Vodafone Ghana wins 4G licence bid at US$30m

Ghana Telecommunications Company Limited, Vodafone Ghana, has won one of the frequency spectrum block auctioned by the National Communications Authority (NCA), which will allow the company go into its own 4th Generation (4G) service.

The NCA announced Wednesday, December 26, the Thirty Million United States Dollar (US$30,000,000.00) deal was “provisionally” reached after successful financial negotiations which started in September.

“This is the result of the process which begun in September, 2018 when the NCA published a Request for Applications (RFA) and made available three (3) lots of 2x5MHz in the 800MHz band. Two (2) companies submitted applications, with Vodafone emerging as the only successful applicant”, a statement from the authority reads.

In December 2015, the NCA auctioned two blocks of the 4G space (800MHz bands of LTE Spectrum) at a reserve price of US$67.5m and invited telecom companies to bid.

However, only MTN Ghana participated in the auction for one block and eventually bought it.

As one of the requirements, MTN Ghana was supposed to list on the Ghana Stock Exchange which was successfully done in 2018.

The telecoms regulator says the transaction is in line with the laws of the country.

“The sale of the Spectrum is in line with Section 58 of Electronic Communications Act 2008, Act 775 on Spectrum Management which highlights the NCA’s mandate and the options for Frequency Assignment”.