MTN Awaits 5G spectrum Licence from NCC to Deploy Service

MTN Nigeria is waiting for the federal government to auction the spectrum licence on which its 5G technology deployment would ride, according to Muhammed Rufai, chief technical officer (CTO) of the company.

Rufai said the company had successfully carried out the trial of the technology in the country and was therefore ready to hit the ground running as soon as the coast was clear.

He disclosed this during the gift ceremony to some of the winners of the 20 Honda HRV cars the company put on offer to some of its customers to commemorate the company’s two decades of operations in the country.

While spectrum for 5G is expected to be auctioned by the last quarter of the year, the federal government has hoped that by 2025, urban centres in Nigeria would have been 5G enabled.

5G is designed to be a system that will bring flexibility to mobile, fixed and broadcast networks and support more extensive data requirements.

The technology will impact the way interactions are done by enabling in some cases, unforeseen business models, enhanced lifestyles all resulting in increased productivity.

Despite its identified benefits, Ericsson Mobility Report for June 2021, showed that 5G network remains slow in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), but it is expected to tick in the region over the next few years.

Although 5G subscriptions were still below one per cent of total subscribers in SSA at the end of 2020, Ericsson expects “discernible volumes of 5G subscriptions” by 2022, reaching about seven per cent in 2026.

After two trials conducted by MTN and Ericsson in 2019 with the supervision of the NCC, and misconceptions about the technology adequately dealt with, on May 18, the Senate approved the deployment of the 5G network in Nigeria. This is following the outcome of investigations by a Joint Committee mandated to look into the Status of the 5G Network in Nigeria and its technological impact on Nigerian citizens.