NCC SET TO AUCTION 2.6GHZ SPECTRUM The Nigerian Communications Commission on Thursday said it would soon conduct a spectrum auction on the 2.6GHz band. The NCC said that two slots of 70MHz in the 2.6GHz band would be auctioned before the end of this year. It said the planned auctioning was meant to meet the Federal Government’s target of a five-fold increase in broadband Internet penetration by 2018. It will be recalled that Bitflux Communications emerged winner in the spectrum auction of the 2.3GHz in February 2014, beating Globacom with a bid of N3.8bn. The Commission however noted that “only the most qualified organizations” would be allowed to participate in the forthcoming spectrum auctioning. It said its decision to limit it to just a few qualified organizations was to ensure that the winners would be those who would be trusted to utilize the bands to boosting the country’s broadband Internet penetration. “Our transparent disposition in the ways and manners in which this auction will be conducted is not negotiable,” the Chairman of the NCC, Engr. Peter Igho, said. Engr. Igho spoke at a stakeholders’ forum in Lagos to seek input into the modalities of the auction process. He said the forum was part of the Commission’s consultative disposition to ensure inclusiveness in decision-making processes, fairness and openness in dealings, and predictability in the nation’s telecoms regulatory atmosphere. THE GUARDIAN, VANGUARD, LEADERSHIP, NATIONAL MIRROR, THISDAY, THE PUNCH (published on August 29,2014)
Posted on: Wed, 03 Sep 2014 11:56:56 +0000