Photograph — REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko

MTN Nigeria has begun the trial of the fifth generation technology(5G) as part of the 2020 initial target in Nigeria. The MTN group said this innovation is the first in West Africa to try 5G technology.

The inauguration which took place in Abuja was attended by the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Pantami, the ICT Infrastructure provider, Huawei, and other technology stakeholders. 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. 

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 definitely made us hungry for more.”

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 major difference between 5G and 4G is latency. “A major difference between 5G and 4G is latency. On 5G, data is sent and received more than 1 times 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 2Gb 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.

By Ahmed Iyanda.

Elsewhere on Ventures

Triangle arrow