The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says that MAFAB Communications‘ 5G service is now live.
It answered a claim on social media that MAFAB hadn’t started the service after two years.
In February 2022, MAFAB gave the NCC $237.6 million for its 5G permit.
MTN Nigeria and Airtel Nigeria also wanted the most sought-after licence. That day, only MAFAB and MTN won. The next year, Airtel got its 5G license.
After getting the licence, MAFAB started doing business in Abuja (January 24) and Lagos (January 26). There are videos online to help. The business said it would open in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Kano, and Kaduna.
The agency said it keeps an eye on MAFAB and gets updates on the “status of infrastructure deployment for service offerings” on a regular basis. This is allowed by the license.
Read also: MTN, Mafab to Launch 5G Spectrum by August 2022
NCC defends MAFAB
Abubakar Sidiq Usman, a media and social entrepreneur, wrote on August 1 that MAFAB still hadn’t launched its 5G service nearly two years after getting the license.
He also said that the telco broke a rule that says all 5G providers must launch their services no more than a year after getting permission to do so.
The NCC denied the report and claimed MAFAB’s 5G was fully functional. The regulator’s response exacerbated 5G fears. Companies have PR teams to maintain their boss’s reputations.
The regulator, which should be impartial, contested Usman’s tweet. After that, Twitter users questioned MAFAB’s 5G launch. @pdauda wrote, “Instead of ostensibly doing PR for an industry player, the regulator should make sure MAFAB has a working website and maybe share testimonials from real customers who can be verified.”
People rarely talk about MAFAB’s 5G service. Nigeria’s telecom market is very competitive, and customers of Starlink are worried about how well its signal works when it rains. Feedback, good or bad, is important. It makes sure the service works.
MAFAB’s website fails to impress. 5G bundles and tariff arrangements are not priced.
NCC contemplating more 5G licenses after MTN and Mafab paid $273.6 million
MAFAB’s abilities
When it was reported that MTN Nigeria and another, less well-known company had gotten 5G licences, many people wanted to know who MAFAB was. More importantly, they wanted to know how a company that started in 2020 got over $200 million to win the licence deal.
Today, questions about the company still exist. After the NCC tried to stop rumors about 5G availability, MAFAB should make a formal statement that backs up what the regulator said. For more impact, it can show Nigerians that it offers 5G by highlighting comments from customers. Doubts probably won’t go away until either or both of those things happen.