BY TheCable
Goodluck Jonathan has “secretly” awarded the highly lucrative “digital dividend” frequency spectrum to Mike Adenuga’s Globacom and Jim Ovia’s Visafone, according to Technology Times, Nigeria’s leading online newspaper on ICT.
The licensing, Technology Times reported, did not pass through the normal bidding process, thereby preventing the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the statutory body, from advertising and supervising an auction.
The newspaper reported that Jonathan directed that the 800MHz spectrum be issued to Ovia and 700MHz to Adenuga.
“Digital dividend” is highly coveted by telecoms companies across the world as it enables them to launch mobile broadband service — a potential cash cow.
The spectrum is available after the migration of broadcasting from analogue to digital, thereby freeing part of the electromagnetic spectrum previously used for broadcasting. Digital television typically needs less spectrum than analogue.
Ovia was the co-chair of the 14-man committee set up by Jonathan in 2012 to develop the policy on a five-year broadband penetration in Nigeria.
He was also a member of the 19-man Broadbank Council charged with implementing the policy proposed by the presidential committee.
The former MD of Zenith Bank, who is a close associate of Jonathan, is also reported to have nominated the current central bank governor, Godwin Emefiele, who was his successor at Zenith.
Adenuga’s Globacom is the second national operator, but the company is yet to launch landlines on a commercial scale nearly 12 years after securing the licence.
Shortly after the presidential election in April, the Jonathan administration approved the transfer of NITEL/MTEL to the NATCOM consortium.
However, there are growing beliefs that President-elect Muhammadu Buhari is going to review the last-minute deals approved by the Jonathan administration.
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