Spectrum trading attractive, problematic- Taylor

Shola Taylor, secretary-general of Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO), has called for caution among stakeholders as debate for and against spectrum secondary market, or spectrum trading rages on.

Taylor told Nigeria CommmunicationsWeek in Lagos recently that spectrum trading, though attractive, is still a very difficult issue, especially when the regulator is isolated in the process.

According to ICT Regulation Toolkits, “secondary trading of spectrum, permits the purchaser to change the use to which the spectrum was initially put while maintaining the right to use”.

Spectrum trading, viewed by many as the key step to be taken in the reform of spectrum management regulatory practice, is capable of unlocking the potential of new technologies and eliminating artificial scarcities of spectrum which find expression in inflated prices for spectrum-using services.

Recently, the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) ‎expressed deep concern about how the frequency spectrum is being managed in Nigeria.

Engineer Lanre Ajayi, former president of ATCON, said that while the members are delighted over the positive development in the industry, which has been identified as the fastest growing sector of the Nigerian economy, they are however worried about how the frequency spectrum is being managed, not only by NCC, but by other entities concerned with frequency management, including the National Frequency Management Board (NFMB).