The Federal Government said it would generate $224 million from sales of 14 lots of 2.6 Ghz broadband at the rate of $16 million per lot at the auction.
The minimum lot, which any operator can bid for is four, the maximum is eight lots.
Speaking in Lagos, NCC’s Director of Spectrum Administration, Augustine Nwaulune, revealed that the approved date for the spectrum action in Abuja is May 16 while provisional winners would be announced on May 20.
He also explained that the sale of the capacity spectrum is critical at this stage because it would provide advanced wireless broadband services to the country as many subscribers are yearning for 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE), which is already overdue.
While making clarifications on the Information Memorandum (IM) that contained intending auction for 2.6Ghz spectrum, he also disclosed that it would not be business as usual for operators who bid for spectrum (frequency of sound or radio) and refuse to roll out after several years of winning the auction.
He added that in the event of the winning licensee’s inability to deploy services as specified, the commission reserves the right to sanction the licensee based on relevant sections of existing regulations except for areas where force is established.
“Win it or lose it is the slogan. Change has come. If any operator is not meeting up despite the roll out, NCC will come after it. The industry is in need of services and we will be strict with spectrum roll out enforcement. It is a capacity spectrum, not a coverage that penetrates into every local government because the nature is different from others. It has sufficient capacity for efficiency.
“Operators are expected to go above the minimum to provide services because the whole essence is to allow broadband to be available in all states’ capital.”
