STAKEHOLDERS in the country’s telecommunications sector have expressed concern over increasing number of idle spectrum in the sector and called on the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to address it, if Nigeria is to meet the 30 per cent broadband penetration target by 2018.

Idle spectrum are regulator’s licensed spectrum to operators which could not muster enough financial power to rollout service as well as those that rolled out but could not survive the market environment and had to close shop.

Nigeria CommunicationsWeek investigations revealed that idle spectrum in the sector is more than the one that are in use presently.

According to Gbenga Adebayo, chairman, Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria, (ALTON) ‘we had about 35 members of our association at inception, but today we are only 15 members’.

What this means is that some 20 operators with spectrum are no longer in operation and their spectrum are lying idle.

This is only on the side of telecommunications operators similar situation exists in internet service providers association of Nigeria (ISPAN), umbrella body of internet service providers in the country.