NCC Seals Cobranet offices over Illegal Frequency Spectrum

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has closed down the offices of Cobranet, a telecoms company based in Lekki, Lagos, and confiscated all its equipment.

The move followed an illegal occupation of frequencies by Cobranet in some bands mapped out for broadband services in the country, consequently leading to the disruption of the services of the legal service providers. According to a release signed by the Head, Media & Public Relations of NCC, Mr. Reuben Muoka; “The Commission, in 2009, developed guidelines for the deployment of frequency services on the 5.2 – 5.9GHz bands.

“In April 2011, however the Commission declared the 5.470 – 5.725 portion of this spectrum as licensed, licensable and not licence exempt in Nigeria consequently, warning all companies without a license of the commission to avoid transmitting signals, or using equipment on this frequency band”, he added.

Muoka said after the final warnings by the commission in June, 2011 to service providers to get licensed or stay away from the frequencies, Cobranet had still gone behind its back to transmit signals on the affected frequencies, subsequently leading them to take the enforcement action of shutting down the Cobranet office.

“The Commission, after a final warning on the issue in June 2011, discovered that Cobranet was still transmitting signals on the affected frequencies, hence an enforcement action against the company, resulting in its being shut down by the Commission, and its equipment disconnected and confiscated all its transmission equipment,” the statement said.

The Head of Compliance Monitoring of the Commission, Mr. Efosa Idehen, who led the enforcement action, said Cobranet held that the company would not only lose on its confiscated properties, but would also pay some yet-to-be determined amount of money to be calculated by the frequency department of the Commission, with reference to the space and time the company had illegally occupied the band.

Idehen also said the action of the company was detrimental to the service quality of other providers as illegal occupations of frequencies would definitely degrade the quality of the service of the other operators who have been legally operating on such frequencies.

Commenting, Mr. Reuben Muoka, who said the frequency spectrum was a finite resource whose use must be in accordance with the set guidelines and conditions, advised other defaulters that the clampdown on Cobranet was a signal to other operators who may be operating without proper authorisation or without recourse to all the rules of the game in the telecommunications industry.

“The current leadership at the Commission is focused on compliance to the rules, hence the need for all operators to adhere to all the rules and conditions in service provisioning for the benefit of the subscribers and the nation or face the music,” he said.