By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Airtel Africa Plc has explained why its subsidiary in Nigeria, Airtel Nigeria, pulled out of the 5G auction carried out on Monday, which was won by one of its business rivals in the country.
On December 13, 2021, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) conducted an auction for the allocation of two slots for the 3.5GHz spectrum licence at the Transcorp Hotel Abuja.
Three companies, Airtel Nigeria, MTN Nigeria and Mafab Communications Limited, participated but Airtel pulled out after its final bid of $270 million was surpassed by the other two.
The exercise generated mixed reactions, especially because of a relatively-known Mafab and it was speculated that something fishy happened.
This forced the NCC to issue a statement yesterday, stressing that it conducted the auction transparently and gave the bidders a level playing field. It further said it was not aware that Mafab had any link to the former Governor of Lagos State, Mr Bola Tinubu, who is being rumoured to have a presidential ambition in 2023.
But in a statement on Thursday, Airtel Africa said the exercise was transparent, commenting the regulator for this.
Its Group CEO, Mr Segun Ogunsanya, specifically applauded the regulator for the success of the exercise, saying it was transparent.
He also confirmed that the Nigerian subsidiary of the company pulled out of the auction after submitting its final bid of $270 million.
However, he assured that the firm will monitor the market and possibly explore affordable 5G services to meet the broadband demands of its subscribers.
“The business case for 5G across all sub-Saharan markets is evolving, and we remain committed to driving broadband capacity in our various markets.
“We will continue to closely track the 5G ecosystem over the next several years, in particular the availability of affordable 5G devices and relevant use cases.
“Airtel Africa retains ample capacity, spread across various spectrum bands, in Nigeria and its other markets, to continue to meet the growing data demands of our customers for many years to come, with several potential routes available to the business to deliver even greater capacities, cost-effectively, in the long run,” Mr Ogunsanya said.
Adedapo Adesanya