Mafab to Exit 5G as Nigeria Cleans Up Its Spectrum

Mafab Communications paid $273.6 million in 2021 to become one of Nigeria's first two 5G operators. Now, just five years later, it is looking to hand over the spectrum it bought — and it may not be the only company in that position.

The company is in talks to transfer its spectrum holdings to MTN Nigeria, according to people familiar with the matter. The deal, which is still pending regulatory approval from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), would cover Mafab's 2×20 MHz block in the 2.1 GHz band and its 100 MHz block in the 3.5 GHz band — the same 3.5 GHz block it won at Nigeria's inaugural 5G spectrum auction.

MTN Nigeria, Mafab Communications, and the NCC did not respond to requests for comment before publication.

A Bigger Clean-Up Underway

Sources close to the matter say this is not just about Mafab. The NCC is conducting a wider review of how Nigeria's most valuable telecom spectrum is being used, with a focus on moving frequencies out of the hands of operators who are not fully deploying them.

"It is a bigger clean-up than Mafab," one person familiar with the NCC's plans told TechCabal, adding that the regulator wants to ensure "limited valuable spectrum is in the hands of those who need it."

The NCC manages frequency assignments across commercial bands including 2.1 GHz, 2.3 GHz, 2.6 GHz, and 3.5 GHz. Its spectrum management framework requires operators to submit utilisation and interference reports, and the regulator has long maintained that spectrum discipline is central to its policy goals.

Megatech, Globacom, and the Secondary Market

One deal has already gone through. Megatech Engineering Limited, which acquired a 2.6 GHz spectrum licence from the NCC in March 2020, has since transferred that asset to Globacom in a transaction valued at more than ₦20 billion ($15.01 million), according to sources with knowledge of the deal.

Megatech had originally obtained the 2.5/2.6 GHz spectrum for national telecoms operations, but it never built out the kind of network associated with an established mobile carrier. The transfer to Globacom illustrates how a secondary spectrum market is quietly taking shape in Nigeria — one where frequencies migrate from holders that cannot deploy them to operators with both the infrastructure and the demand to do so.

This kind of secondary reallocation is common in mature telecom markets, and it is increasingly becoming part of the conversation in African tech and telecoms policy circles as spectrum scarcity intensifies with 5G rollouts.

ntel Also Under Review

NatCom Development and Investment Limited, which operates commercially as ntel, is also understood to be under the NCC's broader spectrum review — though the specifics of what changes may be required remain unclear.

ntel inherited a significant portfolio of spectrum assets when it acquired the core telecom infrastructure of the defunct NITEL/M-Tel in 2015. That portfolio includes 5 MHz of paired 900 MHz spectrum and 10 MHz of paired 1800 MHz spectrum spread across 19 states, plus 2100 MHz spectrum for 3G and 4G services under its original national licence.

Despite these holdings, ntel's ongoing operational and financial difficulties have restricted its ability to fully activate those assets — making it a candidate for the same kind of scrutiny now facing Mafab.

If the Mafab-to-MTN transfer receives NCC approval, it would reshape Nigeria's 5G operator map and send a clear message that holding spectrum without deploying it is no longer acceptable. For an industry watching Nigeria's telecom sector closely, this cleanup could redefine who the country's real 5G players are going forward.