Trial for the Fifth Generation Technology (5G) has begun in Nigeria; this makes the country the first West African country to try the-out the latest broadband technology.
The trial is made possible by the South African multinational mobile telecommunications company, MTN. The company said that the trial in Nigeria and first in the West African region is part of the 2020 initial target in Nigeria.
An inauguration ceremony for the commencement of the trial was organized in the country’s capital of Abuja. The event had a high profile of delegates in attendance including Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Pantami, top government officials and leading stakeholders in the industry.
Also in attendance were representatives from leading ICT infrastructure provider, Huawei.
During the event, the application of this technology was demonstrated in virtual reality, gaming, 3D holographic communication and video conferencing at a test tube designed to show proof of concept.
Telecommunications giant, MTN collaborated with the Ministry of Communications Technology and Digital Economy, Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC), Huawei (Abuja), ZTE (Calabar) and Ericsson (Lagos) to exhibit the proficiencies and potentials of 5G in driving economic growth and social inclusion.
The company said it is a historic moment as it means new possibilities for Nigeria and Nigerians.
“This historic moment for us as it means new possibilities for Nigeria and Nigerians; this innovation has made us hungry for more”; a spokesperson said.
The Minister, after taking a tour of exhibition booths underlined the potentials of 5G for sustainable growth. He also pointed out the fact that the innovation is very critical to our economy as a result of numerous advantages like the issue of latency, speed, a digital revolution and many more
Techpoint Africa highlighted in a tweet that the significant difference between 5G and 4G is latency. “A major difference between 5G and 4G is latency. On 5G, data is sent and received faster than 4G.” The Chief Executive Officer, MTN Nigeria, admitted that partnership with the NCC, the ministry, Huawei and others made the trial possible.
Meanwhile, the 5G tests will run for three months on the trial spectrum allocated to the MTN by the NCC. This is to ensure that it is efficient and sustained. The 5G trial with MTN achieved a throughput of more than 2 GB with less than 5ms latency, which is the highest achieved on a mobile network in Africa. The 5G trial is based on commercially available baseband hardware, and 5G mobility is supported.
Also, the Executive Vice Chairman, NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, noted that the 5G trials showed that it was possible to achieve this new development by creating machine applications, ultra low latency applications in such a way that would impact the lives of Nigerians.
Header Image Credit: Tekedia