en.Wedoany.com Reported - On July 8, South Africa's MTN Group and Mauritius-based Telecel Group confirmed their plans to participate in Ghana's upcoming 5G license auction. The auction is expected to take place within the next few weeks, following the Ghanaian government's decision to revoke the exclusive concession of Next Gen Infraco (NGIC) to build and operate a 5G wholesale network in the country.
NGIC obtained a 10-year exclusive license in 2024, originally set to expire in 2034, with a business model of building a neutral wholesale network to be shared by multiple operators. The Ghanaian government, local operators, and equipment and technology companies such as Nokia, Radisys, and Tech Mahindra participated in the related network ecosystem, with Radisys, a subsidiary of India's Reliance Industries, selected as the primary network infrastructure provider. NGIC subsequently initiated 5G network construction, but operator access, site deployment, and coverage expansion have all lagged behind the planned schedule. Ghana's National Communications Authority has begun modifying and revoking its exclusive license, enabling other mobile operators to directly obtain spectrum and build their own 5G networks.
As of March 2026, NGIC had only 49 5G sites operational or ready for activation, 43 of which are located in the Greater Accra region. The company had previously proposed building 1,200 sites by 2027, but the current scale still falls significantly short of that target.
The new licensing scheme will no longer rely entirely on a single wholesale network. Ghana plans to retain both the shared wholesale infrastructure and operator-built network paths, allowing spectrum winners to deploy radio access equipment, core networks, and supporting transmission systems, while continuing to supplement coverage in some areas through the wholesale network. The spectrum to be auctioned includes the 3.5GHz and 26GHz bands, with the former suitable for continuous urban coverage and capacity expansion, and the latter primarily for densely populated areas, high-capacity hotspots, and fixed wireless access scenarios. Specific bandwidth, starting conditions, and license durations for the relevant spectrum have not yet been announced.
Stephen Blewitt, CEO of MTN Ghana, a subsidiary of South Africa's MTN Group, stated that the company will participate in the license bidding; Moh Damush, CEO of Mauritius' Telecel Group, also confirmed the bidding plan. If the two companies obtain spectrum, they will shift from the current model of leasing or waiting for shared network resources to an operator-led model where they can independently plan base stations, wireless capacity, and network expansion pace.
Ghana has a population of approximately 35 million, and its mobile data market is primarily operated by MTN Ghana and Telecel Ghana. MTN accounts for about 80% of the country's mobile data users. Telecel previously acquired Vodafone's local business in Ghana and provides roaming services to users of another operator, AT. Telecel has proposed that license allocation should not be determined solely by the highest bid, and that auction rules must also address the relationship between spectrum quantity, market share, and the network construction capabilities of different operators.
The latest construction target set by the Ghanaian government is to achieve 5G network coverage for 70% of the country's population by March 2027. GSMA Intelligence estimates that if the country expands commercial 5G deployment in the near term, population coverage could reach 7% by the end of 2026; during the same period, Nigeria is expected to reach 22%, Kenya 38%, and South Africa has already exceeded 60%. The license auction starting in the coming weeks will determine which operators obtain the new spectrum and how NGIC's existing 49 sites will be integrated into the new hybrid network of wholesale and operator-built infrastructure.
