The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said the deployment of the fifth generation (5G) technology will pave the way for disruptive innovations shaping the future of the world.
Its Executive Vice Chairman/CEO, Prof. Garba Danbatta, said the technology will give rise to the rise of autonomous and near-autonomous vehicles, mobile broadband, Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality (AR), block-chain technology, robotics and quantum computing.
“Information Communications Technology has already made the world a global village due to its ubiquitous connection to remote locations across the globe. The 5G technology capabilities will make the world even smaller, thus enabling easy distribution of content across the globe in real time,” he stated in a keynote delivered at the Nollywood Economic Outlook (NEO 2022) organised in Lagos at the weekend.
Represented by the Head of Media and Public Relations, NCC, Grace Ojougboh, he said 5G technology will disrupt the media business models in the creative industry and urged practitioners in the creative industry to leverage the power of 5G technology to expand the frontiers of the industry for the next phase of its growth.
“The 5G will revolutionise how content is produced, distributed, and consumed, unlocking existing technologies for wider audiences and enabling a new wave of applications. It will also enable broadcasters to transmit footage back to their base within a short period of time, thus creating more coverage opportunities,” Danbatta said.
He explained that 5G technology networks will transform businesses leading to higher productivity improvements via real-time flow of information. “Consequently, this will permit the optimisation of business functions and creation of new value chains for customers through advances in Internet-based web technology and search engines. This is expected to lead to the development and pervasiveness of Over-the-top (OTT) services,” he said.
Danbatta further stated that running 5G network, OTT platforms and applications would also offer video content over the internet as against the traditional cable or satellite television. This, he said, was because technologies enabled by 5G will utilise novel and innovative channels to enhance viewers’ experience.
“So, for the creative industry, 5G will also enable delivery of high-quality content direct to consumers by the broadcast industry at the touch of a button. Accordingly, it will offer users a seamless experience when they stream videos on mobile devices (Smartphones and tablets) and web televisions that use solutions such as Chromecast, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV, as well as Smart TVs,” he said.
Danbatta said as the demand for high-quality content and streaming increase, 5G connectivity presents the perfect opportunity to push the OTT viewer experience to the next level. He said with super-fast 5G download speeds up to 10 times faster than the current networks and therefore, lower latency that will improve viewers’ experience of video on demand and make them enjoy highly reliable services.
The 5G technology will allow the creative industry to better understand future requirements, explore new creative formats, build new mobile video capabilities, pursue strategic partnerships, and assess their data collection practices and database requirements.
Danbatta who spoke on “Leveraging 5G Technology for the Advancement of Creative Industry,” stated that 5G technology will redefine the way people live and work and will usher the much-talked-about Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) with its promise of a rapid social and economic transformation of the country.
Danbatta spoke about the policy and regulatory efforts of the government, through the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy as well as the NCC, which have culminated in the licensing of spectrum resources for the deployment of 5G network in the country.
The organisers of the NEO 2022 forum also presented the Award of “Best Agency in Government Sustainable and Development Agenda” to the Commission for its role in facilitating digital connectivity to fast-track Nigeria’s economic growth as well as accelerate attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Nigeria.
It would be recalled that the second winner of the spectrum bid round for the deployment of 5G, Mafab Communications Limited, had paid the remaining $273.6 million for the spectrum, meeting the February 24 deadline set by the NCC.
MTN Nigeria had about four weeks ago completed its payment well ahead of the deadline. MTN and Mafab Communications were allocated slots for the 3.5 gigahertz (GHz) spectrum dedicated to the deployment of the technology after emerging winners conducted by the NCC in Abuja last year after 11 rounds of bidding that lasted eight hours.
MTN Nigeria was the highest bidder during the auction; it was followed by Mafab Communications Limited. During the bidding process, Mafab added $11,120,000 million, while MTN Nigeria added $15,900,000. Airtel Nigeria also participated in the auction but exited, leaving the stage for MTN and Mafab Communication Limited. The Ascending Clock Auction System was adopted by the Commission.
In the first Round of the auction, the bid price was fixed at $199,374,000.00; $201,367,740.00 at second Round; $204,388,356.10 at third Round; $209,407,962.50 at fourth Round and $215,782,901.30 at the fifth Round.
The auction prices increased progressively to $224,414,217.43 at the Sixth Round; $231,146,643.96 at the seventh Round; $240, 392,509.71 at the eighth Round; $251, 210,172.65 at the ninth Round; and $263,700,050.00 at the Round 10 of the auction exercise.
The auction process reached its peak at Round 11 when the bid price graduated to $275,904,886.25 with all the three bidders still actively participating. The Main Stage of the Auction, however, ended at the conclusion of the 11th Round, with Airtel listing an exit bid of $270,000,000, while MTN posted an exit bid of $273,000,000, giving way to the Assignment Stage. At this point, Airtel had dropped off from the race having posted a lower exit bid, thus leaving Mafab and MTN as winners of the two available lots.