Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
Telecommunications company, Airtel Africa, saw its stock gain 5.16 per cent to close at N1,630 per share from N1,550 on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited following the news of its 5G spectrum acquisition.
Business Post yesterday reported that the telco acquired 4G and 5G spectrums from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for a cumulative price of $316.7 million.
In a regulatory notice, the firm said the $316.7 million for the 100 MHz of spectrum in the 3500MHz band and 2x5MHz of 2600MHz would be paid to its sector’s regulator in Naira.
Airtel Africa closed the trading at N6.825 trillion in market capitalisation on the NGX as against N5.825 trillion when the day’s trading activities began, hence has earned a gain of N300 billion.
It is believed that the news of the acquisition had spurred investors’ appetite for Airtel stocks, which recorded a loss of about N507 billion at the end of last Thursday’s trading session.
The company, gleeful about the new development, said, “the deployment of 5G will accelerate the availability and efficiency of fixed wireless access products across the country, contributing towards Airtel Nigeria’s progress in meeting the national broadband plan targets.”
“The acquisition of 2600MHz spectrum will complement our already strong spectrum position in the market to enhance network capacity and future-proof our growth opportunity,” it stated further.
The additional spectrum, Airtel says, will support its investments in network expansion for both mobile data and fixed wireless home broadband capability.
These include “5G rollout, providing significant capacity to accommodate our continued strong data growth in the country and exceptional customer experience.”
The network provider stated that the penetration of data customers in Nigeria remains low, providing significant opportunities for future growth.
“The acquisition of 5G spectrum will underpin our growth strategy by enabling the launch of higher speed connectivity to enhance customer service and accelerate digitalisation for consumers, enterprises and the public sector. The key benefits of 5G will include higher speeds, lower latency, significant network capacity, as well as an improved user experience,” Airtel said.
