Umar Danbatta (pictured), executive vice president of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), said at a conference in Abuja, the capital, that the service will be offered to operators so that they can test their ability to offer ultra-fast broadband services over 5G.
Danbatta made the statement at the Digital Telecommunication Week, being held until Friday by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a United Nations agency.
The regulator warned that this authorisation to test 5G did not mean that the technology will soon be available to the general public in Nigeria. Broadband coverage is still only 30% and local media report Danbatta saying that investing in 5G now “could be counterproductive given the exclusivity that technology will bring to the market”.
Danbatta said of the ITU gathering: “This conference is first of its kind and it will bring together everybody that has a role in the fast growing telecommunications industry in Africa.”
