The Nigerian Communications Commission has announced plans to embark on 5G deployment in Nigeria.
5G is the 5th generation mobile network. It is a global wireless standard after the 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G networks.
The NCC announced the development on Thursday during the inauguration of the Steering Committee for the National Broadband Plan 2020-2025 in Abuja.
According to the Commission, 5G wireless technology is meant to deliver higher data speeds, ultra-low latency, more reliability, massive network capacity, increased availability, and a more uniform user experience to more users.
“5G enables a new kind of network that is designed to connect virtually everyone and everything together, including machines, objects, and devices,” it added.
The Minister of Communication, Isa Pantami, during the inauguration, said the implementation of the BBP 2020-2025 had been ongoing.
He said the current level of broadband penetration in the country had increased to 40.1 per cent.
He said, “The ICT has contributed 14.07 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product in the first quarter of 2020. The more broadband penetration we achieve, the greater the contribution to the GDP.
“Our targets with the new NBBP is to achieve broadband access to 90 per cent of the population with 70 per cent Broadband penetration by 2025. Also, we expect to achieve a speed of 25mbps in urban area and 10mbps in rural area.”
According to the minister, the commission had taken concrete measures to address the critical challenges confronting the industry.
Pantami, while inaugurating the Committee, said that the Executive Commissioner, Technical Services, NCC, Ubale Maska, would serve as Chairman.
Maska, while responding, said the Broadband was central to any digital economy.
“We are humbled to be members of the committee responsible for steering the implementation of the NBBP. We express our commitment to bring to bear our wealth of experiences for the successful implementation of the BBP,” Maska noted.
