Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has recently announced that subscriptions for 5G connectivity have maintained a steady increase, reaching 1.24% of the country’s total connections as of March 2024.

The data shows that the total number of active mobile connections in the country stood at 219 million, meaning that around 2.7 million Nigerians have subscribed to the latest technology.

As of December 2023, 5G penetration in the country stood at 1.04%. This increased to 1.11% in January 2024 and then 1.18% in February. This steady growth is likely to continue as more people switch to 5G networks.

Despite the growth of 5G, 2G still remains the dominant technology in Nigeria, accounting for 56.97% of all connections in Nigeria as of March 2024. 3G accounts for 9.04% of the 219 million subscriptions, while 4G accounts for 32.74% as of March 2024.

The cost of 5G devices is one of the main barriers to 5G adoption. The high cost of smartphones in Nigeria, due to soaring inflation, has deterred many people from upgrading to a 5G connection.

According to the Chief Technical Officer of MTN Nigeria, Mohammed Rufai, the problem of device compatibility is also a major issue, which is why telecom operators have continued to maintain their 2G and 3G networks while investing in 4G and 5G.

MTN launched the first 5G network in Nigeria in September 2022, while Airtel launched the same in June 2023. Mafab Communications, which secured the 5G license at the same time as MTN, rolled out the service in late 2023.

MTN initially rolled out its 5G service in seven cities and is currently expanding the service.

Airtel rolled out the service in four states with plans to roll out in six more states within the first year of the launch. Mafab also launched its 5G service in Abuja with a promise that the first phase of its rollout would be in six cities across the country.

The post Nigeria’s 5G subscriptions rise to 1.24% in March 2024 – NCC appeared first on Tech Digest News.

TECHDIGEST – The attention of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has been drawn to some misleading comments on social media which falsely claimed that “ MAFAB Communications, one of the companies granted Fifth Generation (5G) licences by the Commission is yet to roll out the service, nearly two years after obtaining a licence, and one year after the roll-out date.”

For a fact, MAFAB Communications is one of the two successful companies that won a 5G Licence during the globally-acclaimed transparent 5G Auction conducted by the Commission on December 13, 2021.

Upon fulfilling the condition of payment for the fee of $273.6 million in February 2022, the company formally received the licence on February 22, 2022.

READ ALSO:NCC, BPSR Sign MoU to Accelerate Digital Reform Processes ‎

Consequent upon the issuance of the 5G licence, and in line with the rollout conditions, MAFAB publicly launched its services in Abuja on January 24, 2023, and in Lagos on January 26, 2023. At launch, the services were targeted at six cities – Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Kano and Kaduna.

The Commission has continued to monitor the progress of rollout by MAFAB and has been regularly briefed about the status of infrastructure deployment for service offerings as conditioned in its operating licence.

The public and all stakeholders should ignore the false and misleading information concerning the 5G rollout by MAFAB.

The post Mafab Launches 5G Services In Nigeria appeared first on Tech Digest News.

By Adeyemi Adepetun

TECHDIGEST – One major landmark event that brought Nigeria to the global stage in 2022 was the launch of the Fifth-Generation (5G) network. Aside this development, the telecoms operators also began their recovery after a tortuous 2021 occasioned by the impact of the NIN/SIM exercise. ADEYEMI ADEPETUN, reports

In the next 72 hours, the year 2022 would have become a history and 2023 beckons. Globally, for the information and communications technology sector, it has been historical, going by the various events that shaped proceedings in the year.

From the deployment of the Fifth-Generation (5G) networks to inventions by startups; relocation of technology experts across the globe to mass disengagements by multinationals organisations; increase in various cyber attacks to online compromises, among others.

Indeed, Nigeria was not left out! After a successful auction of two lots of the 3.5GHz spectrum on December 13, 2021 in Abuja by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) under the leadership of Prof. Umar Danbatta, year 2022 was set to bring in new waves of transformation.

The 5G journey

By the end of December 13, 2021, MTN Nigeria and Mafab Communications Limited had won the licences to deploy 5G technology in Nigeria. This came after about two trials of the network by MTN earlier in 2021.

