FG sets N3.6bn price for broad band licence

A copy of the Information Memorandum on the NCC website yesterday said that interested bidders for the broadband licence are expected to pay the sum of N368million ($2.3m) which represents 10 per cent of the reserve price for the licence and also the Intention to Bid Document (IBD).
The deposit payment is required to be made by all applicants as part of the pre-qualification process.
But a reserve price, which represents the minimum amount an item is on offer in an auction, has been fixed at N369 billion ($32 million) for the 30MHz of 2.3Ghz frequency spectrum sale scheduled to be concluded by March 14 2014, according to the NCC.
The winner of the single 2.3 GHz spectrum will become the sole wholesale seller of broadband services to other service providers in the Nigerian market, the telecoms regulator said.
The planned auctions will be an all comers affair as companies that are duly registered in Nigeria can participate once they can shell out the stipulated funds and meet other pre-qualification requirements.
On the other hand, even though existing telecoms companies are not excluded from the auctions, they are expected to scale stiffer pre-qualification conditions.