ABUJA, Nigeria -- This Public Notice is issued to inform and update interested parties on:

The Spectrum

To further strengthen and develop the telecommunications services in Africa’s most populous country, implement the objectives of the National Telecommunications Policy of the Federal Government of Nigeria, and the Nigerian Communications Act 2003, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is pleased to announce its intention to license spectrum in the 2 GHz and 450 MHz bands. This spectrum can potentially support a wide range of services and technologies including 3G and Fixed Wireless Access.

For this Public Notice and subsequent communications, the 2 GHz band will be referred to as the 3G band.

The Allocation Process

The allocation of spectrum in the 3G and 450 MHz bands would be by auction. Participation in the auction process will be subject to interested parties satisfying pre-qualification criteria set out and detailed in the Information Memorandum to be published for each auction.

Participation at the auction process will be limited to existing Nigerian Licensed Network Operators.

Indicative Timetable

The following table gives the indicative timetable for the 3G and 450 MHz spectrum auctions. The timetable is subject to change, and interested parties are therefore advised to visit the NCC website on a regular basis for latest information.

Table 1:

Nigerian Communications Commission