On or before February 24, the duo of MTN and Mafab had coughed out $547 million to the Federal Government as required by the information memorandum (IM) for the award of the 5G spectrum licences. From there, ground works started for the full deployment by August, going by the timetable. While MTN, led by its Chief Executive Officer, Karl Toriola, began deployment on a pilot basis in August and commercial launch in September, this enabled some 81 clusters in Lagos witnessed the service, while other cities including Abuja, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, Kano, Owerri, and Maiduguri were penned down for later part of the year into 2023.

Historically, the MTN launch in Nigeria enabled the country to rank among the first three countries after South Africa and Kenya to have started 5G on the African continent.

The second winner, Mafab Communications, was, however, granted a five-month extension to roll out over delays in obtaining its unified operational licence (UASL) and Numbering Plan from the NCC. It only secured the two vital documents at the end of July.

While there are reports that Mafab would deploy the service before the year ends and beats projections, Nigerians are eagerly awaiting the service from the company.

Chairman of Mafab Communications, Dr. Mushabu Bashir, had said in a statement that the company remained resolutely committed to the deployment of the technology.

“We are fully committed to bringing the benefits of 5G services to Nigerians and deploying a network that will drive economic development with increased broadband capabilities nationwide. I have no doubt that the service will help deliver improvements in the fields of education, business, smart cities and entertainment.

“The goal remains to launch before the five-month extension period and we will be sharing more information in the near future,” he had said.
For emphasis, the 5G is expected to offer Nigerians higher data speed, improved reliability and availability. The benefits are far reaching, as the service will enable Nigerians to achieve more with broadband and increase the nation’s broadband penetration, quality of service and capabilities.

Airtel joins the 5G race

After initial preparation for the second round of auction for the remaining lots of the 3.5GHz spectrum for more 5G licenses in the country, scheduled for December 19 in Abuja, the NCC announced that by the close of business on December 5, only Airtel Networks Limited (Airtel) and Standard Network & Connections Limited (Standard Network) had expressed interest in the auction of the 3.5GHz spectrum band.

READ ALSO: Nigeria’s Startups Invent 384 Products as Digitisation Expands – Kashifu

However, only Airtel paid the Intention to Bid Deposit (IBD) as stipulated in the IM whereas, Standard Network sent an email appeal for the deadline to be extended by 12 working days, which was not acceptable in view of the auction timetable. Having met the provisions in the IM, Airtel therefore, emerged as the sole bidder.

Weathering the NIN/SIM challenge

Tortuous for subscribers and operators to say the least was the process that compelled the linkage of the National Identity Number (NIN) to Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards in the country, especially when COVID-19 was at its fiercest.

Now almost two years after, some 93 million NINs have been issued and linked to various SIMs. However, 2020 into 2021, close to 20 million lines were barred. By the start of 2022, operators had to deploy several means, including wooing through various promos to encourage Nigerians not to permanently dump their SIMs for economic reasons to all the parties involved.

Indeed, there have been massive boost in mobile lines in the country. The number of connected lines across the mobile networks of MTN, Globacom, Airtel, and 9mobile continued to grow, rising to 321 million in October, according to the NCC. However, only 214 million of these lines were active.

MTN sustained its dominance accounting for 38.85 per cent with a total of 83.2 million active subscriptions. Globacom maintained its second position with a market share of 27.82 per cent, having recorded 59.6 million active lines in the period under review.

Airtel’s market share stood at 27.37per cent with 58.6 million active subscriptions. 9mobile, on the other hand, had only a 5.96 per cent share of the mobile market with 12.7 million subscriptions.

Telecoms sector’s resilience

The resilience of the telecoms sector cannot be swept under the carpet. The industry continued to be the pillar of the nation’s economic growth as the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 2.25 per cent in the third quarter of this year with its strong support.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which released the figure, said the economic growth rate however, declined when compared to 4.03 per cent growth achieved in this period of last year.

It attributed the reduction in growth to the base effects of the recession and the challenging economic conditions that have impeded productive activities.

Statistician-General, National Bureau of Statistics, Prince Semiu Adeniran, said data for the analysis were obtained from the quarterly establishment survey conducted by the NBS. He said the third quarter economic growth was driven by the non-oil sector, which grew by 4.27 per cent in real terms.

He explained that the rate was lower by 1.18 per cent points compared to the rate recorded in the same quarter of last year and 0.50 per cent points lower than the second quarter of the year.

“This sector was driven in the third quarter of 2022 mainly by Information and Communication (Telecommunication), Trade, Transportation (Road Transport), Financial and Insurance (Financial Institutions), Agriculture (Crop Production) and Real Estate, accounting for positive GDP growth,” the report said.

