One year after the Nigerian Senate directed the Nigerian government to suspend the deployment of the Fifth Generation 5G Network in the country, two agencies of the government, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Nigerian Communications Satellite (NIGCOMSAT) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to facilitate the deployment of 5G technology in the country.
With the signing of the MOU in Abuja on Wednesday, the use of C-Band Spectrum for 5G services will be effected in Nigeria.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners at the NCC, Prof. Adeolu Akande, disclosed that from the last quarter of 2019, several administrations have begun to license spectrum for commercial deployment of 5G.
He said that 5G services had been deployed in the United States and South Korea among many more countries in the world.
“Telecommunication evolution from inception to date has led to improvement in user experience witnessed from 2G, 3G and later 4G. The global impact of 4G brought about increases in mobile usage and network performance.
“5G will build on this momentum, bringing substantial network improvements, including higher connection speeds, mobility, and capacity, as well as low-latency capabilities,” local media reports on Thursday quoted Prof. Akande as saying.
He noted that 5G does not only offer enhanced broadband and ultra-reliable latency communications, but also provides massive machine-type communications where a lot of devices will seamlessly connect and independently interact with the internet without human intervention.
According to him, the role of spectrum is critical in realising the full extent of the new capabilities and that the full socio-economic impact of 5G is dependent on access to a variety of spectrum resources.
In his remarks, the NCC Executive Vice Chairman, Prof. Umar Danbatta, said that Nigeria could not be left behind when several countries were already expanding their technologies through the 5G network.
He assured that the synergy between the NCC and NIGCOMSAT would help in harnessing the contagious quantum of spectrum needed for the early deployment of 5G in Nigeria.
It will be recalled that in May 2020, the Nigerian Senate directed the Nigerian Government to suspend the planned deployment of the Fifth Generation 5G Network in Nigeria.
The Senate resolution was sequel to growing concerns by some scientists and medical experts that emission from 5G towers could adversely affect the health of citizens by causing symptoms like damage to the eyes and immune systems, among other adverse effects.
The lawmakers stated that several countries, including Switzerland, one of the world leaders in the roll out of 5G mobile technology had placed an indefinite moratorium on the use of 5G network because of the health concern.
GIK/APA