With the adoption of the Fifth-Generation (5G) network in Nigeria set to outpace all previous generations of mobile technology in Nigeria, it is expected to have $7 trillion worth of economic value by 2030.
Research from InterDigital and ABI Research claims the exceedingly large amount of coin will be generated as 5G ‘fuels a proliferation of connected devices from smartphones to consumer electronics to enterprise applications and beyond’.
The research pointed to applications such as AR/VR and immersive content, enterprise-enabling features like including low latency, deterministic networking, and advanced Internet of use cases.
According to it, 5G can feel like it has been slow to get off the blocks in terms of the impact registered on wider society, but the report reckons the adoption of 5G is outpacing all previous generations of mobile technology in terms of subscription rate and operator rollout, and is gaining significant traction from the enterprise world.
It noted that the ‘private 5G addressable market’ is expected to grow quickly, mostly driven by the energy and utilities, healthcare and manufacturing sectors. The report also claims 5G will support the roll-out of digital spaces, smart cities and smart public services, but that governments and local authorities need to ‘remove the barriers to ubiquitous 5G access’.
It stated that the next stages of 5G will see more activity and innovation around the areas of AI, non-terrestrial networks, MIMO enhancements, unmanned aerial vehicles, and reduced capacity devices.
Meanwhile, ahead of the August 24 expected date of rollout of the technology in Nigeria, the Chief Executive Officer, MTN Group Ralph Mupita, during his earlier visit to the country, declared that the 5G license won by MTN Nigeria will usher in a new world of opportunities.
Senior Research Director at ABI Research, Dimitris Mavrakis, added: “5G is now giving us a glimpse of what will be possible in the future and setting the foundation for the next generation of networks.
The high capacity, high reliability and low latency capabilities of 5G are now starting to create the next wave of consumer and enterprise applications, in the very same way 4G seeded the creation of social networks, the collaborative economy and rich content. We are now in a very exciting technical era that will pave the way for 6G and future networks.”
Speaking on a television interview, Mupita gave an indication of what the telco will achieve with the spectrum license, “We have often said that the shift from 4G to 5G is as revolutionary as the shift from 2G to 3G. 5G brings us a whole new world of opportunities because of the low latency and applications that will now be able to be captured by businesses such as ourselves. What is exciting for us are the industrial applications that come with 5G, the ability for companies to use high tech in how they run businesses. People talk about web 3.0, the metaverse. 5G enables a lot of that.”
In December 2021, MTN Nigeria was successful in its bid to acquire one of the two 100MHZ spectrum licenses in the 3.5GHz spectrum band auctioned by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). It was a significant step towards achieving the goals of the Nigerian National Broadband Plan (2020-25).
5G will enable seamless communication and interconnectivity between smart devices. It has the potential to accelerate the digital transformation of industries and according to Mupita, MTN is in the process of securing 5G frequencies in other countries, “We are arranging ourselves to be able to secure the frequencies across markets, there is a multiband auction in South Africa that we will participate in, and other markets will be calling. In the next couple of years, we will arrange to have the 5G frequencies and then build out the ecosystem.”