According to the report, in real terms, the non-oil sector contributed 94.34 per cent to the nation’s GDP in the third quarter of 2022, higher than the share recorded in the third quarter of 2021 which was 92.51 per cent and higher than the second quarter of 2022 recorded as 93.67 per cent.

Enters the ‘Japa’ syndrome

As beautiful as the sector moved in 2022, the ‘Japa’ syndrome was very confrontational on the achievements of the sector. With many technology savvy guys having to leave their paid employments in Nigeria for something greener abroad. This almost brought some companies down, especially in the banking sector.

The Guardian had reported on August 29, how software, hardware engineers, system integrators, digital marketers, accountants and auditors were dumping high-paying employment in banking, financial technology, education, insurance, manufacturing and teaching as economic opportunities shrink amid rising insecurity in Nigeria for offers from abroad.

A Chief Information Officer of one of the leading first-generation banks, who preferred anonymity, had told The Guardian that within the first-half of the year, about 750 software engineers resigned their appointments from some of the leading financial institutions in the country to pick what they described as mouthwatering offers from overseas companies. The popular destinations were Canada, the UK, Ireland, Germany and the United States.

The Marketing Manager, Eskimi Africa, an AdTech platform that helps brands and agencies to conduct programmatic advertising campaigns, Oluwatobi Adekunle, said the attraction abroad remains very huge.

Adekunle said the attraction is that everybody wants to earn dollars, live in an environment that is comfortable for them to grow and know that the future is guaranteed, which according to him, is missing here.

“For example, a digital marketer in Nigeria at a professional level, who is at the peak of his career, may be earning N800, 000, but outside the country, you can earn between $4,500 and $5,000 a month. Convert that to Naira and you become a ‘big boy’. It is a lot of money. The fact that you can earn a dollar, grow your career among others is enough attraction for anybody to leave this country.”

The Twitter challenge

On April 25, this year, Twitter’s Board of Directors agreed to founder/Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Tesla, Elon Musk’s buyout offer of $44 billion, which effectively made the company private. Musk had stated that he planned to introduce new features to the platform, make its algorithms open-sourced, combat spambot accounts, and promote free speech. He also said jobs must be cut.

Job losses took shine of the sector
As expected, Musk didn’t disappoint following his various rash decisions after taken over Twitter. Twitter’s Chief Executive, Parag Agrawal, and the Chief Financial Officer, Ned Segal, were emailed that they had been fired and this led to gale of resignations and mass sack.

Just over a week after closing the deal, he eliminated nearly half of Twitter’s work force, or about 3,700 jobs. The job cuts affected many divisions across the company, including the engineering and machine learning units, the teams that manage content moderation, and the sales and advertising departments.

This gale of mass sack also affected Twitter’s only African office in Accra, Ghana, with almost all the workers laid off. Then came the verification subscriptions. Twitter said it would begin charging customers $7.99 monthly to receive a coveted verification check mark on their profiles. But the rollout was delayed until after the mid-term elections after Twitter users and employees raised concerns that the new pay-for-play badges could be misused to sow seeds of discord.

In the gale of mass sack, Twitter was not alone, Meta (Facebook), Amazon, among others also had their fair share of the challenge. For instance, Meta laid off 11,000 people, about 13 per cent of its global workforce including Nigerian employees in diaspora and in Africa, as it contends with faltering revenue and broader tech industry woes.

The message of job cut was communicated in a letter by the Chief Executive Officer, Mark Zuckerberg to employees across Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram.

Massive malwares, ransonware attacks
Cyber criminals also launched several attacks across all platforms. Indeed, in 2022, the Nigerian Communications Commission’s Computer Security Incident Response Team (NCC-CSIRT) was kept on its toes by a myriad of malware vulnerability reports.

The NCC issued over 10 alerts in the course of 2022, from Somnia Ransomware, Xenomorph Malware, Schoolyard bully malware, Invisible Challenge on short-form video hosting service, TokTok, QBot malware and many others.

In response to the discovery of a new attack that compromises victims’ Virtual Private Network (VPN) accounts to compromise messaging app, Telegram, NCC-CSIRT advised users to adopt two-factor authentication to protect their Telegram accounts and not to download unknown Advanced IP Scanner Software.

