By Oghenevwede Ohwovoriole
The Chairman, Board of Commissioners, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC),
Prof. Adeolu Akande has stated that the full deployment of 5G technology in the country
would have positive impact on the nation’s digital economy.
Speaking on Wednesday in Abuja, at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the NCC and the Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NigComSat), on the full deployment of 5G, Akande said 5G will build on the successes of the previous generations of 2G, 3G and 4G and that spectrum plays a great role in the deployment of 5G.
He said: “Spectrum plays a critical role in realising the full extent of these new capabilities. Thus, 5G’s full socio-economic impact is dependent on access to a variety of spectrum resources.
“These Spectrum will play a key role in meeting the demand for many enhanced mobile data services as well as new wireless broadband use cases such as remote object manipulation, industrial automation, virtual and augmented reality and next-generation connectivity for vehicle.
“5G will build on this momentum, bringing substantial network improvements, including higher connection speeds, mobility and capacity, as well as low-latency capabilities. In doing so, it enables new use cases and applications that will positively impact different sectors and improve efforts towards achieving digital economies.”
He praised the two agencies for their foresight in the early deployment of 5G in the country, adding that the managements of NigComSat and NCC had taken a bold step in the right direction to release contagious quantum of Spectrum in the 3.5GHz band for early deployment of 5G.
This type of collaboration, he observed, seeks to ensure synergy amongst agencies under the Federal Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy.”
The Executive Vice Chairman, NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta said the 3.4 GHz -3.9GHz arel the best frequency allocated by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), adding:
“Amongst the frequency spectrum bands allocated to 5G by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU, the C-band (3.4GHz – 3.9GHz) stands out because its balancing point between coverage and capacity provides the perfect environment for 5G connectivity.”
According to him, the C-band is most suitable and appropriate for immediate deployment of 5G services, taking into consideration availability of device ecosystem with 60-70 per cent of global commercial 5G network deployment currently in the band.
He therefore noted that the importance of this spectrum for early deployment of 5G services in Nigeria cannot be over emphasised.
Danbatta stated the two agencies have been in discussions on how to relocate the operations of NG-1R to the standard C-band 300MHz (3.9GHz – 4.2GHz) potion of the band, which is more suitable in terms of satellite service offering because end-user terminal are cheaper there, while leaving the non-standard C-band 400MHz (3.5GHz – 3.9GHz) portion of the band for 5G use.
The cost of relocating the NG-1R, he said, is expected to be offset from the proceeds of the auction of the 5G Spectrum, adding that it would also go a long way in making positive impact on the Nigerian economy.
He stressed: “For optimal 5G service performance, an average of contiguous 100 MHz of spectrum in the C-band is required by an operator. However, in Nigeria, only 120 MHz of the band (3.4 – 3.52) GHz is available for mobile services while the remaining 680 MHz (3.52 – 4.2) GHz of the band is used by NigComSat (NG-1R) satellites.”
He used the opportunity to appreciate the management of the NigComSat under the leadership of Dr. Abimbola Alale for demonstrating that the interest of the country is paramount to organisational or personal interest.
