Yemisi Izuora
The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, has asked the public to disregard fresh reports in some online media suggesting that the NCC has completed arrangement for the deployment of Standalone (SA) 5G in Nigeria in late 2021.
Ikechukwu Adinde, Director Public Affairs of the NCC, confirmed to Oriental News Nigeria, that there is no iota of truth in such reports.
In a telephone conversation this morning, Adinde said stakeholders engagement is still ongoing as the agency is not in a hurry for the deployment without proper understanding of the inherent values of the technology.
According to some online report, the deployment news was from a consultation document published by the NCC on Thursday.
The document focuses on plans for the deployment of 5G technology in Nigeria; with the NCC inviting feedback from industry stakeholders on the next generation technology, the reports said.
Furthermore, the document captures the NCC’s views regarding potential changes to the nation’s regulatory framework to address the unique challenges of 5G technology.
In addition, it sets out the spectrum that will be made available for 5G; as well as a schedule for the rollout of the platform.
Under the current plan, 5G spectrum auctions would take place in Q2 2021 and Q4 2021; with the airwaves assigned in Q1 2022 and commercialised by Q4 2022. In addition to the planned rollout of SA 5G in late 2021, the rollout of the Non-Standalone (NSA) variant would follow in early 2022.
On spectrum, the NCC identified the following ranges for the first phase of 5G deployment; alongside details of their current usage and plans for their release, recovery, refarming and/or replanning. These include 2100MHz band; 2300MHz-2400MHz; 2600MHz-2690MHz; 3300MHz-3400MHz; 3500MHz-3600MHz; 3600MHz-3700MHz; 4800MHz-4900MHz; 24.25GHz-27.5GHz; and 37.0GHz-43.5GHz.
Meanwhile, for the second phase of the rollout; the NCC noted that it would consider the release of some or all of the following bands; based on New Radio support, maturity and device availability: 1427MHz-1518MHz; 45.5GHz-47GHz; 47.2GHz-48.2GHz; and 66GHz-71GHz, said the reports.
However, Adinde, drew our Correspondent’s attention to advertorial by the NCC on the issue aired by the Nigerian Television Authority, NTA and the AIT.
He warned against misleading news items being conveyed to the public by media platforms without seeking clarifications.