By Asuelimen Osasuyi
Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, has said that industry collaboration is very essential to a successful deployment of 5G services in Nigeria
Prof. Danbatta, who spoke at the 90th Edition of the Telecom Consumer Parliament, TCP,hosted by the Consumer Affairs Bureau of the Commission urged industry stakeholders to stand with the Commission to explore the prospects and potentials of the new technology.
According to him, the policy framework for the deployment has come into place and will facilitate deployment of services by the recent winners of the 3.5GHz spectrum auction, MTN Nigeria Communications Ltd and MAFAB Communications Ltd.
He said the Commission has set out the regulatory instruments needed for fast deployment of the new versatile technology for the benefit of the consumers and the stakeholders.
Prof. Danbatta, therefore, invited the support of all stakeholders to ensure that 5G technology is deployed in Nigeria in a manner beneficial to all telecom consumers and to support the emergent Digital Economy Policy of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
He highlighted the potential use cases for 5G networks as broadly categorised by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to include Enhanced Mobile broadband (eMBB), Massive Machine-type Communications (mMTC), as well as Ultra-reliable and Low-latency Communications (uLLC)
“We will continue to collaborate with stakeholders across sectors to ensure faster deployment of 5G services, and accelerate the growth of Nigeria’s broadband infrastructure,” he said.
He identified some challenges in the deployment to include limited frequencies with the required spectral efficiency, skilled professionals with requisite knowledge of the technology, fewer number of 5G-enabled devices, and cost of deployment but stated that the industry must work to turn the challenges into opportunities rather than seeing them as obstacles.
