The Nigerians Communications Commission(NCC) revealed that three telecoms operators have qualified for the 5G auction.
According to the Commission, three telecoms operators submitted their Expression of Interest (EoI) to the commission to bid for the 3.5GHz spectrum licence, whose auction date has been fixed for December 13, 2021.
The NCC in a statement signed by its Director, Public Affairs, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, disclosed that it received their applications to bid for the spectrum.
Adinde also said the three bidders met all criteria, including the payment of the stipulated Intention to Bid Deposit (IBD) as outlined in the Information Memorandum (IM), which pegged the initial deposit at 10 percent of the reserved bid price of $197.4 million (N75 billion).
He said the NCC had already fixed December 10 for mandatory mock bidding, ahead of the main bidding process that will hold December 13, 2021.
The three bidders are MTN Nigeria Plc, Airtel Networks Limited, and Mafab Communications Limited. All three bidders paid N7.5 billion each as a non-refundable initial deposit, which is 10 percent of the reserved bid price.
Although Mafab Communications is not known in the Nigerian telecoms space, THISDAY gathered that it is a new entrant and a strategic investor with a non-mobile license that is investing in one of the small telecoms operators in Nigeria.
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