Nigerian government planning to reallocate 2.5GHz spectrum for telecoms
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Nigerian government planning to reallocate 2.5GHz spectrum for telecoms

The Nigerian government is considering reallocating its 2.5GHz spectrum band presently used by broadcast companies to telecoms operators.

As part of the country’s plans for a nationwide broadband roll-out, the reallocation is aimed to ensure spectrum is utilised as effectively as possible for broadband deployment in the country.

The 2.5GHz spectrum band is often allocated to telecoms firms in other countries, and according to local reports, relevant stakeholders at telecoms firms have called for its retrieval from the broadcasting sector.

Executive vice chairman at the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Eugene Juwah, said the 2.5GHz spectrum band should be allocated to telecoms companies by 2015. Juwah said the NCC had also mandated to make the 800MHz band available for operators to roll out broadband services.

A government official, the country’s minister of communications technology, has also revealed the country’s plans to remove all bottlenecks that hinder broadband penetration in the country. There are plans to introduce a presidential committee that develops a roadmap for this type of roll-out, in addition to giving policy direction to improve present broadband infrastructure.

The minister stated that having ubiquitous access to internet capacity and national backbone was as important as “having power, transportation and water infrastructure”.

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