The AfricaNXT Conference 2022 ended on a historically impressive note for the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), having recorded the largest attendance and participation at a single session during the conference, where its team discussed the socio-economic benefits of 5G services.
The conference had scheduled over 200 sessions and about 400 speakers.
However, NCC session was over-subscribed as all seats were occupied, while some participants had to stand to listen to the discussion on a topic that patently enthused and electrified the audience, and marked by very rare social networking and participation.
The NCC team last Thursday mounted the FutureNow Stage of the Innovation Pavilion of the Conference to inform, educate and rally further support for the Commission’s strides on the preparedness of Nigeria to deploy the Fifth Generation (5G) network and services.
Using simple, fact-based examples, the NCC’s 5-man panel, provided necessary clarifications to the audience on the safety of 5G technology and gave copious examples about how the technology will significantly impact life qualitatively and bring socio-economic benefits to the citizens, businesses, the nation, and the continent of Africa.
The panelists extensively discussed 5G technology, focusing on safety, data privacy, the chronology of programmes, actions and activities of the Commission towards the launch of the services, including the issuance of 3.5 gigahertz (GHz) spectrum and licence for 5G deployment, the roll out plans, use cases as well as citing concrete socio-economic significance of the expected services.
The NCC team explained how 5G will power a plethora of applications, innovation and creativity. These include smart cities, telemedicine, Internet of Things (IoT), smart agriculture, driverless cars, bolstering of the security governance sector, among others.
The team further asserted that 5G remained a network of networks because of its huge capabilities, and its derivable benefits can only be limited if humans limit their own imaginations.
Reckoning that 5G technology is a total shift from the internet connectivity people are used to at the moment, the panel stated that 5G would open doors of new possibilities and socio-economic impacts.
A member of the panel said: “With 5G, there is something for everyone. Nigeria is kick-starting these massive benefits with enhanced broadband. 5G will bridge the fibre connectivity gap and with wireless broadband connectivity, Nigerians will enjoy the enhanced broadband.”
The discussants also agreed that telecom operators will reap huge benefits from 5G in many ways, through network slicing, new revenue streams from IoT, industrial applications, gaming and entertainment as well as live broadcast features supported by 5G amongst others.
The NCC team comprising specialists in engineering, law and communications, also said that 5G will power more than a billion devices in the next two years, and this means there will be upsurge in the manufacturing of related user equipment which is expected to bring down the prices of associated devices and equipment.
The process is also expected to trigger utilisation of raw materials such as rare earth metals that are found in large quantities in Africa, and cities will equally benefit from the 5G enabled infrastructure such as smart street lighting, smart traffic control systems, maintenance services and so on that will deliver huge economic gains.
Explaining NCC’s efforts and plans on consumer safety in the 5G era, discussants recalled that the Commission was already working closely with the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) to develop a Risk Management Frameworks. The framework will grow the need for the ethical hacking skill set and allow the use of ethical hacking as part of risk management towards ensuring the cyber space safety during 5G era.
