Nigeria awards 3G telecoms licences to four firms

The three largest Nigerian mobile phone operators and one other company have won third-generation (3G) licences at a reserve price of $150 million, the regulator said on Tuesday, after a planned auction was cancelled.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said the local units of South Africa's MTN Group and Celtel, a unit of Kuwait's MTC, Nigeria's Globacom and Alheri Engineering, a subsidiary of the country's leading conglomerate Dangote Group, have 14 business days to pay for the licences. 3G services allow faster downloads of music, video and data on mobile phones.