Is Nigeria Really Ready for 5G network ?

Few days ago, the Federal Government of Nigeria said the country was ready for 5G network deployment.

NCC logo - vanguardngr.com

The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, the independent regulatory authority for the telecommunications industry in Nigeria made the announcement at an interactive session with journalists in Abuja.

According to the Executive Director of the commission, Prof. Umar Dambatta,

"With the enlisting of leading mobile operator MTN Nigeria into the Stock Exchange, other operators, including Bharti Airtel, Globacom and 9mobile were getting set to join the fray. NCC, apart from holding a stakeholders’ forum to come up with a roadmap on 5G, the commission had opened consultations on spectrum for drones and was proactively leading discussions on the deployment of new technologies.

“NCC did not just sit back. Apart from constantly engaging with state governors through NEC of Nigeria Governors Forum, we have also stepped in directly by licensing InfraCos to provide fibre bandwidth on an open access bases. We are providing them subsidy to mitigate their costs. 

He further stated that,

 “We expect this to start bearing fruit shortly, but the major thing is the support of the state governors. That is critical. Nigeria is a federation of 36 states; we cannot dictate what to charge for RoW to them, we can only persuade them and hope they see the superior merit and long-term benefits of making their states receptive to telecoms infrastructure.”

Meanwhile, World Poverty Clock has estimated the total number of Nigerians living in abject poverty at 93.7 Million.

World Poverty Clock, a web tool provided by World Data Lab provides real-time poverty estimates until 2030 for almost every country in the world, monitoring progress against ending extreme poverty which is the United Nation's first sustainable development goal has estimated that 6.8 million Nigerians slipped into abject poverty in just 12 months.

With the poor connection and reception of 4G network in the country and its availability to access in some locations and cities, can we say NCC is right for the proclamation?