IT News Nigeria:
Nigeria will derive huge socio-economic benefits from commercial deployment of the Fifth Generation (5G) Networks, which will come with great potentials that will bolster Nigeria’s socio economic ecosystem for quantifiable growth.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) stated this during a discussion with a broad spectrum of participants mostly made up of Nigerians at a special panel session sponsored and hosted by the Commission Thursday as part of the programmes of the ongoing Social Media Week Lagos (SMWLagos2020). The weeklong conference is taking place at the Landmark Event Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.
At the NCC panel discussion which focused on, “5G Networks: Socioeconomic Benefits and Challenges”, which was also attended by the Chairman, Board of Commissioners of NCC, Prof. Adeolu Akande, participants had a lively conversation as they asked rational and piercing questions from the discussants.
Bako Wakil, Director, Technical Standards & Network Integrity at NCC, and Kenneth Uzoekwe, an Assistant Director in the Spectrum Administration Department of the Commission, responded to questions at the session moderated by Dr. Omoniyi Ibietan, Head, Online Media & Special Publications at the Commission.
The first question asked, which centred on what constitutes 5G, was so eloquently and perceptively answered by the panelists to earn applause from the audience.
Wakil explained that all communication possibilities within the framework of ITU’s IMT-2020 that enhance extremely accurate and near-instantaneous transfer of large quantities of data are well within the contemplation of 5G. Such technologies will also make for better experience of virtual realities, driverless cars, drone operations and a spectra of possibilities popularly called the Internet of Things (IoT).
Wakil explained that 5G is the newest generation of technology which “will bring about transformation in the country in the area of smart city, smart transportation, efficiency in medicine, a lot of automation, and 5G will control a lot of appliances and devices with respect to Internet of Things (IoT).”
In other words, “the difference between all other existing generations of technologies such as 2G, 3G and 4G lies in speed and data capacity. The 5G deployment, however, offers even faster speed, high latency and high capacity that will transform consumers and business experiences” Wakil emphasised.
A litany of follow up questions on many aspects of 5G, the key differences between 4G and 5G, and on the implications of 5G for security, speed, capacity and data consumption were also well treated by the discussants.
Therefore, the NCC panel session at the #SMWLagos2020, provided an additional opportunity for the Commission to educate Nigerians on its plan about 5G network deployment in the country.
