5G will Positively Impact Nigeria’s Digital Economy, Says NCC Chairman

The Chairman, Board of Commissioners of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Adeolu Akande, has stated that the full deployment of 5G technology in the country would have positive impact on Nigeria’s digital economy.

Speaking yesterday at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the NCC and the Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NigComSat) on the full deployment of 5G in Abuja, Akande said 5G would build on the successes of the previous generations of 2G, 3G and 4G, adding that spectrum plays a great role in the deployment of 5G.

He said: “Spectrum plays a critical role in realizing the full extent of these new capabilities. Thus, 5G’s full socio-economic impact is dependent on access to a variety of spectrum resources.

“This Spectrum will play a key role in meeting the demand for many enhanced mobile data services as well as new wireless broadband cases such as remote object manipulation, industrial automation, virtual and augmented reality and next-generation connectivity for vehicle.

“The 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 cases and applications that will positively impact different sectors and improve efforts towards achieving digital economies.”

He praised the two agencies for their foresight in the early deployment of 5G in the country, adding that the managements of NigComSat and NCC had 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, he observed, sought to ensure synergy among agencies under the Federal Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy.”

The Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, said the 3.4 GHz -3.9GHz is the best frequency allocated by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), adding: “Among the frequency spectrum bands allocated to 5G by the ITU, the C-band (3.4GHz – 3.9GHz) stands out because its balancing point between coverage and capacity provides the perfect environment for 5G connectivity.”

According to him, the C-band is most suitable and appropriate for immediate deployment of 5G services, taking into consideration availability of device ecosystem with 60-70 per cent of global commercial 5G network deployment currently in the band.

He, therefore, noted that the importance of this spectrum for early deployment of 5G services in Nigeria cannot be over emphasised.

Danbatta stated that the two agencies have been in discussions on how to relocate the operations of NG-1R to the standard C-band 300MHz (3.9GHz – 4.2GHz) potion of the band, which is more suitable in terms of satellite service offering, because end-user terminals are cheaper there, while leaving the non-standard C-band 400MHz (3.5GHz – 3.9GHz) portion of the band for 5G use.