The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) will on Friday carry out its mock auction of the 5G network, in preparation for the main auction which will take place on Monday, December 13, 2021, at Transcorp Hilton in Abuja.
It is expected that the two slots to be auctioned will be picked up by successful bidders at the main auction.
The NCC Executive Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, gave the hint on Thursday at a one-day Media Capacity-Building Workshop tagged: “5G Technology and The Next Level of Nigeria’s Development” organized for journalists by the Commission and The Cable Newspaper in Lagos.
The EVC, who was represented by the Head of Fixed Network and Converged Services Unit, Mr. Anthony Ikemefuna, said “the stage will be set for the 5G roll-out which will commence in 2022″, Danbatta said.
Allaying fears of the health impact of the 5G network, Prof Danbatta stated that, with all available information, nothing has been able to show that masts are dangerous to public health.
In his presentation on the topic titled: ” Setting The Stage for 5G Journey; Requirements, Deployment, and Challenges, Danbatta opined that, if masts are dangerous to public health, most Nigerians would have been adversely affected healthwise right from the days of 1G, 2G 3G networks, stressing that the radiation from the “090” network used in the late 80s, was even much more than what we have today.
Danbatta therefore averred that it was not true that 5G was the cause of the coronavirus pandemic as rumoured in some quarters.
Explaining further on the impact of the 5G network on health, the EVC said “there are no specifically proven evidence of any negative impact on human health associated with radiation from mobile networks, including 5G”.
“The following organizations: World Health Organisation (WHO), UK Advisory Group and Non-ionising Radiation (AGNIR), the Institute for Engineering and Technology (IET), International Commission for Non-ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIP) were very clear to the effect that radiation from mobile networks and devices including 5G has no known or scientifically proven negative health impact,” he emphasized.
Giving assurances that electromagnetic radiation emissions from 5G networks are far safer than preceding generations of mobile networks, Danbatta added that “Given the densification of cell sites that will arise as a result of 5G deployment, the Commission will need to effectively collaborate with other relevant government agencies such as the National Assembly (NASS) National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) and National Orientation Agency (NOA) towards sensitizing and educating the general public on the low health impact of 5G base stations.”
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