MTN Nigeria has the infrastructure in place to launch its LTE network, but is currently carrying out testing and waiting for the allocation of spectrum from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
Speaking at the LTE Africa conference in Cape Town, Mustafa Golam, 3G/GPRS service support coordinator at MTN Nigeria, revealed the network had been built with the support of three vendors, but commercial rollout has been postponed due to the need for the required spectrum.
Golam said: “Once we get our test results and test cases passed we will apply to the NCC for spectrum and we expect it to be available in early 2014.”
After the panel discussion, Golan told HumanIPO they had been ready for some, but the NCC has been moving very slowly on the allocation of higher frequency spectrum.
HumanIPO reported yesterday how Ernest Ndukwe, a former CEO of the NCC, had said African regulators needed to act much more quickly in making spectrum available because it was holding broadband development back.
Golam added that the network would reach the major urban areas first.
