Yemisi Izuora
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has identified the critical support of telecommunications industry to foster sustainable socio-economic development of countries.
The NCC notes therefore that no economy will experience rapid development without significant investment in telecommunications sector.
Chairman of Board of Commissioners of the NCC, Prof. Adeolu Akande who indicated this said telecommunications evolution from inception to date has led to improvement in user experience witnessed from 2G, 3G and later 4G.
Akande who spoke at the signing of Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, between the NCC and Nigerian Communication Satellite Limited in Abuja, NigComSat, to facilitate the release of spectrum for commercial deployment of 5G services in Nigeria, recalled that in recent times, precisely from the last quarter of 2019, several administrations have begun to license Spectrum for commercial deployment of 5G.
He said that today, 5G services have already been deployed in United States of America, South Korea, United Kingdom, China, South Africa, Kenya and many more.
According to Akande, “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. In doing so, it enables new use cases and applications that will positively impact different sectors and improve efforts towards achieving Digital Economies.”
He further explained that it does not only offer enhanced broadband and ultra-low, ultra-reliable latency communications but also provide massive machine type communications, where a lot of devices will seamlessly connect and independently interact with the internet without human intervention, thus enabling several Smart City initiatives.
The chairman added that Spectrum plays a critical role in realising the full extent of
these new capabilities and that 5G’s full socio-economic impact is dependent on access to a variety of spectrum resources.
These Spectrum, he said will play a key role in meeting the demand for many enhanced mobile data services as well as new wireless broadband use cases such as remote object manipulation, industrial automation, virtual and augmented reality and next-generation connectivity for vehicles.
These use cases will continue to increase the impact that mobile services have on societies and economies.
In China, UAE, Europe, Africa, India, Brazil and Australia, the 3.5GHz band glaringly featured amongst the spectrum that has been prioritized for 5G with prospects for early deployment.
“Today, we are glad that the Management of NigComSat and NCC have taken a bold step in the right direction to release contagious quantum of Spectrum in the 3.5GHz band for early deployment of 5G.
This type of collaboration seeks to ensure synergy amongst agencies under the Federal Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy.
That being said , permit me to commend the efforts of the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC)/CEO of NCC Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta and his counterpart the Managing Director(MD) of NigComSat Ms. Abimbola Alale for taking an informed decision in national interest which will consequently foster the deployment of 5G and enable Nigeria tap its full potential.” Akande said.