‘We Won’t Sell 9mobile to Bidder Without Technical Competence’

• ‘We Won’t Sell 9mobile to Bidder Without Technical Competence’

The Nigeria Communications Commission has said it will not approve the sale of 9mobile to any bidder without technical competence.

The Executive Vice Chairman, NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, said this in Lagos on Monday in an interview with journalists, according to the News Agency of Nigeria.

He said that a preferred bidder for 9mobile had emerged with the full participation of the NCC, adding that the bidder was already undergoing financial evaluation.

The preferred bidder for 9mobile, Teleology Holdings Limited, has paid $50m as 10 per cent of the bid price for the acquisition of the country’s fourth largest mobile operator, while Smile Communications is the reserved bidder.

Danbatta stated, “Once the Central Bank of Nigeria has done the financial evaluation of the bidder, the NCC will also examine the technical capacity of the preferred bidder.

“If the financial evaluation process was not done properly, the CBN will address questions on that; the examination process is meant to be open and transparent. The board of 9mobile was given the mandate with these requirements in mind.”

Danbatta also said that the NCC had licensed four infrastructure companies, adding, “Recently, Zinox Technology Limited was licensed for broadband infrastructure provisioning for the South-East zone, while Brinks Integrated Solutions Limited was issued a licence for the North-East zone.”