The Nigerian Communications Commission has opened up the band 5.9 – 5.2 GHz for services in the urban and rural areas of the country.
Nigeria Communications Commission has developed guidelines for deployment of Wireless Access System in the band. This band can be deployed to provide WiMAX, Wi-Fi, Campus Local Area Network, public access, mass market and other related services. Consequent upon the above, the NCC is hereby providing regulatory guidelines to facilitate access to spectrum in the 5.9 – 5.2 GHz band for the implementation of these new and innovative wireless services in urban and rural areas
of the country. The bands under these guidelines are:
• 5.3 GHz band = 5.35-5.25 GHz
• 5.4 GHz band = 5.725-5.47 GHz
• 5.8 GHz band = 5.85-5.725 GHz
In order to accommodate all categories of operators and users, some segments of the spectrum has been identified for commercial use and others set-aside for private use. Commercial operators would be licensed to get exclusive rights to allocated spectrum. All equipment to be deployed in this band must be type approved by the commission prior to importation in compliance with section 132 of the Nigerian Communications Act 2003. The three bands are available for Wireless Access Service (WAS) of the many types that are or will become available in the world markets. The 5.4 GHz band is designated for unshared, coordinated and protected use of WAS. The 5.3 and 5.8 – 5.725 GHz bands are designated for the shared, uncoordinated and unprotected use of wireless access systems (WAS). Operators are advised to provide services with operational parameters flexible enough to accommodate all classes of users based on the followings:
• Flexible class of service per subscriber.
• Configurable up/down link data rate.
• Configurable RF channel separation.
• Dynamic bandwidth allocation to subscriber station based on
• Demand.
• Remote software downloads.
• Automatic channel search for subscriber stations.
There is no coverage restriction imposed on services deployed on the bands; however every technical restriction provided in this guideline must be strictly adhered to.