The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has assured Nigerians that the telecommunication industry is 97 percent ready for the deployment of Fifth Generation (5G) technology across the country.
Speaking on “NCC as a Digital Transformation Crusader and Nigeria’s in-Road to 5G Deployment,” at the annual African Tech Alliance Forum (AfriTech 2021) in Lagos yesterday, the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, said the Commission’s readiness is in line with federal government ‘s resolve to meet target set by the National Broadband Plan 2020-2025.
“2025The other day I was at the National assembly, I informed the senate that we were 95 per cent ready for 5G. Today as we speak, I am delighted to tell you that we are already at 97 per cent completion,” said Danbatta who was represented at the event by Engr. Oluwatoyin Asaju, Director, Spectrum Administration at NCC.
He said consistent with the Commission’s mandate as enshrined in the Nigerian Communications Act 2003 (NCA-2003) and other guiding legislation, NCC is working to ensure the penetration of broadband services in line with Federal Government’s targets, as contained in Nigerian National Broadband Plan (NNBP), 2020- 2025.
According to the NCC Boss, a Committee set up to auction the Spectrum has already developed and Information Memorandum (IM) which is already published for inputs and comments from all industry stakeholders. Prior to this, a 5G deployment plan was developed and we have since secured Federal Government’s approval,” he said.
He said this is in addition to a lot of other initiatives being put in place by the Commission to improve broadband connectivity in Nigeria, adding that the surge in Internet traffic induced by Covid-19 has continued to challenge National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) and other arms of governments to ensure deployment of adequate resources such as spectrum and other forms of support to increase network resilience and accessibility to telecommunication services.
“Emerging technologies such as 5G, which NCC is driving aggressively in Nigeria, Internet of Things (IoT); Cloud Computing; Quantum Computing Augmented/Virtual Reality, and similar emerging technologies are playing a critical role in improving remote communication over the internet with great user experience. The NCC is committed to promoting this inevitable change and enhance user experience through effective regulation of the telecoms sector,” the EVC added.