Nigeria’s first fifth-generation (5G) telecommunications network will be going live on 24 August.
The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta made this known at the 90th edition of the Telecom Consumer Parliament in Lagos.
Prof. Danbatta said the goal is for Nigeria to become a leader in 5G technology deployment.
He also dispelled reports of health hazards associated with 5G network usage.
“This technology is safe for citizens to use.
“What we intend to do is to further conduct more sensitization by providing facts and figures to convince Nigerians that we would not merely stand and watch an emerging technology being deployed as a source of risk to their health, “ he said.
The NCC’s Director of Technical Standards and Network Integrity, Engr. Bako Wakil notified the participants that the deployment would be gradual.
He, however, said the commission was working to ensure nationwide coverage by 2025.
Engr. Wakil listed the benefits of 5G to include higher connection speeds, mobility, capacity, and low latency.
Two 5G Spectrum Licenses Awarded
Nigeria approved its 5G network policy on 18 September 2021 and auctioned spectrum licenses on 13 December.
In May 2022, the NCC handed over the final letters of award of the 5G spectrum licenses to the two winners – MTN Nigeria and Mafab Communications.
Each of the companies paid $273.6 million for the license. MTN paid an additional $15.9 million to clinch its preferred Lot 1(3500-3600 Megahertz-MHz), leaving Mafab with Lot 2 (3700-3800Mhz).
It is MTN that will be deploying its 5G network on 24 August, as confirmed by its representatives at the Telecom Consumer Parliament, Chinedu Ezeigweneme.
