The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is currently working on a policy that would drive 5G development in Nigeria.
The Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), the Academia, Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Industry Consultative Advisory Forum (ICAF) and a host of others are involved in the policy development according to the Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Professor Umar Danbatta, who spoke to IT reporters today.
Danbatta said, the goal of the policy is to drive 5G, ensure Nigerians harness all the benefits of 5G and ensure the safety of 5G networks in Nigeria.
The policy is also aiming to tap into a global goods and services worth $13.2 trillion, by 2035, that would be supported and enabled by 5G networks and operations, according to a landmark economy study conducted by Qualcom, a global IT company.
According to the ITU, 5G technologies is expected to connect people, things, data, applications, transport systems and cities in smart networked communications environments. 5G is meant to seamlessly connect a massive number of embedded sensors in virtually everything through the ability to scale down in data rates, power, and mobility – providing extremely lean and low-cost connectivity solutions.
The EVC said the economic benefits of 5G to Nigeria post corona virus pandemic will be huge, especially as almost all businesses and activities of government are migrating and offering their services online, as 5G will enable a new kind of network for Nigerians designed to connect virtually everyone and everything together including machines, objects, and devices and usher in the era of Internet of Things and faster innovation in Artificial Intelligence applications.
Danbatta said Nigeria’s vibrant youth population stands to benefit immensely from the deployment of 5G as it will offer techno-entrepreneurs, technology enthusiasts, SMEs and Tech-startups the platform to expand and network with other global players on a scale that has never been witnessed before.
With high speeds, superior reliability and negligible latency, 5G the EVC argues, will expand the mobile ecosystem into new realms, with promises to impact every industry, creating safer transporting systems, improving access to healthcare for our rural populace, increasing output from the agriculture sector, and digitized logistics among others.
“5G promises to provide increased speed and bandwidth as well as providing deeper coverage to reach people in rural or challenging locations. In addition, 5G will provide strong security for the various sectors of government and private organizations”, he said.
