Nigeria will become the first country in West Africa to use 5G technology and applications after the test in Abuja. MTN Nigeria released a statement on the issue. The telecommunication giants said this is only possible because of the strong collaboration between top bodies in communication.
These include the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). MTN Nigeria, Huawei (Abuja), ZTE (Calabar) and Ericsson (Lagos) are also part of this. We see this as good news because many parts of the country suffer from bad network conditions.
“This immersive demo and experience will travel across three Nigerian cities to showcase the capabilities of 5G Technology and its potential to enable economic growth, and social inclusion”.
MTN and Huawei partnered to provide a glimpse into a range of 5G use and applications at a testing Lab in Abuja.
Attendees got to match their skills against an AI-powered goalie. Immersing themselves in high-speed, low-latency virtual reality gaming, ultra-high-speed streaming, and downloads on 5G devices. They also engaged with life-like holographic projections.
“3D holographic communication has potential applications for education, medical imaging, video conferencing and gaming, and requires about four times as much data as streaming a 4K video.”
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“That means that 5G is best suited to support this kind of application on a mobile network and to enable its use”.
“It also demonstrates how 5G has the potential to support key socio-economic objectives Nigeria has set for itself and to be a key contributor to the emergence of a fully digital economy,” a statement read partly.
Witnessing the test was the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami, and the Chairman of NCC, Senator Olabiyi Durojaiye. The Executive Vice-Chairman of NCC, Prof. Garba Danbatta and House of Reps Committee on Communications, Hon. Akeem Adeyemi was also present.
5G For Sustainable Growth
Dr. Pantami highlighted the potential of 5G for sustainable growth. “I believe as long as we can handle the potential challenges, the deployment of 5G is very critical to our economy, because of so many advantages of 5G, the issue of latency, speed and many more”.
Dr. Pantami furthermore stated that on orders of the President, he has signed a draft Executive Order. It declares that telecommunications infrastructure ‘critical national infrastructure’.
The Minister refers to the proposed Executive Order as a short-term measure. While the President instructs proper legislation passage to deal conclusively with threats to telecommunications infrastructure.
Chief Executive Officer MTN Nigeria, Ferdi Moolmanalso states: “Pushing boundaries is easier when your aspirations are supported by likeminded people.
“We are here today because of the support and guidance of the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and the Nigerian Communications Commission who provided the trial spectrum used for this.”
Tremendous Benefits
“Also key to this achievement is our equipment vendors who share our vision, and whose capabilities we brought to bear in making the 5G trials across the country a reality.
We are grateful for these partners, our customers and everyone who made it possible. Today’s success underlines the fact that we are good together.”
Mazen Mroue, the Chief Operating Officer, MTN Nigeria also said:
“in collaboration with our technical partners and the support of the Federal Government, we are proudly putting Nigeria on the 5G technology map.”
“As we continue to invest in technology solutions to meet the wide needs of our customers,
MTN will continue to strengthen these partnerships as we move to build our 5G capacity in the future, guided by the standards and spectrum set by the Nigerian Communications Commission.”
“5G offers tremendous benefits in terms of speed, latency (fewer delays), efficiency and security.
This pilot offers a unique opportunity for us to explore use-cases and applications in Nigeria, and we are excited about its potential for our country and our company,”
Mohammed Rufai, Chief Technical Officer, MTN Nigeria, further indicated that the 5G-demo train will move to Calabar and Lagos. The trials will run in four other cities across the country and for three months the utilizing trial spectrum allocated to MTN by the NCC.
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