Samuel Dowuona, the Managing Director of TechGh24.com, has advised regulators to avoid repeating past mistakes made during the 4G auction as they transition to 5G connectivity.
NextGen InfraCo has been awarded the 5G licensing agreement.
In an interview with Bernard Avle on ChannelOne TV’s The Point of View, Mr. Dowuona expressed his belief that the approach used in the 4G auction should not be replicated in the 5G auction.
He reflected on how the focus shifted to money, overlooking the growth of the entire industry when the 4G network was introduced in 2015.
He voiced his concerns that market imbalances will continue if the regulator persists in repeating past mistakes.
“Now we have a Significant Market Power (SMP) in the market and even without mentioning the name, let’s just know that there’s an SMP. And then, we also have known SMPs, there have been measures that the regulator, representing the government, has been putting in place.
“There were specifically 7 measures that were put in place that were going to be implemented…so, once there’s an SMP, going forward, in terms of even giving licenses, we cannot keep doing the same things when we have an SMP in the market.
“It was even after the 4G licenses, the way we auctioned it, and eventually, a particular player now took the lead, and everybody else now began to tag along, and began to play catch up. Subsequently, even more spectrum was sold to the SMP because they are the only ones who have got the money, to as it were buy the licenses or buy the spectrum…Today we even have a player who doesn’t have a 4G network.”
He emphasised the importance of recognising a Significant Market Power (SMP) in the market, regardless of other players’ investment failures.
Mr. Dowuona also advocated for a level playing field for all players in a more competitive market
“We can’t say that because others failed to invest, and so they are now far behind, we should also sit down and allow the market to run in such a way that one day we end up in a monopoly, we can’t do that. Once there’s an SMP in the market, we also need to begin to do things in a certain way to just acknowledge that there’s a SMP.
“We can’t just go ahead and auction licenses when we know very well that we’re going to end up in a situation where only one player is going to be buying the license, at whatever price…and then we still have the same situation.”
He added, “The small wing for me is important, it means we’re taking steps to correct the market imbalances…So long as we have SMP in the market, we shouldn’t be doing things like we did in the past. Because otherwise, we’re not going to correct the market imbalances, we said we were going to correct.
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