NCC inaugurates spectrum committee for deployment of 5G services

*The Nigerian Communications Commission has secured harmonised frequencies for the deployment of 5G technology services in the country, following engagements with relevant stakeholders, including the governmental and non-governmental organisations

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

Subsequent to the Nigerian Senate investigative hearing, which approved the Fifth Generation (5G) technology, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) inaugurated a committee to develop the Information Memorandum (IM) for the auction of 3.5 Gigahertz (GHz) spectrum band for an early deployment of 5G services in the country.

Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, Director of Public Affairs at the NCC, in a statement Sunday, June 20, said Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, Executive Vice-Chairman (EVC) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Commission, recently inaugurated the 18-member Committee in Abuja, FCT.

The statement noted that NCC’s Executive Commissioner, Technical Services, Ubale Maska is Auction Adviser, while the Director, Spectrum Administration, NCC, Oluwatoyin Asaju, is the Committee Chairman.

Prof. Danbatta, speaking at the inauguration, said apart from developing the IM for auctioning of C-band spectrum for 5G deployment in Nigeria, the Terms of Reference (ToRs) of the auction committee would include the development of an award process to be used pursuant to which the grant of Spectrum licences may be made.

The NCC Director of Public Affairs stated the Information Memorandum (IM) defines the process that the Commission has decided to adopt for the auctioning of the 3.5GHz spectrum band.

It will provide information on the Nigerian telecommunications market, details of the Spectrum to be made available, the pre-qualification process, the Auction process and indicative timetable, said Dr. Adinde.

The statement also listed other ToRs for the committee to include the auctioning of the C-band spectrum for 5G deployment in the country in line with the award process; as well as report regularly/fortnightly to the EVC through the Office of the Executive Commissioner, Technical Services of the Commission on the progress made by the Committee.

Expressing delight at the current stage of 5G deployment process in the country in respect of the needed mutual understanding and cooperation among stakeholders that 5G service poses neither security nor health risk to consumers, Danbatta said that the outcome of the Committee’s mandate would be a major step towards realisation of 5G technology services in Nigeria.

The NCC EVC/CEO, in line with its mandate, has committed enormous resources to ensuring that harmonised spectrum is secured and released in a timely manner for present and future deployment of services that will underpin the Fourth Industrial Revolution, including International Mobile Telecommunication (IMT-2020) services.

According to him, it is in recognition of relevant provisions of the Nigerian Communication Act (NCA-2003) and its strategic plan for effective communications resource management, facilitating broadband penetration and improving Quality of Service (QoS) among others.

The Commission has ensured the participation of relevant staff in international fora, especially in the International Telecommunication Union Radio Telecommunication Sector (ITU-R) study groups, to enable the allocation of strategic Spectrum to IMT services, especially IMT 2020, which, he said, has been in the front burner in the last two ITU-R study cycles towards World Radio Communication Conference (WRC-15 & WRC-19), Danbatta stated.

He further noted: “Arising from these efforts, which include engagements with relevant governmental and non-governmental organisations during preparatory meetings at National, Regional and Continental level, we have been able to secure harmonised frequencies for 5G deployment in Nigeria.”

Danbatta, however, stated where NCC desired premium spectrum like the 3.5GHz with good propagation characteristics suitable for capacity and coverage with good device ecosystem but did not have sufficient allocation, “we put in extra efforts and secured additional 160MHz in the 3.5GHz band by making huge commitment of resources to secure additional Spectrum from Nigerian Communication Satellite Limited (NigComSat),” culminating in a recent Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between NCC and NigComSat.

“Having put in these efforts and resources to secure, among others, contiguous Spectrum in a premium band like the 3.5GHz band that is being adopted as the best Spectrum for early deployment of 5G with about 70 per cent of 5G global deployment so far, it has become imperative to immediately re-purpose the 3.5GHz band in Nigeria for auction in accordance with best practices.

He stated: “In view of this, Danbatta said NCC Management deemed it necessary to constitute the committee with clear ToRs, adding that the committee members are expected to demonstrate strong commitment required to carry out these tasks and in a timely manner.”

The NCC Chief observed though the Commission had conducted some successful auctions in the past, “extra effort is required of us to ensure the success of this particular exercise since the 5G technology is just being adopted around the globe.”

The EVC, therefore, tasked the spectrum auction committee to consider benchmarking its activities against other countries where 5G has been successfully deployed through successful auction of relevant spectrum band like 3.5GHz.

Asaju, Chairman of the Committee, in his remarks on the occasion, amplified the EVC’s voice on the MoU with NigComSat.

The Chairman stated that the NCC had, in line with the NCA-2003, filled request for bulk allocation of 380 MHz bandwidth (3.52–3.9) GHz in the 3.5 GHz band from National Frequency Management Council (NFMC).

He assured the EVC of the Committee’s readiness to deliver on its ToR, and said the outcome of the actions would, no doubt, form the basis and put NCC on right pedestal for 5G deployment in the country.

Engr. Ubale Maska, Executive Commissioner, Techincal Services of the Commission, who doubles as the Auction Adviser, also assured the EVC that the Committee will deliver on its mandate.

Maska noted that the work of the Committee is without prejudice to the approval of the National Frequency Management Council (NFMC), which he said must be in place before the 5G deployment in Nigeria.