Mr Lanre Ajayi, the President of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), on Saturday called for a secondary spectrum market in the country’s telecommunications industry.
Ajayi , who said this in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, contended that the Nigerian market was matured enough to have a secondary spectrum market.
He said there was presently a large number of idle spectrum in custody of some operators, while numerous investors were yearning for spectrum to roll out services.
Ajayi said it normally took a lot of hurdles to retrieve such idle spectrum from the assigned owners.
He said that it would, therefore, make sense to allow such owners sell to new buyers who might have the need for the spectrum.
“These will benefit everyone concerned. It benefits the seller who may have challenges in rolling out after the acquisition of the spectrum.
“It benefits the buyer who now has spectrum to roll out services.
“It benefits the consumers who are now able to obtain services and it also benefits government that can now take in more taxes.
“However, participation at secondary market should be limited to those who obtained spectrum through competitive bidding like auction.
“This will avoid a scenario where people use their contacts to obtain spectrum from government and sell in the secondary market,” Ajayi said further.
He said that the association had expressed deep concern about how the frequency spectrum was being managed in Nigeria.
Ajayi said that the problem did not have to do with only the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) but other entities concerned with frequency management, including the National Frequency Management Board (NFMB).
He said that the NFMB was expected to proactively discharge its responsibility. (NAN)