By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Nigerian Communications Satellite (NIGCOMSAT) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to facilitate the deployment of fifth-generation (5G) technology in the nation’s telecommunication sector.
Both agencies signed the agreement on the use of C-Band Spectrum for 5G services in Nigeria at an event held on Wednesday in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
According to the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners at the NCC, Mr Adeolu Akande, in recent times, precisely from the last quarter of 2019, several administrations have begun to license spectrum for commercial deployment of 5G.
He stated that 5G services have already 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 second-generation (2G), third-generation (3G) and later fourth-generation (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,” said Mr Akande.
According to him, 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.
Mr Akande explained that the role of the spectrum was critical in realising the full extent of the new capabilities, adding that the full socio-economic impact of 5G was dependent on access to a variety of spectrum resources.
NCC Executive Vice Chairman, Mr Umar Danbatta, on his part, said Nigeria cannot be left behind when several countries were already expanding their technologies through the 5G network.
He was confident that the synergy with NIGCOMSAT would help in harnessing the contagious quantum of spectrum needed for the early deployment of 5G in Nigeria.
Aduragbemi Omiyale