The Muhammadu Buhari administration has approved the deployment of the Fifth Generation Network (5G) across the country.
The government gave the blessing during the meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday.
The Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami who made the disclosure while briefing newsmen at the end of the council meeting assured that the new network will openup opportunities in the economic, educational and health sectors, adding that security agencies will also benefit a lot from the network.
He explained that the Federal Government had to wait to clear doubts and wrong notions by the people on the 5G usage especially concerning the Covid-19 problem, adding that the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) will intensify sensitisation of the people on the gains of the technology.
Pantami said “I presented (a memo) before the Federal Executive Council and it was approved after deliberation, that is the National Policy on 5th Generation network for Nigeria’s digital economy. That policy has been approved by the Federal Executive Council today (Wednesday).
“Furthermore, the policy discusses the benefits to be attained through the deployment of 5G in Nigeria and any part of the world which includes lower latency, larger capacity, and higher data rate.
“In a simple language we can say it will open many opportunities economically, educationally and even in the health sector, and it will also support our security institutions particularly in areas where they need high-quality services.”
He noted that the network would have been deployed since last year but there was a lot of outcry from the Nigerian public, which made the government stay action on that to give room for more consultations.
“In the year 2020 there was a time that we started the 5th Generation trial but there were complaints from citizens about the relationship between 5G and Covid-19.
“But because our government is a responsible one, we decided then, to put everything on hold and engage more stakeholders and we spent almost 18 months working on that.
“We also waited for the resolution or verdict of the two most important organisations globally when it comes to the deployment of telecommunications facilities. These are the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the World Health Organisation (WHO), which are both arms of the United Nations.
“Both of them confirmed that there is no adverse health hazard associated with 5G, and it has not been proven to be harmful to human health.
“Most importantly, even its frequency and radiation is even lower than that of 4G and the electronic gadgets like the television sets and microwaves we use at home. So they have already issued that explanation about its safety.
“They also advised nations on the standards and regulations they use in the course of its redeployment,” he further explained.
He said the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) had been directed to comply with all the regulations and standards specified by the ITU and WHO.
“Furthermore, in order to create awareness and sensitise our citizens, the Nigerian Communications Commission has been reaching out to citizens through local languages to tell them the advantages of 5G,” he added.
He said the deployment of the network would be in phases, as it will start with major cities of the country, where there is a need for high-quality broadband, between now and 2025.