The global association representing telecoms companies, the GSM Association (GSMA), has decried the high cost of obtaining spectrum licenses in Nigeria, and by extension, other countries in Africa.
Speaking in Lagos Nigeria, the Director of Spectrum and Public Policy in charge of Africa for GSMA, Mortimer Hope, said the high cost is as a result of the limited spectrum band available for Africa.
“Nigeria has a large population of GSM and CDMA subscribers, with operators trying to satisfy customers with the limited spectrum licences that they have. Because the demand for mobile services is on the increase in Nigeria and across Africa, GSMA is of the view that there is need for government and regulatory authorities to allocate more spectrums to the operators, to meet the demands, and we have identified four spectrum areas that could address this,” Hope told ThisDay.
He made case for a common position to increase mobile broadband spectrum availability in order to address the high cost of spectrum licence in Nigeria and Africa. He advised African governments to speak with one voice and collectively agree on the need to increase mobile internet spectrum for Africa.
“Such common agreement, if reached, would be taken to the ITU World Radio Communication Conference, which holds in Geneva in November this year for discussion and possible approval for more spectrum allocation for Africa,” he said.
“It is about policy decision making. Nigeria has gone a long way in addressing spectrum licences, and the cost of spectrum is still high, which is already affecting productivity and cost of services because operators invest so much in spectrum licence and are left with little money to build their networks, he said. The telecoms regulator should therefore not make the cost of spectrum too high, but should work towards making spectrum available to the operators in order to meet the rising demand for mobile services”, he added.
