The Nigerian Telecommunications Limited, NITEL, and its subsidiary, Mtel , has been formally handed over to NATCOM Consortium by the Federal Government, after the full payment of $252,521,000 (about N42. 4 b) bid price to acquire the assets and business units of the nation’s premier telecommunications company.

NATCOM Chairman, Dr. Tunde Ayeni, who received the operational licences of NITEL and Mtel on behalf of his consortium, said that the team would work towards investing about $ 1 billion, with a view to providing Nigerian subscribers first-class rated services.

He acknowledged that the task ahead was enormous, since what they are taking over is the carcass of what used be NITEL/MTEL, and advancement in technology has made it imperative for them to start from the scratch in rolling out services in a stiffly competed market.