Page 116 - SAMENA Trends - May-June 2024

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

Gen Infrastructure Company (NGIC) will be the first 5G accessible to all mobile network operators and tower
Mobile Broadband Shared Infrastructure Entity to build companies, will help to expand 5G services rapidly
a nationwide 4G/5G network. The company will also across the country. (June 3, 2024) www.vanillaplus.com
work with MNO partners to launch affordable 4G/5G-
enabled FWA CPEs and smart phones in Ghana within Ghana's government has awarded a 5G license to a
this calendar year. The partnership aims to enhance new "shared infrastructure" operator backed by India's
the lives of Ghanaians by introducing digital services in Reliance Industries and companies including Microsoft
education, healthcare and digital payment transactions and Nokia. Next-Gen InfraCo (NGIC), as it is branded,
through P2P (peer-to-peer), P2M (peer-to-merchant) will be 55% owned by Ascent Digital Solutions, a
and M2M (merchant-to-merchant) systems, thereby digital marketing agency, and K-NET, a consulting firm,
reducing digital divide and promoting financial inclusion. with another 10% held by the government of Ghana,
Additionally, the multiplayer partnership will support according to media reports. Others involved in the
NGIC in the entire deployment of network infrastructure project include Reliance's Radisys unit, Indian systems
and associated services, as communications service integrator Tech Mahindra and Ghanaian service
providers (CSPs) are looking to address enterprise and providers AT Ghana and Telecel Ghana. Having secured
consumer markets with enhanced digital services. To a license with an exclusive right to offer 5G services in
achieve this, Tech Mahindra will build a Cloud Native Ghana for the next decade, it is targeting a service in
Core Network powered by OEM (original equipment the next six months and has a stated goal of making
manufacturer) platforms. NGIC plans to adopt India’s 5G mobile broadband services affordable. "Next-Gen
model of affordable handsets, digital platforms and Infrastructure Company (NGIC) will be the first 5G
localized content and applications. The goal is to Mobile Broadband Shared Infrastructure Entity to build
replicate this high-speed mobile data model across a nationwide 4G/5G network," said the company in a
Africa, beginning with Ghana. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, press release. "The company will also work with MNO
Minister for Communications and Digitalization for the [mobile network operator] partners to launch affordable
Republic of Ghana, said, “The creation of a shared 5G 4G/5G-enabled FWA [fixed wireless access] CPEs
Mobile Broadband Infrastructure is critical for delivering [customer premises equipment] and smartphones in
affordable, high-speed data access to the people Ghana within this calendar year." NGIC is to invest $145
of Ghana and help achieve our Digital Ghana vision. billion in capital expenditure over the next three years,
The creation of NGIC as a neutral, shared platform, according to reports. (May 28, 2024) www.lightreading.com

India has offered telecom spectrum worth around has no spectrum pending for renewal, is likely to be
962.38 billion rupees ($11.53 billion) for auction, it selective. Debt-ridden VI may only bid for spectrum that
said in a release, even as analysts expect lacklustre is expiring or to fill in gaps, the note added. The auction
participation from players as they shore up their was delayed twice until a new government was elected,
India existing spectrum. A total of 10 GHz of radiowaves local newspaper The New Indian Express reported
earlier this month, citing unnamed officials. Shares of
is up for sale in this auction, ranging between 800
MHz to 26 GHz. The Indian government derives a big the two listed telecom firms erased early gains on the
chunk of its revenue from spectrum auctions, which day, with VI down 0.17% and Bharti Airtel down 0.3%.
award telecom companies rights over airwaves for a (June 25, 2024) www.ca.finance.yahoo.com
particular period. During the previous auction in August
2022, telecom players Vodafone Idea (VI), Bharti Airtel The Department of Telecom (DoT) has directed
and Reliance Industries' Jio Infocomm together picked telecom operators to block 28,200 mobile handsets
up 5G spectrum worth $19 billion to boost capacities and carry out immediate reverification of 20 lakh mobile
in the world's second-largest smartphone market. The connections for their alleged link with cybercrimes,
amount of spectrum up for auction this time around according to an official statement. DoT, Ministry of
is lower than the previous year's, as telecom firms Home Affairs (MHA), and state police have joined
have already acquired enough to meet most of their hands for curbing the misuse of telecom resources in
bandwidth requirements in the previous auction, also a cyber-crime and financial frauds and aim to dismantle
likely indication that they would not be bidding for bigger networks of fraudsters and protect citizens from digital
blocks. "Bidding unlikely to be a spirited exercise... threats, it said. "Analysis carried out by MHA and state
we do not expect any player to bid aggressively at police has revealed that 28,200 mobile handsets were
the auction," analysts at Antique Stock Broking said misused in cybercrimes. The DoT further analyzed and
in a note. Antique expects Bharti to bid for some of found that a staggering 20 lakh numbers were used
its expiring spectrum - airwaves where its license is with these mobile handsets. "Subsequently, DoT issued
expiring - worth 38.2 billion rupees, while Jio, which directions to telecom service providers for pan India

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