Airtel Africa pays $42m for DRC’s 4G spectrum, after losing out on Nigeria’s 5G bid

Telecommunications company, Airtel Africa, has purchased additional spectrum in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) six months after losing the 5G spectrum bidding round in Nigeria, its largest market.

Airtel Africa, which is the parent company of Airtel Nigeria, disclosed via a statement on Monday, that it paid the sum of $42 million to acquire 58 MHz of additional spectrum spread across 900, 1800, 2100 and 2600 MHz bands for the telcos fourth generation (4G) wireless network.

The network provider competes with telecoms, Vodacom, Tigo, Orange and Africell in DR Congo, while its rivals in the Nigerian market include MTN Nigeria, Globacom and 9mobile, amongst others.

According to the breakdown of the acquired spectrum, the licence for paired spectrum in the 2100 band comes up for renewal in September 2032. All the other licences continue until July 2036.

READ ALSO: Airtel Africa’s revenue in Nigeria surpasses firm’s East Africa, Francophone businesses

The acquisition comes after Ripples Nigeria reported that Airtel Africa lost the bid for acquisition of 5G spectrum in Nigeria, with rivals, MTN Nigeria and Mafab Communication winning the license six months ago.

Airtel Africa dropped out of the bid at a price range of below $200 million, as MTN and Mafab raised the bidding price to $275,904,886.25 after 11 rounds in December 2021.

MTN, which came first after the bidding rounds, got the first slot and opted for 5G spectrum of 3500-3600mhz, worth $15,900,000, while Mafab Communications paid $11,120,000, for the second slot of 3700-3800mhz.

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