The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has awarded MTN a ten-year frequency spectrum licence for the 2.6 GHz band, which guarantees superior performance for wireless networks, especially fourth-generation (4G)/long-term evolution (LTE) services.
Although Nigeria is one of 28 African countries that offers 4G/LTE services, the rate of penetration is restricted to a few major cities.
As such, MTN’s success in this auction is a big boost to its plan to deliver global mobile broadband and 4G/LTE services to over 60-million customers in Nigeria.
“After complying with all the requirements for the 2.6 GHz auction and making the licence payment of N18.96-billion to the NCC, MTN has been issued a letter of award. With the 2.6 GHz band, we expect to roll out and provide the full range of LTE services to Nigerians, empowering Nigeria with the latest mobile broadband technology,” MTN Nigeria CEO Ferdi Moolman said in a statement on Wednesday.