5G: FG Urges States to Look beyond Right of Way

Oghenevwede Ohwovoriole in Abuja

The federal government has advised state governors to look beyond the money they will collect from network operators who will deploy Fifth Generation Network (5G) in their states and see the gain that the deployment of 5G will bring to their respective states and the Nigeriian economy in general.

The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, gave the advice during a public workshop on National Policy on 5G Networks and handover of Spectrum Allocation for deployment in Abuja.

Pantami said: “The issue of right of way becomes a challenge from time to time. The government has addressed the issue more than 90 per cent but from time to time issues may come. I do hope that they will understand the economic benefit. The security benefits and many more of these technological advancement.

“It is beyond right of way charges. It goes beyond that. So let us try to make the process very easy for operators so that they will be able to deploy 5G.”

He added that the adoption of 5G technologies and rolling out 5G networks would support in the development of Nigeria’s digital economy.

“5G will provide very fast and reliable communication for our security personnel and allow them to swiftly access relevant data required to carry out their duties.The time required to access data for records from hours minutes.

“5G will allow for real time high quality and data intensive surveillance of relevant areas using high definition cameras.

“Emerging technologies like Blockchain can significantly improve transparency to the delivery of government services at all levels.The World Economic Forum attests to the potential of Blockchain to increase the efficiency and fairness of government system and by extension limit opportunities for corruption.

“It can significantly improve transparency in procurement procedures, enhance land and registry system, ensure that government documents are not accessed by unauthorized personal,” he stressed.

The minister also spoke on the national policy on 5G deployment in the country.

“The National Policy for 5G diploma in Nigeria for our country’s digital economy is also going to be distributed after the luncheon. We use the occasion for the public presentation of the policy and we encourage our stakeholders to look into it and ensure a very successful implementation of the policy on what we had been doing.

“According to February 2021 report by Accentuate, 5G enabled factories can see up to 2O-30% in overall productivity gains including improvement of 50% in assemble time, 20% in asset life and 90% in defect detection.These are only a few examples to show how 5G can have a positive impact on our economy,” he added.

The Executive Vice-Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, in his closing remarks, thanked all the stakeholders for their contributions towards the deployment of 5G in the country.

He assured them that the NCC will fully give them all the necessary assistance they need to fully deploy the 5G network in the country.

The Director General, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Aliyu Aziz, said the success of the implementation of the policy will largely depend of good collaboration between all stakeholders in the country.

Also, the Director General, Galaxy Back Bone, Prof. Mohammed Abubarka, said the deployment of 5G and the implementation of the nation’s digital policy will help to achieve President Buhari’s government’s transparency and boost the economy.