By Emmanuel Elebeke

Nigeria leading telecom company, MTN Nigeria, Wednesday, emerged winner of the 2.6 GHz frequency spectrum auction by the industry regulator, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

MTN won the 10-year radio spectrum licence for mobile broadband services after the NCC earlier announced that MTN emerged as the sole approved bidder for the new licence.

The spectrum guarantees superior performance for wireless networks, especially fourth-generation (4G)/long-term evolution (LTE) services.

Nigeria is one of the 28 African countries that offers 4G/LTE services but suffers very low rate of penetration in major parts of the country.

MTN said it complied with the provision of the bid agreement for the 2.6 GHz auction, paid N18.96-billion to the NCC and had subsequently been issued a letter of award.

The MTN Nigeria Chief Executive Officer, Ferdi Moolman, who confirmed the development in a statement on Wednesday, said ‘‘With the 2.6 GHz band, we expect to roll out and provide the full range of LTE (Long Term Evolution mobile broadband) services to Nigerians, empowering Nigeria with the latest mobile broadband technology.

“This licence acquisition further demonstrates MTN’s abiding faith in the future of Nigeria and the resilience of the Nigerian economy,” said Moolman.

It will be recalled that the 2.6 GHz spectrum auction had been a subject of debate following the emergence of MTN as the sole bidder in the auction process, which necessitated the review of the auction by the NCC to ensure transparency in the entire process.