Airtel Loses Out As MTN, Mafab Win 5G Spectrum License

MTN Nigeria and Mafab Communications have been declared winners of the two slots of the 3.5GHz spectrum auction for the Fifth Generation (5G) network licenses by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

The bids ended at $273 million for each, according to Professor Umar Danbatta, executive vice chairman, NCC and overseer of the auction.

This came after nearly eight hours and 11 rounds of auctions which began at $199.37 million as against the reserve price of $197.4 million.

MTN Nigeria, Airtel Nigeria and Mafab Nigeria Communications Ltd participated in the live auction held at Hilton Transcorp Hotel, Abuja.

The surprise bidder for the 3.5GHz spectrum auction was Mafab Nigeria Communications Ltd, a recalcitrant new entrant in the telecommunications sector in Nigeria.

Mafab Communications, led by Alhaji Musibau Bashiru, was licensed in July 2020, as an International Data Access (IDA) by the NCC, according to Nigeria CommunicationsWeek report.

Each auction in the first six rounds lasted 20 minutes and non of the bidders backed down as the price steadily moved up using the ascending clock auction format.

In the second five rounds, the bidders were given 10 minutes each to put up their bids.

At the end of the 11 rounds which ended at 7.20 pm, the bid per slot was $275, 904,886.25.

The two companies and Airtel were the three bidders for the license

Two other big operators Glo and 9mobile did not participate