The Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) has approved the spectrum for trial of the 5G service in Nigeria. Prof. Umar Danbatta, the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the commission made the disclosure during an opening of the maiden International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Digital African Week held in Abuja.
Danbatta revealed that Nigeria had gone beyond the set target of 30 per cent penetration set by the National Broadband Plan for 2013 to 2018 and stood at 33.31 per cent by the end of June 2019.
He added that the commission had put in place a framework to make possible the deployment of broadband infrastructure as required across the country through the licensing of Infrastructure Companies (INFRACO).
The EVC continued, the structure would also lunch metro and intercity fibre and broadband Point of Access with a minimum capacity of IOG bps across the 774 Local Government Areas of Nigeria.
The NCC is determined to actively involve members of the Academia as strategic partners in the activities towards developing and actualizing the Telecom sector.
In his statement, he revealed that the Research and Development Department of NCC was putting heads together with Universities and other relevant institutions of higher learning to grow the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector.
Disclosing that with the recent development of smart cities KPL by the ITU, it is necessary to have a wide brand and all-around infrastructure covering all towns and cities to actualize their dream of making them smart.
Danbatta promised to work hard by ensuring that all citizens have access to affordable broadband data connection irrespective of their location in Nigeria,’’
In his contribution, Mr. Bako Wakil, Director, Technical Standards and Network Integrity, of the NCC, revealed that the program was to bring the African perspective to the standardization of the new technologies to fit and support African nations.
He added that the African nations could also contribute to the standardization process of the ITU and also come up with that proposal and ideas that best suit the African nation.
