Emma Okonji
Stakeholders and the industry regulator have expressed their readiness for 5G network rollout in August this year, but insisted that the identified challenges, which may likely impede the rollout and sustainability plan must be addressed urgently.
They spoke at the Telecom Infrastructure Forum on 5G Regime, organised by IQ Infrastructure Magazine in Lagos with the theme: “Nigeria’s Telecom Infrastructure in the 5G Regime-Drawing Full Benefits Without Tears.”
Executive Commissioner, Technical Services, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Ubale Maska, who spoke at the forum as telecom regulator, said: “NCC as a regulator is ready and has auctioned the 5G licence to two telecom operators, MTN Nigeria Limited and Mafab Communications Limited. NCC has equally supervised the trial test of 5G rollout with some operators in some cities and the operators are ready to rollout 5G in August this year, as stipulated in the Information Memorandum (IM).
Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Gbenga Adebayo, who spoke as an operator, said the industry and the operators were ready for 5G rollout.
According to him, “The industry is ready for 5G rollout in terms of infrastructure readiness, having put certain parameters in place such as the establishment of government policy on 5G rollout, licensing of operators for 5G rollout, successful trial test of 5G services by different telecom operators, among other measures. The next step now is for the 5G licensed operators to commence rollout and the target date for the 5G rollout is August 24, 2022.”
Adebayo however identified some challenges, which he said must be addressed in order to achieve hitch-free 5G rollout.
“The first challenge that I see, is the state of protecting existing telecom infrastructure. The second challenge is about the current permitting and approval regime, where approval is not given for the rollout of telecom infrastructure in some quarters, which I see as counter-productive to infrastructure rollout that will likely impede 5G network rollout. I say this because with 5G rollout, we need more base-stations, steady electricity supply. A lot of state and local government authorities now see telecom as a means to raise their Internal Generated Revenue (IGR),” Adebayo said.
He insisted that government must ensure that the approval process for telecom infrastructure rollout remained seamless, if government wants to truly rollout 5G without hitches.
“Telecom operators need a one-stop-shop for obtaining permit and making payments in such a way that all the requirements to obtain a permit should be available in one office that is accessible by telecom operators. The issue of security of telecom infrastructure must be addressed by government in order to achieve 5G rollout. Government should fix significant penalty charge for telecom infrastructure vandals,” Adebayo further said.
Head, New Technology Assessment Unit at NCC, Dr. Chidi Diugwu, who spoke on The Essentials of 5G Network, highlighted four key areas to include: Digital Infrastructure, Digital Platforms, Demand for New Skills and Digital Entrepreneurship. According to him, 5G rollout would create additional infrastructure, increase digital platforms around social media, increase the demand for digital skills like data analytics and Artificial Intelligence (AI), and enhance digital entrepreneurship that will further drive the use of bid data.
Executive Director, Coleman Wires and Cables, Mr. Michael Onafowokan, who spoke about local content and collaboration, said 5G rollout would further deepen local content development and stimulate collaboration, which he said, would drive 5G deployment much faster than imagined.
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