Two Nigerian Telecom Operators Set For 5G Rollout

Indications have emerged that telecom operators, MTN Nigeria and Airtel Nigeria, will likely be the first two players to roll out the fifth generation 5G network in Nigeria by January 2022. “The Executive Vice President of the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC , Prof. Umar Dambatta, revealed this yesterday, when he shed more light on the 5G roadmap at the Nigerian E-Government Summit in Lagos.
Danbatta, while delivering a keynote speech at the forum, revealed that the commission had given Airtel the right to demonstrate its own 5G services, to determine how efficient it can be.
Recall that MTN was given the same opportunity and the test took place in 2019. According to Danbatta, the NCC is in the process of another non-commercial test with Airtel.
He said: “We recently granted approval to non-commercial 5G and 3.5G Proof-of-Concept (PoC) tests to MTN Communications PLC, and we are now in the process of another non-commercial test with Airtel. Airtel has also confirmed the development, saying the trial should have taken place in September.
A trusted Airtel source who declined to be quoted said: “True, we are ready to begin non-commercial 5G testing across the country. The trials should have happened this September, but we will start very soon, “he added.
Danbatta also noted that since his commission issued the Spectrum Trading Guidelines to allow operators to transfer, lease or share spectrum resources, only MTN and Airtel have completed the acquisition of spectrum bands.
“Spectrum’s two-band trading, the 2 x 10MHz transfer on the 900MHz Extended GSM Band from Intercell to Airtel, and 2 x 10MHz on the 800MHz band from Intercell to MTN, have been commercialized successfully,” he said.
Although the NCC did not specifically say when the 5G network in the country will be shut down, as the license auction has yet to take place, trusted internal sources said, the rollout of the network will begin in January 2022.
Represented at the summit by Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, Barr Adewolu Adeleke, Danbata said: “Following the presidential approval of the 5G Policy, we have developed a 5G implementation plan for Nigeria’s digital economy and created a committee to auction the 3.5 GHz band for the deployment of 5G in Nigeria. Details of the auction will be announced in due course.
“The Commission is updating the National Frequency Allocation Table, NFAT, for more efficient spectrum allocation and use to reflect the recommendations of WRC-19. We are also opening up some new spectrum bands for use, such as the 60 GHz V band and the 70/80 GHz E band for point-to-point and point-to-multipoint deployments.
“We are working in collaboration with the National Frequency Management Council, NFMC and the National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, to ensure that the 700MHz and 2.6GHz bands are completely free of any encumbrance so that they can be assigned to Operators for their implementations. broadband.
“We recently granted approval for proof of concept (PoC) and non-commercial 5G trial in the 3.5 and 26GHz bands to MTN Communications PLC.