CRAN cancels UCOM Mobile Namibia spectrum licenses

The Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) has cancelled the spectrum licenses of UCOM Mobile Namibia (formerly MTN Business Namibia) for failure to settle over 19.3 million Namibian dollars (US$1 million) in license fees.

According to CRAN CEO Emilia Nghikembua, the cancelation comes after UCOM Mobile Namibia failed to honor a payment arrangement entered with the regulator.

Furthermore, she said the telco failed to efficiently utilize the awarded spectrum, resulting in spectrum hoarding.

"CRAN herewith informs stakeholders and consumers that it has canceled the spectrum licenses awarded to UCOM Mobile Namibia - formerly known as Mobile Telephone Networks Business Solutions Namibia (MTN) - issued between November 2014 and April 2020," Nghikembua said.

The cancelation also follows an unsuccessful mediation process and the Namibian High Court granting a default judgment against UCOM Mobile on November 16, 2023.

"The nonpayment of spectrum fees and hoarding of spectrum constitute a material breach of the license conditions and are classified as grounds for license cancellation," the CEO explained.

She added that to find a lasting solution to the compliance matters, CRAN held extensive consultations with UCOM Mobile Namibia, however, such engagements did not yield any corrective outcomes.

Slight reprieve for UCOM Mobile

Even though the telco's license has been canceled, it has been given six months to migrate its subscribers and close its operations.

"In consideration of the impact of this decision on consumers and UCOM Mobile Namibia, CRAN has granted UCOM Mobile Namibia six months until June 2024, to facilitate the migration of their approximately 1,000 customers and to conduct an orderly wind-up of their operations. After this stipulated period, all services will be terminated," Nghikembua explained.

She said the Authority remained committed to ensuring a viable telecommunications market that generates consumer benefits, through the promotion of competition.

UCOM Mobile Namibia failed to honor a payment arrangement entered with CRAN resulting in its spectrum licenses being revoked. (Source: Image by Allexxandar on Freepik)

"This commitment will, amongst others, be executed through ensuring regulatory compliance to license conditions and operating parameters, which is the backbone of consumer protection," she concluded.

Statistics from market research company Omdia, a sister company of Connecting Africa, show that Namibia has two main telecom companies, MTC Namibia and Telecom Namibia.

Omdia reports that MTC Namibia was the largest telco at the end of the third quarter of 2023 with an estimated 2.1 million subscribers. Telecom Namibia was far behind with just 340,500 subscribers in the same period. UCOM Mobile Namibia's subscribers are not listed by Omdia, but the regulator puts them at about 1,000.

MTN Group exit

The telco's problems could have been exacerbated by the departure of MTN Group in 2022. The South African telco disinvested from Namibia and approved a transfer of shares to its local shareholder Profile Technologies with no impact on the license and its conditions at the time.

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The departure led to shareholders rebranding to UCOM Mobile Namibia.

Before exiting Namibia, MTN Group was in the country for over two decades, operating through MTN Business Namibia, which was partly owned by Profile Investment Holdings.

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*Top image is of CRAN CEO Emilia Nghikembua. (Source: CRAN.)

— Matshepo Sehloho, Associate Editor, Connecting Africa