Nigeria to Re-Auction WiMAX Licenses

Nigeria's telecoms regulator, the Communications Commission (NCC) has been ordered to cancel the recent WiMAX licenses and rerun the tender process. The decision came from the President's office following several months of controversy over how the licenses were awarded.

"In furtherance of the Federal Government's desire to assure all prospective investors of its commitment to the observance of due process and a level playing field, President Yar'Adua today directed that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) should initiate a fresh process for the award of the 2.3 GHz spectrum band licences," the presidential adviser told This Day.

While the regulator said the earlier tender process had been open and fair, this was disputed by the Minister of Information and Communication, Prof. Dora Akunyili. He had accused the regulator of also imposing unreasonably short timeframes to pay their license fees once notified they had won a license.

There has also been doubt as to whether the regulator was even able to sell the licenses as the radio spectrum had not been released.

The three previous winners, Multilinks, Mobitel Nigeria and Spectranet are expected to get a refund of their license fees and be eligible to enter the next round of license tendering.

On the web: This Day

Posted to the site on 13th August 2009