FEC approves National Policy on 5G networks

The Federal Executive Council has approved the National Policy on fifth generation (5G) networks for Nigeria’s digital economy.

According to Technical Assistant on Information Technology to Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Femi Adeluyi, the 5G Policy was approved at the Council meeting on Wednesday, 8th September 2021, following the presentation by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami.

Adeluyi said the implementation of the National Policy was with immediate effect.

He added that the National Policy had been developed over a period of 2 years, due to the need for extensive stakeholders’ engagement and the need to ensure adequate public awareness and sensitization.

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Adeluyi said the stakeholder engagement was thorough and multi-sectoral in nature.

He said it also took into account the report of the 3-month 5G trials that commenced on the 25th of November 2019.

According to Adeluyi, the report critically reviewed and studied the health and security implications of deploying 5G in Nigeria.

He said leading international organisations such as the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), an organ of the United Nations, had confirmed that the deployment of 5G networks left no adverse health effect and were safe.

Adeluyi said 5G networks offered significant advantages over the current technologies.

He said some of its advantages included much lower latency, higher bandwidth, greater device density, longer battery life for nodes and greater network flexibility.

Adeluyi further stated that several countries such as United States, United Kingdom, Republic of Korea, South Africa and Lesotho and several others had already commenced the deployment of 5G and were enjoying its benefits.

He said the National Frequency Management Council (NFMC), chaired by Minister Pantami, will soon release spectrum to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) that meet all the required conditions.

He said the NCC, as the regulator of the telecommunications sector, would continue engaging stakeholders with a view to developing the regulatory instruments required for the successful deployment of the technology in Nigeria