On Tuesday, November 15, the stakeholder engagement forum on the memorandum of information (IM) took place for the planned auction of the 5G spectrum license. On occasion, the telecommunications operator MTN Nigeria requested to participate in the new auction of telecom spectrum frequencies for 5G that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) plans to organize in December.

An initial 5G license was acquired by MTN Nigeria in December 2021. Participation in the new 5G spectrum auction would allow this company to acquire 100 MHz of additional frequencies in the 3.5 GHz band. An advantage to “ensure that all frequencies can be allocated and used effectively.”

In reality, MTN Nigeria is the only one currently providing ultra-fast broadband services in Nigeria. In accordance with competition laws, numerous industry stakeholders, including Airtel Nigeria, opposed MTN Nigeria's participation. However, Nigeria plans to award a total of four 5G licences. After the first auction of telecom frequencies for 5G in December 2021, the first two were awarded to MTN Nigeria Plc and Mafab Communications Ltd, the two companies that were the best bidders with a bid of 273.6 million each at the expense of Airtel Nigeria whose last offer was 270 million USD.