The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Professor Umar Danbatta, has given a breakdown of everything the regulatory body is doing to prepare Nigerians for the launch of benefits of 5G technology.
Speaking at a webinar organised by the the National Information Technology Reporters Association on Wednesday, Danbatta referred to the controversy surrounding COVID-19 and 5G, saying it was normal for disagreements to follow the emergence of new technology.
He added, however, that they at the Commission were committed to examining the pros and cons.
“The socio-economic benefits of the expansion in telecommunications capabilities embarked upon by the Commission would be of immense benefit to the country, especially with the roll out of the 5G technology, which currently is being test run in about 40 countries.”
This, he said, would be a significant upgrade for networks and will be the backbone for the ICT industry post-pandemic recovery.
Danbatta said, “According to the ITU, 5G technology is expected to connect people, things, data, applications, transport systems and cities in smart networked communications environments.
“5G is meant to seamlessly connect a massive number of embedded sensors in virtually everything through the ability to scale down in data rates, power, and mobility – providing extremely lean and low-cost connectivity solutions.”
The Commission, he said, was vigorously working to establish a policy for 5G with multi-sector Stakeholders, including the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), The Academia, Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Industry Consultative Advisory Forum (ICAF) and a host of others.
“The Commission is also working to ensure the safety of 5G networks in Nigeria by having multi-stakeholder approach in environmental impact analysis on the use of 5G and the Electromagnetic Fields (EMF) impact on humans in Nigeria,” he stated.
Once this is done, he said, Nigerians can safely utilize 5G and reap all the economic, human and material benefits of 5G.
He said, “It will usher in the era of Internet of Things and faster innovation in Artificial Intelligence applications.
“Nigeria’s vibrant youth population stands to benefit immensely from the deployment of 5G as it will offer technopreneurs, technology enthusiasts, SMEs and Tech-startups the platform to expand and network with other global players on a scale that has never been witnessed before.”
With high speeds, superior reliability and negligible latency, 5G, he said will expand the mobile ecosystem into new realms.
According to him, “5G promises to impact every industry, creating safer transporting systems, improving access to healthcare for our rural populace, increasing output from the agriculture sector, and digitized logistics among others.
“According to a landmark economy study conducted by QUALCOMM, 5G will affect the global economy and drive growth exponentially. 5G’s full economic effect will likely be realized across the globe by 2035 – supporting a wide range of industries and potentially enabling up to $13.2 Trillion worth of goods and services. This impact is much greater than previous network generations.”
He said, 5G promises to provide increased speed and bandwidth as well as providing deeper coverage to reach people in rural or challenging locations. In addition, 5G will provide strong security for the various sectors of government and private organizations.
Due to its sheer scale and scope, the ITU predicts 5G, he said, will accelerate the achievement of all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) from affordable and clean energy to zero hunger.
