Bitflux Communications, the winner of a national 2.3GHz spectrum licence that was auctioned off in February last year, has rolled out a limited wholesale wireless broadband network in parts of Lagos, with plans to launch full commercial services in the city by the end of the year. Bitflux director Biodun Omoniyi told local newspaper Daily Trust that the 4G LTE network is ready in ‘a controlled area in Lagos’ and revealed that services are live in some parts of the city. A commercial launch is planned for Lagos by the end of the year, with network rollout in Abuja and Port Harcourt scheduled for 2016. ‘We have our network ready in a controlled area in Lagos. It took us this long to roll out because the 2.3GHz spectrum is a very high frequency spectrum which requires very huge funds and sound technology to put in place. Because we did not want a situation where our service will not be up to standard, we took our time to put in place the best network,’ Omoniyi is quoted as saying.
A consortium of VDT Communications, BitCom Systems and Superflux International, Bitflux emerged as the winner of the Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC’s) 2.3GHz spectrum auction in February 2014 with a bid of USD23.251 million, beating Globacom’s offer of USD23.050 million. The 30MHz of spectrum will be used to provide wholesale wireless broadband access services to ISPs and other retail telecoms service providers, which in turn will offer retail high speed internet services to consumers. Earlier this year, Biodun Omoniyi, CEO of VDT Communications, said that rollout was originally expected to take place in 1Q15, but had been delayed by ‘investment challenges’ in Nigeria.