moved 5G deadline after only MTN submitted bid

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) was forced to move the November 24 deadline for the submission of bid and payment of the ten percent fee of $20 million after it emerged that only MTN Nigeria had complied with the requirement, BusinessDay has learnt.

A day before the deadline expired, air traffic controllers had gone on strike, and it was feared that telecommunications chiefs mainly based in Lagos would have been unable to fly to Abuja to submit physical copies of the bid documents to the NCC offices in the federal capital.

By Monday, November 29, when the new deadline expired, MTN, Airtel and MASAB Communications Ltd had paid the required $19.74 million fee for participation in the auction.

Our reporter learnt that officials of NCC were afraid of having a repeat of what happened when the 2600 spectrum was auctioned with only MTN showing interest. That would have meant a loss of income for the commission if only MTN alone turned up for the bid for the 5G licence which has a reserve price of $197.4 million per lot.

Although the information memorandum issued by the NCC contained a clause that allows the Commission to amend the content, some in the industry have said the deadline extension sends the wrong signals.

Read Also: NCC sets December for 5G spectrum auction

This is not the only matter setting tongues wagging about the auction. The leading telecoms companies had been expected to stay away from the 5G auction because of the high price given as they claimed, there has yet been a business case established for 5G in Nigeria where even the largest networks do not have more than 40 per 4G coverage. BusinessDay learnt that MTN and Airtel are joining in the auction simply because of positioning and not for the presence of a strong business case.

NCC is making only two licences available in the upcoming auction while it is hoping to clean up another three in two years’ time.

In addition to the high price, there is little known about the third company, MASAB Communications, a hitherto unknown owner of an interconnect licence and which also operates an international direct link business.

On its website NCC said it moved the deadline “due to the challenges posed to air travels as witnessed recently and considering that it may have some impact on intending bidders regarding the submission of their bids, the Commission hereby extends the deadline for submission of bids and Initial Bid Deposits (IBDs) to 5.00 pm on Monday, November 29, 2021.”