JUST IN: NCC Renews MTN’s 3G Licence For Another 15 Years At N58.6bn

… Pays NatCom N4.25bn For 2-Years Spectrum Lease

MTN Nigeria Communications will continue to operate its 3G mobile services for another 15 years in Africa’s biggest telecommunication market after it paid the Nigerian Communications Commission N58.66bn for licence renewal.

As of February 2022, Nigeria had 227.18 million active lines, according to the NCC.

MTN said on Tuesday that it had received proposal from the Nigerian regulator to renew 2100MHz spectrum for a period of 15 years, from 1 May 2022 to 30 April 2037.

MTN said, “In addition, having accepted NCC’s offer to renew our 2100MHz spectrum for a period of 15 years, effective from 1 May 2022 to 30 April 2037, MTN Nigeria has paid N58.66 billion to the NCC. The 2100MHz spectrum licence enables the provision of 3G mobile services on our network.”

The network service provider also revealed that it received approval for the spectrum lease transaction between MTN Nigeria and Natcom Development and Investment Limited (NTEL) for the lease of NTEL’s 5MHz Frequency Division Duplex (FDD).

It said NCC has “approved a spectrum lease transaction between MTN Nigeria and Natcom Development and Investment Limited (NTEL) for the lease of NTEL’s 5MHz Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) in the 900MHz spectrum band and 10MHz FDD in the 1800MHz spectrum band covering 19 states.

“The transaction is for a period of two years, effective 1 May 2023, at a cost of N4.25 billion, including taxes, regulatory fees and ancillary charges.”

Mtel came to be following the acquisition of core telecom assets previously owned by Nigeria’s national fixed and mobile operators- NiTel/MTel- by NatCom Development & Investment Ltd. (NatCom) in a liquidation process supervised and approved by Nigeria’s Bureau of Public Enterprises and a court-appointed liquidator.

The liquidation process was concluded in May, 2015 with NiTel/MTel core assets wholly transferred to NatCom.

MTN Nigeria CEO, Karl Toriola said, “This is a significant milestone in delivering our Ambition 2025 strategy. The access to NTEL’s 900MHz and 1800MHz spectrums broadens our spectrum holdings and improves our 3G and 4G user experience as coverage and capacity will be enhanced by utilising these spectrums.”