An IT expert, Mr Jide Awe, on Saturday said that adopting the 5G network would enhance digital economy in Nigeria.
Awe made the assertion in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, saying it was imperative for Nigeria to adopt the 5G network, but expressed doubts as to the country’s preparedness.
NAN reports that 5G is generally seen as the fifth generation cellular network technology that provides broadband access.
“5G is gaining global attention and to have a meaningful live, experience growth in the new digital economy and for a having a smart nation, it is more than a buzzword.
“Preparation and knowledge are important as we look forward to the exciting possibilities of lightning-fast 5G networks.
“We are talking about having a new digital economy and the 5G network will help power such but from my own point of view, we are not ready to adopt the use of 5G.
“We are not ready because the country is still facing few challenges with the existing infrastructure for broadband deployment as what we have currently has not enabled internet penetration to every part of the country.
“There is nothing wrong with planning towards adopting it but we need to assess what we have in place and improve on it before we start thinking of 5G,” he said.
Awe said that 5G would be a game changer to improve network connection dramatically and deal with disruptions when sharing videos from crowded places.
He said that the speed of 5G was like hundred times of what we are getting currently from 3G and 4G and that it would allow lot of new applications, and even speed up some of the existing applications that use videos.
The IT expert said that to adopt 5G effectively there was need to also understand what it was all about and build capacity towards its smooth implementation.
Awe said that government needed to create an enabling environment for telecoms providers to access equipment needed, even if it had to do with importing, as the country could not boast of them.
“There is much talk about 5G now because the network is going to distinguish countries in the new digital economy.
“There are so many new applications, and new technologies that will be depend on it and so if we do not have 5G in our country we cannot tap into these application.
“Government will not put down money because they are not private suppliers or providers of these equipment but they should make it easy for people who are providing these services get it easily,’’ he said.
