The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta has reiterated the importance of 5G deployment in enhancing consumer experience and speed in network connectivity.
Danbatta gave the reassurance during the second quarter 2021 meeting and open forum of the Industry Consumer Advisory Forum (ICAF), which held in Lagos, recently.
Danbatta, who was represented by the Director, Consumer Affairs Bureau at NCC, Mr. Efosa Idehen, said: “Fifth Generation Technology or 5G, as it is popularly called, is one of the new technologies identified and regarded as a game changer. It is therefore appropriate that the ICAF forum is focused on the theme: Deployment of New Technology for Improved Consumer Experience; 5G Misconceptions and Conspiracy Theory.
The 5G communication technology is the next evolution of the mobile communications technology, which is capable of creating new opportunities for growth in the economy by enabling new and dynamic business models and opening up new opportunities and markets. It also provides tremendous improvements in interpersonal communications with several innovations and services for telecoms consumers.”
According to Danbatta, the advent and continuous evolvement of new technologies would continue to drive a wide array of services in the global space. Digital technologies are ushering in new possibilities such as improved broadband services, smart cities evolution, financial services and inclusion, security, e-commerce, education, among others, which is increasing consumer expectation for new services and solutions to address some of the challenges of our daily lives.
Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Mr. Gbenga Adebayo who delivered the keynote paper, dismissed unverified claims that 5G could cause health hazards like cancer and the spread of COVID-19 virus.
According to Adebayo, 5G would provide efficient support for larger numbers of connections, enabling the Internet of Things (IoT).
“5G delivers improved data rates, up to 100 times faster than current mobile networks, supporting virtually instant access to services and applications, with network latency significantly reduced. In addition, it offers network slicing technology making it possible to dedicate a unique part of a 5G network for a particular service,” Adebayo said.
He further explained that the deployment of 5G would require significant investment from mobile operators and other stakeholders. We need more investment in the sector. In terms of possibilities and use cases, 5G enables increasingly intelligent personal assistant in the cloud, providing information and offering on-demand services to customers, Adebayo said.
The outgoing chairman of ICAF, Ighoovie Majemite, said: “In the presence of new technologies, the consumer appetite for service becomes overly elastic. This calls for concerted effort by the telecommunications industry to meet up with the capacity and the capability to handle these new challenges to achieve enviable quality of service and better customer’s experience.”
During the panel session, participants called for increased protection of consumers, and advised NCC to do more in giving grants to researchers for the purpose of quality research that will make useful data available for consumers. They commended NCC for the publication of the Telecoms Consumer Handbook, which was an initiative of ICAF in collaboration with the Consumer Affairs Bureau of NCC. The participants commended the graphic illustrations in the handbook, which they said, would further enrich consumers’ knowledge. The handbook is downloadable from the Consumer Affairs Bureau portal of NCC’s website.
– Thisday