Skip to main content

Four companies gear-up for 4G LTE licenses


By: Fred Yaw Sarpong- Daily Express

The four companies who submitted their applications to the National Communications Authority (NCA) to acquire 4G LTE licenses are said to be ready for the announcement of the winners by the regulating authority.

The National Communications Authority did announce the availability of some space in the 800MHz for two companies to be awarded licenses in order to operate 4G LTE in the country.

The 4G LTE network is an improved technology of 2G and 3G technologies. Basically, people who have smart phones which are compatible to the 3G technology are able to use their phones to browse the internet, send text, send pictures and among other things.

Similarly, users of smart phones which are compatible to the 4G LTE will be able to experience much better services than what 2G and 3G provides.

The companies who were able to meet the 9 November, 2015 deadline are Scancom Ghana Limited, the operators of MTN; Surfline Communications Limited; Goldkey Telecom Limited and the Migson Communications Limited.

Out of these four companies, the regulator will select the best two winners and subsequently award them two blocks of 2x10MHz spectrum (4G LTE licenses) in the 800MHz Band on the 9 December, 2015.

Per the plans of NCA, the auction of the spectrum will take place between 2 December, 2015 and 8 December, 2015 and on the 9 December, 2015 the winners will be announced.

According to the NCA, each of the two winners will pay about US$67.5 million for the 4G LTE license for a period of 15 years.

The authority said it shall proceed to assess the eligibility of the four companies for the award of the 4G LTE licence before inviting them to participate in the Auction.

The National Communications Authority will take into consideration whether the company applying for the license is a registered company under the laws of Ghana, and duly certified to operate in Ghana.

However, NCA said companies which are owe by foreigners must have a minimum of 35% indigenous Ghanaian ownership in the company. “It may be a company, a joint venture or consortium,” according to NCA.

“Applicants who do not meet this criteria at the time of applying should submit a letter of commitment, signed by the Authorised Representative, to have the minimum 35% Ghanaian ownership in place within 13 months from the effective date of the license, failing which the license duration shall be reduced by 2 years in the first instance of the deadline and by an additional 1 year for each year in which the Ghanaian ownership threshold is violated,” NCA added.

With the ownership structure, the Ghanaian company shall be maintained throughout the 15 year duration of the License.

The entities with foreign ownership shall register with the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) before commencement of service in accordance with Section 24 of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) Act, 2013 (Act 865).

“Listing on the Ghana Stock Exchange in accordance with the Ghana Stock Exchange Listing Regulations 1990 (LI 1509) shall be accepted as a mechanism to meet the minimum Ghanaian shareholding requirement, where necessary,” NCA noted.

Meanwhile, the National Communications Authority (NCA) has selected Messrs’ KPMG as the Auctioneer for the auction process of the 800MHz Band.

The Daily Express gathered that KPMG will now be responsible for managing the process leading up to the auction and the actual auction. This will involve setting out the rules of the auction and ensuring an independent and transparent process.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

CIMG holds strategic marketing conference

By: Fred Yaw Sarpong The Chartered Institute of Marketing, Ghana (CIMG)’s annual strategic marketing conference will take place at the Golden Tulip hotel in Accra between October 26 and 27, 2016. The conference is part of the institute’s mission to improve on the performance of marketers, professionals and administrators within corporate Ghana. The theme for the conference; “Democracy and National Cohesion: Marketing a new Political Paradigm.” Mr. Kwabena Akuamoah Agyekum, the Executive Director of CIMG said the conference seeks to promote the CIMG advocacy mission to impact on professional, corporate organizations and officialdom. He mentioned that four resource persons are billed to present papers over the two day event covering very exciting and insightful segments of the theme under the chairmanship of the Marketing Woman for Year 2015, Ms. Maidie Elizabeth Arkutu, Managing Director of Unilever and Dr. Doris Dartey, a Media Consultant. Mr. Agyekum said the speake...
Post a Comment
Read more

Vodafone Ghana gets new CEO

The Board of Directors of Vodafone Ghana have appointed Haris Broumidis as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). His appointment took effect from July 15, 2013. Haris Broumidis joined Vodafone in 2002 as the Marketing Director and Enterprise Unit Director in Vodafone Greece and moved on to Vodafone Albania as the CEO in 2007. Under his leadership, Vodafone Albania became the undisputable leader in the telecoms sector. In 2012, he joined Vodafone Group in its h eadquarters, London, as the Commercial Director for Europe. Among several other responsibilities he was tasked with the acceleration and implementation of Vodafone’s commercial priorities in European markets. He brings on board several years of experience and a winning strategy to strengthen Vodafone Ghana’s number two position in Ghana’s telecom market and also make it the undisputed leader for enterprise. Haris Broumidis is from Greece and studied Economics at the University of Athens. He pursued his MBA at the ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Barbering Salons, bridging the unemployment gap in Ghana

By: Fred Yaw Sarpong Barbering business in Ghana is money making venture, depending on the location of the shop. Various barbering shops scattered across the country charges according to the location of the shop. The nature and sustainability of every barbering shop depends on the location of the shop. The location will determine how much one can charge a customer for barbering his or her hair. Checks indicate that some barbering shops located at Spintex, East Legon and Osu Oxford street charges between GHc15.00 and GHc20.00 per hair cut. At South La Estate, it will cost a customer to pay GHc4.00 for hair cut, while one will have to pay GHc3.00 to barber his or her hair at a place like Nima, Maamobi and Mallam Gbawe. Royal Vulture Executive Barbering Salon is one of the biggest barbering salons one can locate within Accra. One is its shops is located at Madina, near Taxi rank while one is located at Accra New Town, near the Post Office. Customers at Madina pay GHc7.00 ...
7 comments
Read more