Nigeria has once again postponed the auction of 2.6 GHz spectrum for an indefinite period.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) called for applications to take part in the process less than two weeks ago with the intention of beginning the auction proper on 5 May and announcing the winners in early June.
But it now appears that the auction will not go ahead according to schedule.
"The NCC…regrets to inform parties interested in participating in the auc tion of frequency spectrum licences in the 2.6 GHz band that it has decided to postpone the process of the auction until further notice," the regulator said in a statement published by its CEO Eugene Juwah, late last week.
"The 2.6 GHz indicative auction timetable is suspended," Juwah said.
The NCC had intended to carry out the auction late last year, but put the process on hiatus in November for administrative reasons. It said it wanted to ensure that the licences would be available to the winners as soon as the auction concluded.
The Nigerian government is selling 14 lots of 2×5 MHz of 2.6 GHz spectrum with a reserve price of US$16 million attached to each, according to the most recent auction plan shared by the regulator. Auction participants will be required to bid for at least four lots of spectrum and will not be permitted to bid for more than eight lots.
The auction will be open to new players, but any newcomer would be required to pay an additional 374.6 million naira ($1.86 million) fee for an accompanying operating licence.
At this stage the regulator has given no indications that the terms of the auction will change.
Nigeria is home to four main GSM-based mobile network operators – MTN, Globacom’s Glo Mobile, Airtel and Etisalat’s EMTS – as well as defunct incumbent Mtel. The last is due to get a new lease of life via the country’s latest attempt at privatisation; investment vehicle Natcom got the go-ahead to buy Nitel and mobile unit Mtel for $252.5 million late last year and earlier this year paid its first instalment.
In addition, the country has a c ouple of smaller CDMA operators, the largest of which is Visafone.
At the end of 2014 the country was home to 138.9 million mobile subscribers, excluding fixed wireless customers. MTN leads the market by some margin with a 43.1% share.
