• MTN commends the Government and ZICTA for the award.
• It will allow the company to boost the quality of services with direct effect.
• This is the second award of radio frequency spectrum in the 800 MHz frequency band by the Authority.

Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA) has awarded a telecommunication Company radio frequency spectrum in the 800 Megahertz (MHz), frequency band at a cost of 13.5 million US dollars.

Confirming the development to Money FM News, MTN Zambia Chief Executive Officer Bart Hofker commended Government and ZICTA for the award.

Mr. Hofker stated that following the acquisition of the spectrum, the Company intends to migrate 274 sites by Saturday 27th March 2021 on this frequency which will lead to enhanced quality of experience for customers through improved indoor coverage and network capacity.

He added that the acquisition of additional spectrum is another landmark in the telecommunication firm’s aim to serve customers, as this will allow the company to boost the quality of services.

“MTN Zambia’s acquisition of additional spectrum is another landmark in our aim to serve our customers as Zambia’s number 1 digital service provider. It will allow us to boost the quality of our services with direct effect and our teams are already working very hard to activate the spectrum this weekend.”

“Through the utilisation of our 800 MHz spectrum, we shall improve our data revenue performance with increased 4G coverage. We shall continue to put our customers first and to maintain the high standards we have set for ourselves,” Mr. Hofker said.

According to ZICTA, the decision to award spectrum in the 800MHz band to industry players is aimed at enhancing the quality of experience for consumers as adoption and usage has continued to grow exponentially.

The Authority says according to its 2020 Annual Market Report, active mobile telephone subscriptions increased from 17.2 million reported at the end of 2019 to 19.1 million subscriptions recorded at the end of 2020 reflecting an improvement of 10.9 percent.

This is the second award of radio frequency spectrum in the 800 MHz frequency band by the Authority in less than three months. In December 2020, Airtel Networks Zambia Plc was also awarded Spectrum in the same frequency band.