Spectrum Occupancy in Rural Nigeria: A Case for A Lightly Licensed Spectrum Band for Rural Broadband Enhancement

A detailed report of the spectrum occupancy measurement drive conducted outdoors in three rural villages of Asong in Mkpat Enin, Ikot Akpabio in Etinan, and Afaha Offioing in Nsit Ibom Local Government Areas of Akwa Ibom state in Nigeria on the UHF and VHF broadcast frequency bands is here presented. The spectrum usage on a highly conservative noise floor, was high in the VHF band, thereby not having enough free bandwidth for secondary spectrum access while the UHF band percentage utilization for the three villages were found to be at 33%, 41% and 55% with available free cumulative bandwidths of 264MHz, 232MHz, and 176MHz respectively. From the findings, Nigeria can comfortably accommodate a lightly licensed spectrum band in the UHF band to enhancer rural broadband services