The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said that 5G trials, by MTN under the supervision of the Commission, that have taken place in Lagos, Abuja and Calabar, have put Nigeria on the global map of digital revolution.
NCC spoke at the maiden of the Information Technology Association of Nigeria (ITAN) dinner and awards held at the Sheraton Hotel & Towers, Lagos recently.
The Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Professor Umar Danbatta, who was represented, by Dr Henry Nkemadu, Director of Public Affairs, said the regulator now stands as the first telecoms regulator in West Africa to proactively begin the lofty journey to this next-level of digital revolution through ongoing trials, preparatory to widespread commercial launch of 5G from 2020.
According to NCC the 5G services, like 2G, 3G and 4G, requires robust infrastructure and will ride on the robust broadband infrastructure deployment being driven by the Commission, through InfraCo initiatives.
The Commission, 5G represents the future, adding that though it has made tremendous progress since the advent of the global system of mobile communication (GSM) in Nigeria, 5G will be the bedrock of future communications.
According to GSMA’s Policy Position on 5G spectrum, ‘5G is expected to support significantly faster mobile broadband speeds and lower latencies than previous generations while also enabling the full potential of the Internet of Things.’
5G will revolutionise our way of life, from education to agriculture, security to entertainment, and governance in general, 5G will facilitate economic growth, as businesses and individuals will be able to access very high-speed broadband services that will improve their efficiency.
The Commission said “through stakeholder collaboration and, of course, recognition of industry players in the ICT ecosystem, as ITAN is doing today, we can only hope that all IT/telecoms organisations in the country will perform more competitively to drive the frontiers of ICT development for economy growth.”
