The Federal Government has approved the National Policy on Fifth Generation (5G) networks for Nigeria’s Digital Economy.
This was approved by the Federal Executive Council following the presentation by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami.
The implementation of the National Policy is set to take effect immediately.
The minister explained that the benefits that accrue from employing such network include larger capacity, higher data rates among other economic, health, security, and educational opportunities.
According to the Minister, the radiation from the 5G has proven to be lower than the 4G, televisions or microwaves, contrary to the 5G stories pushed on social media.
He said, “Mine is a memo in which I presented before the Federal Executive Council, which has also been approved after deliberation. That is the National Policy on Fifth Generation Networks for Nigeria’s digital economy, the national policy on 5G.
“That policy has been approved by the Federal Executive Council today. Furthermore, the policy discusses the benefits to be attained through the deployment of 5G in Nigeria and in any part of the world which includes lower latency, larger capacity, and higher data rate.”
The Technical Assistant (on Information Technology) to the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Femi Adeluyi disclosed in a statement in Abuja, that the National Policy has been developed over a period of 2 years, due to the need for extensive stakeholder engagement and the need to ensure adequate public awareness and sensitization.
The multi-sectoral stakeholder engagement took into account the report of the 3-month 5G trials that commenced on the 25th of November 2019.
The report critically reviewed and studied the health and security implications of deploying 5G in Nigeria.
International organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), an organ of the United Nations, have confirmed that the deployment of 5G networks leave no adverse health effect and are safe.
According to Adeluyi, some countries like the United States, United Kingdom, Republic of Korea, South Africa and Lesotho etc. have already commenced the deployment of 5G and are enjoying its benefits
The National Frequency Management Council (NFMC) will soon release spectrum to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) that meet all the required conditions.
What you should know
- In telecommunications, 5G is the fifth generation technology standard for broadband cellular networks, which cellular phone companies began deploying worldwide in 2019, and is the planned successor to the 4G networks which provide connectivity to most current cellphones.
- It can be recalled that there has been concerns about the deployment of the 5G communications network especially over its purported association with the Covid-19 outbreak.
- On May 19, 2021, the Senate asked the Federal Government to suspend plans to deploy the 5G network pending a 6-month investigation into possible health risks associated with the technology.
- Earlier in August 2021, Pantami explained that the work on the national policy on 5G stands was 95% done and will be presented to the federal executive council (FEC) for approval.
- Several countries which have already commenced the deployment of 5G and are enjoying its benefits include the United States, United Kingdom, Republic of Korea, South Africa and Lesotho, who are currently operating on the network.
