The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami has commended the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for what he described as a transparent, fair and credible 3.5GHz spectrum auction’ conducted in December last year.
The Minister, who spoke yesterday in Abuja at the official presentation of the spectrum allocation for Fifth Generation (5G) deployment in the Commission country to the Nigerian Communications Commission, also presented the National Policy on 5G Networks, a document earlier launched by President Muhammadu Buhari last month to the NCC.
“You were transparent, fair and credible in 3.5GHz spectrum auction,” he said.
He explained that the NFMC, which he chairs, has the responsibility for managing the allocation of commercial and non-commercial spectrum resources in the country while the NCC is facilitating the deployment of spectrum in the country. Hence, the Council decided to allocate the assigned spectrum for 5G network to the NCC to enable it to assign the same to the winners of the 3.5GHz spectrum auction.
According to him, 5G network, when deployed, will bring a lot of benefits and opportunities that will engender accelerated growth and smart living in the country. Some of the benefits he highlighted include substantial network improvements, including higher connection speed, mobility and capacity, as well as low-latency capabilities.
Meanwhile, the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta has said the collective efforts of the private sector and government support will make the deployment of the 5G network transform every aspect of the nation’s economy.
He believes that the expected transformation from 5G will be greater than what the nation witnessed with the 1G, 2G, 3G and 4G.
“We have been meticulous all the way in our 5G deployment journey, from trial across selected states in the country, to review and stakeholder engagement, to approval by the Federal Executive Council (FEC), to the 3.5GHz spectrum auction, and up to the official launch of the national policy on 5G network by the President. Now we have the official allocation of the spectrum to the NCC for onward assignments to the winners. So, the coast is clear for the country to assign the specific reference in the spectrum to the winners, upon announcement of payments,” Danbatta said.