NCC fixes 2.6GHz spectrum auction for December

The auctioning of 2.6GHz spectrum auctioning will hold in December, the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) has said.

In a statement made available to our correspondent in Abuja on Sunday, the Director of Public Affairs, NCC, Mr. Tony Ojobo, said the nation's telecoms sector would benefit significantly through further deepening of broadband internet penetration.

He said the appointment of Mr. Sonny Aragba-Akpore as the new Head of Media Relations of the regulatory agency.

According to him, the auction of the spectrum will add the necessary fillip to the extant drive by the commission to deepen broadband internet penetration from its current six per cent to 30 per cent by 2018.

Ojobo said the planned auction was in line with the mandate of the agency as highlighted in the National Broadband Plan 2013-2018, approved by President Goodluck Jonathan last year.

He said the process for the licensing of the 2.6 GHz spectrum was predicated on demands by operators for additional spectrum to enable the provision of Advanced Wireless Broadband services in line with international trends.

He also stated that this was also in furtherance of the objectives of the Federal Government as set out in the Nigerian National ICT Policy 2012.

Ojobo stated that based on the outcome of consultations with stakeholders and the direction of the National Broadband Plan, the NCC had decided to undertake the 2.6 gigahertz spectrum auction to award spectrum licensees to build and operate networks in this spectrum band to provide Advanced Broadband Wireless Services to subscribers in Nigeria, Ojobo said.