Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has approved a second trial of the fifth generation (5G) technology in the country as the deadline for submission of bids and Initial Bid Deposits (IBDs) closed yesterday (Monday) at 5pm.
The Commission has slated December 13, 2021 as the final auction date for the 3.5 Gigahertz (GHz) spectrum for the deployment of 5G technology in Nigeria while deployment is expected to happen q1 next year, according to the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy.
Information shared on the Commission’s website entitled: Second Trial of 5G in Nigeria in order to validate the “National Policy on 5G for Digital Economy” will take place on Thursday December 2, 2021.
“The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is to supervise the 2nd 5G PoC trial in Nigeria. This trial will be conducted by Airtel Networks Limited and its Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) on Thursday, December 2, 2021,” the terse statement said, urging concerned parties to contact Spectrum Administration Department for further details.
The NCC had extended the submission of bids for the 5G technology spectrum.
It said in a statement by Dr Ikechukwu Adinde, director of Public Affairs, that the extension was due to challenges posed by air travels in recent times.
The submission of responses in respect of the 3.5 gigahertz (Gigahertz) Spectrum Band auction was scheduled to close November 24, 2021.
“However, due to the challenges posed to air travels as witnessed recently and considering that it may have some impact on intending bidders regarding the submission of their bids, the Commission hereby extends the deadline for submission of bids and Initial Bid Deposits (IBDs) to 5.00 pm on Monday, November 29, 2021,” the NCC added. It said all other events as scheduled in the Information Memorandum (IM) remain unchanged.
MTN Nigeria had become the first country in West Africa to trial 5G technology and applications. It was a result of a strong collaboration between the Ministry of Communications Technology and Digital Economy, NCC, MTN and Huawei (Abuja), ZTE (Calabar) and Ericsson (Lagos). The immersive demo and experience transversed across three cities to showcase the capabilities of 5G and its potential to enable economic growth, and social inclusion.
By working together, MTN and its partner — Huawei, were able to provide a glimpse into a range of 5G use cases and applications at a test Lab designed to show proof-of-concept in Abuja.
