EXCITING NEWS: TNG WhatsApp Channel is LIVE…
Subscribe for FREE to get LIVE NEWS UPDATE. Click here to subscribe!
5G networks are the next generation of mobile internet connectivity in the telecommunications industry, and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is hoping to spread the network to at least 5% of the population upon deployment in the country.
TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, hinted on this while speaking of prospects for the Nigerian telecom industry at the post-Nigeria National Broadband Plan 2013-2018 event hosted by Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) in Abuja on Thursday.
Danbatta, who had said the deployment of 5G networks will foster economic development, also expect the spread of 3G coverage to reach at least 80% of the Nigerian population in the coming years.
He revealed that currently 56.4% of the population is covered with 3G, and that the commission hopes to spread 3G/LTE services to 100% of the population with a minimum broadband speed of 1.5Mbps.
With the view to deepening broadband penetration in the country, Danbatta said complete upgrade of 2G BTS to 3G should be expected soon, and that all new sites would be LTE compatible.
NCC expects to deploy at least one access point of fiber with a 10Gbps capacity in all the 774 LGAs of the federation through the InfraCo project and implement the harmonized RoW charges on State Government highways with Federal at the cost of N145/m, and also eliminate multiple taxation and regulations.
Meanwhile, according to the latest edition of Ericsson Mobility Report, 5G is expected to reach more than 40 per cent global population coverage and 1.5 billion subscriptions for enhanced mobile broadband by the end of 2024.
Danbatta had earlier said the commission had identified some potential frequency bands that might be harmonized for 5G deployment and therefore suspended the licensing of those frequencies.
As the next generation of mobile standards is being finalized, commercial superfast 5G networks are expected to start deployment after 2020.