After much controversy surrounding 5G technology deployment , the Federal government of Nigeria has concluded plans to commence the deployment process.
. This is following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding ( MoU) on Wednesday, May 5, between the Nigerian Communications Commission( NCC), and the Nigerian Communications Satellite (NIGCOMSAT ) on the use of C-band frequency for deployment of 5G services in Nigeria.
Under the agreement, NIGCOMSAT is committing about 160Megs of C-band from which the government will generate revenue from the sales to service providers through the NCC.
According to the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, the MoU, has the blessing of the National Frequency Management Council (NFMC) which is chaired by the Minister for Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ibrahim Pantami.
Danbatta also said that the NIGCOMSAT had the appropriate technology to facilitate the deployment.
“Amongst the Frequency Spectrum bands allocated to 5G by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU, the C-band (3.4GHz – 3.9GHz) stands out because its balancing point between coverage and capacity provides the perfect environment for 5G connectivity.
“The C-band is most suitable and appropriate for immediate deployment of 5G services taking into consideration availability of device ecosystem with 60-70% of global commercial 5G network deployment currently in the band, thus the importance of this Spectrum for early deployment of 5G services in Nigeria cannot be overemphasized.
“For optimal 5G service performance, an average of contiguous 100 MHz of spectrum in the C-band is required by an Operator. However, in Nigeria, only 120 MHz of the band (3.4 – 3.52) GHz is available for mobile services while the remaining 680 MHz (3.52 – 4.2) GHz of the band is used by NIGCOMSAT (NG-1R) satellites.
“The Commission initiated a negotiation with NIGCOMSAT whom in our estimate could make some adjustment to its satellite operation and release part of its Spectrum holding in the band to facilitate the deployment of 5G in Nigeria.
“The two agencies have been in discussions on how to relocate the operations of NG-1R to the standard C-band 300MHz (3.9GHz – 4.2GHz) potion of the band, which is more suitable in terms of Satellite service offering because the end-user terminal is cheaper there while leaving the non-standard C-band 400MHz (3.5GHz – 3.9GHz) portion of the band for 5G use” Danbatta said.
He added that the C-band was most suitable for immediate deployment of 5G services taking into consideration availability of device ecosystem with 60-70 per cent of global commercial 5G network deployment currently in the band.
At the event, the Chairman, Board of Commissioners, at NCC, Prof. Adeolu Akande, said several administrations had begun to license spectrum for commercial deployment of 5G recently.
“Today, 5G services have already been deployed in United States of America, South Korea, and many more countries” Akande said.
