Among the countries in West Africa, Nigeria has emerged the first country to testrun 5G technology and applications which was developed by Huawei Technologies Company Nigeria Limited.
This feat, according to the telecom giant, MTN Nigeria, was possible as a result of the strong collaboration between the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, the Nigerian Communications Commission, (NCC), MTN Nigeria, Huawei (Abuja), ZTE (Calabar) and Ericsson (Lagos).
The testrun, which held in Abuja, had the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami; the Chairman of NCC, Senator Olabiyi Durojaiye; the Executive Vice-Chairman of NCC, Prof. Garba Danbatta; Chairman of House of Reps Committee on Communications, Hon. Akeem Adeyemi.
Blueprints had earlier in August reported that Nigerian regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) approved a dedicated spectrum for trial deployment of Fifth Generation (5G) services in the country.
Speaking at the event shortly after taking a tour of the exhibition booths, Dr. Pantami, who underlined the potential of 5G for sustainable growth, expressed optimism at the pace by which technology is developing in West Africa particularly in Nigeria.
While highlighting the importance of an enabling regulatory framework and protecting telecommunications infrastructure, the minister noted that, on the instruction of President Muhammadu Buhari, he has signed a draft Executive Order, declaring telecommunications infrastructure ‘critical national infrastructure’ which has been forwarded to the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation for review.
The Minister referred to the proposed Executive Order as a short-term measure, stressing that the President has instructed that a proper legislation be facilitated to deal conclusively with threats to telecommunications infrastructure.
He added, “I believe as long as we are able to 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.”
Addressing journalists before the 5G trial, Managing Director of Huawei Technologies Company Nigeria Limited, Zhang Lulu, said, the launch of the 5G Network is in line with the telco’s decision to roll out 5G in other major cities in Nigeria before 2020.
According to him, 5G is a core technology in establishing the digital infrastructure of the future and will be essential in how all of the mobiles and connected devices will communicate together.
He noted that 5G has low latency rate which is the amount of delay between the sending and receiving of information making it a better future available to operators and customers, adding that the trial demonstrates the capability of the new technology while giving customers a glimpse of what the future holds, showcasing the next generation of applications for consumer and enterprise customers.
“This is coming immediately after the telco successfully ran a trial of the Network in South Africa, achieving 20 Gigabyte per second (Gbps) with less than five minutes latency.
“Huawei will keep supporting MTN through its challenges and requirements, providing the most innovative product and solution for MTN, bringing the ultimate experience to MTN subscribers.
MTN partnership with Huawei will enable MTN to serve its subscribers with advanced technologies of the future.
“Huawei is leading the 5G rollout globally, despite issues with the US ban with more than 60 commercial contracts and shipment of 400 000 plus base stations,” Lulu said.
In his part, the Chief Executive Officer, MTN Nigeria, Ferdi Moolman stated that he was able to go a long way because of the enormous support he received from other major stakeholders, saying, “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.
“Also key to this achievement are our equipment vendors who shared our vision, and whose capabilities were 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,” he said.
He added, “This immersive demo and experience will travel across three Nigerian cities to showcase the capabilities of 5G and its potential to enable economic growth, and social inclusion.
“By working together, MTN and its partner – Huawei, were able to provide a glimpse into a range of 5G use cases and applications at a test Lab designed to show proof-of-concept in Abuja.
“3D holographic communication has potential applications for education, medical imaging, video conferencing and gaming, and requires about four times as much data as a streamed 4K video. 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.”
