FG To Boost Economy, Open Opportunities With 5G

 The Independent

ABUJA / LAGOS – With the approval of National Policy on Fifth Generation (5G) networks for Nigeria’s digital economy on Wednes­day, the Federal Government said ben­efits to the country include lower laten­cy, larger capacity, and higher data rate.

According to Minister of Commu­nications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ibrahim Pantami, “These are the three major benefits of fifth genera­tion. And in a simple language, we can say it will open many opportuni­ties economically, academically, educa­tionally and even in health sector. And it will also support our security institu­tions, particularly in areas where they need high quality services. So, these are some of the benefits to be antici­pated when fifth generation or 5G is deployed in Nigeria.”

Pantami said the approv­al by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari came following the presentation of the implemen­tation of the national policy to the council.

He also said the 5G deploy­ment is with immediate effect.

Briefing State House corre­spondents after the FEC meet­ing at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the minister explained why the deployment was de­layed till now.

He said: “Prior to that, as you all know, in 2020, there was a time that we started working, and we started the fifth genera­tion trials. And there was com­plaint from citizens about the relationship between 5G and COVID-19. Because our gov­ernment is a responsible one, we put everything on hold. We engaged more stakeholders.

“We spent almost 18 months working on that. And we also waited for the resolution and verdict of the two most im­portant organisations globally when it comes to the deploy­ment of telecommunications facilities. These are firstly In­ternational Telecommunica­tions Union (ITU), which is an arm of the United Nations, and also World Health Organisation (WHO), which is another arm of the United Nations. Both of them confirmed that there is no adverse health effects of 5G and it has not been proven to be harmful to our health.

“Most importantly, even its frequency and radiation is even lower than that of 4G, and it is lower than the televisions and microwave we have at home. So, they have already issued that. And they explained about its safety, and also they advised nations on the regulations and the standards to be used in the course of the deployment. And this is something that Nigerian Communications Commission has been directed to ensure that all the standards, regulations are complied with.

“Furthermore, you will all recall that in order to create awareness and sensitise our citizens, Nigerian Commu­nications Commission has been reaching out to citizens through local languages to tell them the advantages of 5G and where we need it. Even the de­ployment is in phases, we can only start with major cities in Nigeria, where there is need for very high quality broadband. So, only few places will start to benefit from it. And we do hope that the plan will come up im­mediately. From now to 2025, we will be able to ensure that significant towns and cities in the country will also benefit from 5G.”

Pantami said before the presentation of the memo to council, they met with different stakeholders at least five to six stages were they made contri­butions and recommendations.

He said: “We were in the National Assembly for public hearing, in which stakeholders were invited. We did the trials of 5G on November 29, 2019, in Abuja. And we conducted the same trial in five other cities in the country. And this is to show to us that government has en­gaged citizens and at the same time allowed experts and other stakeholders to make recom­mendations, suggestions, and even constructive criticisms, where necessary in order to en­sure a successful deliberation before the deployment.

“And finally, the Nation­al Frequency Management Council, which is the statuto­ry council in which I happen to be the chair will release the spectrum of 5G to the Nigerian Communications Commission in bulk when the conditions of deployment are met so that the Nigerian Communications Commission on behalf of the Federal Government of Nige­ria will release the spectrum to the mobile network operators for the deployment of 5G.”

Meanwhile, Pantami has disclosed that the nation’s se­curity agencies requested for the shutdown of telecommu­nications activities in Zamfara to curtail banditry activities.

He said the measure did not originate from his ministry.

On whether the shutdown will be extended to Katsina, Ka­duna and other bandit-infested states, he said responding to such a question will jeopardize security information.

Pantami, however, explained that government is willing to sacrifice economic gains in the telecom sector for security benefits.

In his remarks at the brief­ing, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, announced that FEC also ap­proved the National Policy of Food and Nutrition.

He also said FEC also ap­proved the consultancy for the design and construction of the second runway of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja for N500 million.

Also speaking, Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu, said FEC approved the award of contract for procurement of 40 sets of 330 kV isolators for the Transmission Company of Ni­geria (TCN).

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