The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has debunked speculations that 5G mobile technology is responsible for the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic.
NCC’s director of public affairs, Dr. Henry Nkemadu, in a statement on Monday said that there was no correlation between 5G Technology and COVID-19. 5G, which he explained was an advancement on today’s 4G technology designed to transform the world positively.
Nkemadu said no 5G licence had been issued to any service provider, the technology is yet to be deployed and that it was not any different from the present 4G technology when it comes to radiation emissions.
He said the NCC back in November 2019 approved trial test for 5G for a period of three (3) months and that the trial has been concluded and installation decommissioned.
“The trial among others was to study and observe any health or security challenges the 5G network might present. Relevant stakeholders including members of the security agencies were invited to participate during the trial”, he said.
According to Nkemadu, the NCC, “Will continue to maintain its policy of technology neutrality and will continue to encourage Service providers to deploy the best technology that will meet the needs of the society in a secured and friendly manner.”
Explaining what the 5G is, he said it “Is a fifth generation of mobile technology which is an improvement of today’s 4G technology with enhanced capabilities.
“5G technology provides the platform for new and emerging technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Big Data to improve the way we live and work.”
Presently, he said there was no 5G network in Nigeria at the moment. What we had was a trial test for 3 months which has since been concluded.
There is also no exact time frame but when conditions are right and all doubts are cleared.
On the radiation level of 5G in comparison to those of 2G, 3G and 4G, Nkemadu said, “They all belong to the same class of Non-ionizing Radiation.”
He also said that there was nothing to worry about when it comes 5G and public health. “Safety and human health are top priority in the design and deployment of 5G,” he said.
On the benefits of 5G technology, the director said it “will transform the world by connecting everything with everybody. It will create millions of jobs, it will add billions of dollars to the economy (GDP) and can solve some of our problems such as insecurity and improve governance and efficiency in the society.”
He however said the public should not ignore all the negative narrative about 5G, but should rely on information from world Standards making bodies such as WHO, ITU, IEEE and industry experts for advice when in doubt.
The NCC, he said had been regularly conducting measurements of Radiation emissions from Base stations across the country and they are all well below the set limits.
He said there are other sources of Radiation which include television stations, radio broadcasts stations, Wi-Fi and so on and they all belong to the class of Radiation considered to be safe for humans when operated below the set limits.
