The Nigerian Communications Commission says the final decision for the deployment of the 5th Generation mobile network now lies with the Federal Government.
The Executive Vice-Chairman, Prof Umar Danbatta, made this known on Wednesday at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Nigerian Communications Satellite on clearing of C-band for deployment of 5G services.
He said, “The issues associated with the safety of this technology have been adequately addressed. Nigerians have been sensitised on the safety of this technology with regards to health and the security dimension.
“We have gone to the government and very soon they will come up with a statement on the date for the deployment of 5G services because the policy is equally ready.”
He said resources were also ready to deploy the 5G services in the country.
“We have mobile network operators that are willing to bid for the available spectrum that will be used for the deployment of this subs to Nigerians. So our state of readiness is really high indeed,” Danbatta said.
According to him, the next stage of the development is for spectrum to be allocated to the commission by the National Frequency Management Council, saying, “We are assured of getting the approval for the utilisation of the spectrum to deploy 5G services in the country.”
“We are glad that the Management of NigComSat and NCC have taken a bold step in the right direction to release the contagious quantum of Spectrum in the 3.5GHz band for early deployment of 5G,” he added.
Danbatta explained that amongst the frequency spectrum bands allocated to 5G by the International Telecommunications Union, the C-band (3.4GHz – 3.9GHz) stands out as its balancing point between coverage and capacity, which provides the perfect environment for 5G connectivity.
