As part of an effort to pursue and ultimately attain the digital economy quest, which is being championed by the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy in partnership with other agencies of government and the private sector, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) last week released a document detailing why 5G technology is key to Nigeria as a country.
The telecom regulator believes that 5G will enable a new kind of network that is designed to connect virtually everyone and everything together including machines, objects and devices.
10 key points from the document are:
- 5G wireless technology is meant to deliver higher data speeds, ultra-low latency, more reliability, massive network capacity, increased availability, and a more uniform user experience.
- 5G has the potential to provide 20X faster data speeds and carries a massive amount of data for a large number of simultaneous users. This means users in high-density areas like airports, stadiums or urban areas can still experience the fast speeds and low latency of 5G service.
- 5G will potentially be able to handle more than 2.5 million connected devices per square mile. Meaning, it is a transformational change from 4G.
- 5G will enhance technological development because of the extremely fast transfer rate of large quantities of data. Overall, it enables interconnected devices for instant communication.
- 5G supports data transfer rates of up to 20Gbit/s, if supported by robust fibre infrastructure. Meaning, it will open up the potential for multiple driverless cars, where large quantities of potentially lifesaving data have to be transferred almost instantaneously.
- 5G network is designed to carry data up to 10 times faster than 4G networks. This means HD movies can be downloaded in seconds.
- The International Commission for Non-ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) has classified radiation from 5G as non-ionizing and therefore safe for human beings.
- 5G represents the future. While we have made tremendous progress since the advent of the global system of mobile communication (GSM) in Nigeria, 5G will be the bedrock of future communications.
- 5G is expected to support significantly faster mobile broadband speeds and lower latencies than previous generations while also enabling the full potential of the Internet of Things.
- 5G will revolutionize and transform education, agriculture, security, entertainment and governance in general.