The Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) has said that the current inadequacy in infrastructure spread may slow down the rollout and adoption of 5G network in the country.
The President of ATCON, Mr Tony Izuagbe, who stated this in a media chat on Tuesday said that the 5G technology rollout needed more infrastructure and more connectivity between the infrastructure.
According to him, the rate of adoption of the technology’s adoption would depend on the availability of the infrastructure that would support it.
Recent data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) shows that 5G subscriptions in the country stood at 0.83% as of August this year.
While 4G subscription in the country is still at about 28% and the operators are still investing in infrastructure to expand the network, Izuagbe noted that 5G network requires almost three times as many base stations as the 4G technology will require.
Benefits of 5G
Highlighting the benefits of the technology, Izuagbe said the 5G network would enable advanced technology, especially in areas with a high concentration of organizations leveraging technology and high data usage.
He said that the 5G technology is a great enabler, particularly as the world has moved into the Internet of Things era.
- “We are getting to an era where even your common household appliances become connected to the internet; 5G will enable that. There are also other things that 5G can enable. For example, when you talk about smart city, smart homes and having Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras around the country, all these can be 5G-enabled.
- “The 5G technology is for faster speed, more communication between devices, faster upload, smart city-enabled – enabling more devices to the cloud – and faster broadband spread to allow more devices on the network.
- “As we speak, in China, the 6G technology has already been deployed due to high data usage and heavy technological advancement,’’ he said.
Connectivity in rural areas
On deploying the 5G network at the grassroots, the ATCON president said that the proliferation of services was more important.
He said that ensuring that everybody, whether in the urban or rural centre, had access to communication should be the focus.
- “What we should be looking at is the proliferation of services so that everybody has access to communication. That is the first step. I won’t say 5G is not important or 4G. Access to communication is what we should be thinking about.
- “We should not be carried away with whether the 5G technology is reaching the grassroots; rather, we should be asking ourselves what the grassroots people need or what communication is needed at that level,” he said.
What you should know
5G is the fifth-generation technology standard for cellular networks which cellular phone companies began deploying worldwide in 2019. It is the successor to 4G technology that provides connectivity to most current mobile phones.
With the issuance of 5G licences to successful bidders of the 3.5GHz spectrum by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), 5G-licensed telecom operators have continued to roll out their 5G networks across the country.
While MTN rolled out the technology in September 2022, Mafab followed suit in January this year. The third licensed operator, Airtel, also launched the service in June this year.
