5G: Stakeholders tasks telcos to share infrastructure, others

In order to deploy 5G infrastructure because of the huge capital required to roll out the novel technology, the president, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON),Engr. Ikechukwu Nnamani, president, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), has  called on telecom operators to collaborate with each other.

Nnamani, who gave the charge at the 2020 edition of the Nigeria ICT Impact CEO Forum (NIICF) organised by ICT Watch Magazine with the theme, 5G: “The Future is Here,” held in Lagos, added that the only way for the operators to succeed would be through infrastructure sharing which is key for 5G success in Nigeria.

“No operator can do it alone, the industry needs to work together, that is the only way we can achieve success. No single company has enough resources to singlehandedly deploy 5G,” he said.

He highlighted that the country was on course with regard to processes that will lead to the deployment of 5G, but maintained that there was still the challenge of infrastructure, which must be addressed.

He hinted that the country would also need more data centres, more metro fibres, high capacity wireless access network, to be able to succeed with 5G.

Also speaking at the forum, executive vice chairman of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, said the commission was committed to 5G deployment in Nigeria.

Danbatta disclosed that as the Federal Government would provide an enabling environment for 5G deployment, the mobile network operators (MNOs) would determine their deployment strategies subject to alignment to the approved policies and other regulatory instruments in force.

“Securing spectrum for 5G is an antecedent for any Operator to commit serious investment to SG infrastructure. This makes it imperative for the spectrum allocation and assignment process to be concluded as early as possible,” the EVC, NCC added.

Danbatta noted that the successful and timely deployment of 5G is crucial to the country’s economy, as it is also in line with the strategy of the Federal Government of Nigeria for the acceleration of the National Digital Economy for a Digital Nigeria, the positioning of Nigeria as an early adopter of digital technology and a major participant in the growing global digital economy.

He revealed that 5G is expected to facilitate several emerging technologies, generate innovative new use cases, spur significant socio-economic growth, and create jobs.

The convener of the Forum and editor-in-chief of ICT Watch Magazine, Mr. Tayo Adewusi  in his welcome address, said the global impact of 4G had brought about an increase in mobile usage and network performance, adding that 5G would build on this momentum.

Adewusi stressed that 5G’s full socio-economic impact is dependent on access to a variety of spectrum resources, including millimeter-wave bands between 24 GHz and 86 GHz.

He added that “The mmWave spectrum allows for the increases in bandwidth and capacity that numerous 5G applications require. This will play a key role in meeting the demand for many enhanced mobile data services and new wireless broadband use cases such as remote object manipulation, industrial automation, virtual and augmented reality, and next-generation connectivity for vehicles”.

Director-general of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mr. Kashifu Inuwa, in a presentation at the event, pointed out that speed was not the only benefit of 5G, adding that besides speed, the two factors most universally beneficial for businesses will be around latency and reliability.

“The speed is complemented with a huge capability for data transmission, 10 terabytes per second, and a density of 1 million nodes per Km².

“Also, it is expected that connection latency shrinks from 50 milliseconds to just 1 millisecond and network availability will be almost 100 per cent.

“In other words, 5G technology will allow delay time reduction in communications, an increase in information transfer rate, a significant improvement in mobile coverage, and will allow millions of devices to be connected simultaneously. This is, in fact, one of the key factors in predicting that 5G technology will go far beyond the realm of smartphones,” DG NITDA said.