Danbatta: Collaboration, success path to 5G deployment in Nigeria

NCC Chief Executive Officer, Prof. Umar Danbatta

The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, has said industry collaboration is essential to successful deployment of 5G Services in Nigeria.

Danbatta urged industry stakeholders to stand with NCC to explore the prospects and potentials of the new technology, which he said was enormous.

The NCC boss said this at the 90th Edition of the Telecom Consumer Parliament (TCP) hosted by the Consumer Affairs Bureau of the Commission, in Lagos on Thursday.

The event was held with the theme, ‘5G Networks: Opportunities and Challenges’.

He said the policy framework for the deployment has been done, saying it would facilitate deployment of services by the recent winners of the 3.5GHz spectrum auction, MTN Nigeria Communications Ltd, and Mafab Communications Ltd.

Danbatta added that the NCC has set out the regulatory instruments needed for fast deployment of 5G technology for the benefit of the consumers and the stakeholders.

The NCC boss, however, called for the support of all stakeholders to ensure that 5G technology is deployed in Nigeria in a manner beneficial to all telecom consumers and to support the emergent Digital Economy Policy of the Federal Government.

He listed the potential use cases for 5G networks as categorised by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to include Enhanced Mobile broadband (eMBB), Massive Machine-type Communications (mMTC), and Ultra-reliable and Low-latency Communications (uLLC).

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“We will continue to collaborate with stakeholders across sectors to ensure faster deployment of 5G services, and accelerate the growth of Nigeria’s broadband infrastructure,” he added.

Danbatta further listed some challenges in the deployment of the new technology to include limited frequencies with the required spectral efficiency, skilled professionals with requisite knowledge of the technology, fewer number of 5G-enabled devices, and cost of deployment.

The NCC boss, however said the industry must work to turn the challenges into opportunities rather than seeing them as obstacles.

He said the issues that could militate against or slow down the deployment of 5G technology were opportunities that could potentially create new revenue streams or new sub-sectors in the industry.

The event was attended by representatives of Mobile Networks Operators (MNOs), the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Association of Telecom Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Consumer Advocacy and Empowerment Foundation (CADEF), Association of Telecoms Cable TV and Internet Subscribers (ATCIS), and other key stakeholders in the telecom industry.

The Star