The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has come out to defend its licensee, Mafab Communications Limited, in view of the reports that the company has yet to rollout services nearly two years after obtaining a license, and one year after the rollout date.
Mafab Communications is one of the three firms that won the bid for the 5G 3.5GHz Spectrum license in Nigeria.
The Commission, in a statement signed by Reuben Muoka, Director, Public Affairs at the NCC, said they have continued to monitor the progress of rollout by MAFAB and has been regularly briefed about the status of infrastructure deployment for service offerings as conditioned in its operating licence.
The statement reads:
“The attention of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has been drawn to some misleading comments on social media which falsely claimed that ‘MAFAB Communications, one of the companies granted Fifth Generation (5G) licences by the Commission is yet to roll out the service, nearly two years after obtaining a licence, and one year after the roll-out date’.
For a fact, MAFAB Communications is one of the two successful companies that won a 5G Licence during the globally-acclaimed transparent 5G Auction conducted by the Commission on December 13, 2021.
Upon fulfilling the condition of payment for the fee of $273.6 million in February 2022, the company formally received the licence on February 22, 2022.
Consequent upon the issuance of the 5G licence, and in line with the rollout conditions, MAFAB publicly launched its services in Abuja on January 24, 2023, and in Lagos on January 26, 2023. At launch, the services were targeted at six cities – Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Kano and Kaduna.
The Commission has continued to monitor the progress of rollout by MAFAB and has been regularly briefed about the status of infrastructure deployment for service offerings as conditioned in its operating licence.
The public and all stakeholders should ignore the false and misleading information concerning the 5G rollout by MAFAB”.
Recall that on January 24, 2023, Mafab Communications, in Abuja, rolled out its services. The company also used the opportunity of the launch of its 5G services to unveil a brand-new logo for the company which it said heralds the dawn of a new era of infinite possibilities which the technology offers.