Ukrainian cyber experts discovered the attack, which uses Vidar Malware (Vidar Stealer) to steal Telegram session data, which in the absence of configured two-factor authentication and a passcode, allows unauthorized access to the victim’s telegram account and corporate account or network.

The malware, which exploits unauthorized access to users’ Telegram accounts and corporate accounts to steal data, targets platforms across iOS, Android, Linux, Mac and Windows Operating Systems.

“The Ukrainian CERT alleged that a Somnia Ransomware was created to be used on Telegram that tricks users to download an installer that mimics ‘Advanced IP Scanner’ software, which contains Vidar Malware. The installer infects the system with the Vidar stealer, which steals the victim’s Telegram session data to take control of their account.

“The threat actors abuse the victim’s Telegram account in some unspecified manner to steal VPN connection data (authentication and certificates). If the VPN account is not protected by two-factor authentication passcode, the hackers use it to gain unauthorized access to the victim’s employer’s corporate network,” the alert and advisory stated.

Nigeria made ITU Council membership
During the year, Nigeria was re-elected as a Council member of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations specialised agency that oversees global telecommunication operations. Nigeria will serve on the Council again from 2023-2026.

The election of Nigeria and other countries into different regional groups that constitute ITU Council, was the highpoint of the Plenipotentiary Conference 2022 (PP-22) held in Bucharest, the capital city of the Republic of Romania.

The Nigerian delegation was led to the global event by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami. Other members of the delegation included Chairman, Board of Commissioners of NCC, Prof. Adeolu Akande, and the Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta.

At the conference, which was held between September 26 and October 14, 2022, member states voted on the composition of the next ITU Council and the 12 representatives to serve on the Radio Regulations Board (RRB) for the next four years.

The 21st Plenipotentiary Conference of the Council also saw the election by member states, of Doreen Bogdan-Martin of the United States (US) as the organisation’s next Secretary-General.

Like Nigeria and the countries elected into the Council, Bogdan-Martin, as the first woman to lead ITU in its 157-year history, will begin her four-year term from January 2023, when Houlin Zhao would have completed his second final term of four years in office as ITU Secretary General.

The post Exploits of technology sector in 2022 appeared first on Tech Digest News.

TECHDIGEST – According to President Muhammadu Buhari, the sale of fifth-generation (5G) spectrum brought in approximately $547 million for the Federal Government.

During the official opening of the National Shared Services Centre (NSSC) in Abuja on Tuesday, Buhari made this statement.

The NSSC houses a cybersecurity operations center, network center, and call center in addition to being a one-stop shop for ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) to interact with citizens.

Speaking during the opening, Buhari noted that in addition to the proceeds from the sale, the 5G spectrum may be used as another source of funding for infrastructure.

He also praised the sector’s contributions to the nation’s economic growth, job creation, and tax generation.

According to Buhari, the NSSC would offer services that are “swift, secure, and frictionless.”

READ ALSO: FG: Starlink To Launch Service in Nigeria This Year

He continued by saying that the information, communication, and technology (ICT) industry had advanced the economy’s diversification and contributed an unprecedented 18.44 percent of the GDP, or over three times as much as the 6.33 percent the oil sector generated in the second quarter of 2022.

Recall that the Nigerian Communications Commission last December, offered a 3.5GHz spectrum to MTN Nigeria Communications Plc and Mafab Communication to support their 5G rollout. Since NCC awarded the 5G spectrum, MTN has launched its 5G network in selected locations while Mafab is yet to roll out its 5G network.

After winning the 3. 5 GHz spectrum auction, MTN Nigeria and Mafab Communications Limited paid the entire $273.6 million each for a 5G spectrum license in February 2022.

The post FG Earned $547m From Sale Of 5G Spectrum, Says President Buhari appeared first on Tech Digest News.

TECHDIGEST – The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said that anyone interested in participating in the forthcoming 3.5GHz spectrum auction for 5G will have to pay the sum of $27.36 million as Intention-to-Bid Deposit (IBD). 

In a final Information Memorandum (IM) for the spectrum auction released over the weekend, the NCC emphasised that the deposit must be paid latest by 5 PM on December 5, 2022. 

The auction is scheduled to take place on December 19, 2022 and the deposit amount represents 10% of the spectrum’s $273.6 million reserve price. 

Requirements for participation

Stating requirements for any company to be part of the auction, NCC said: 

“In accordance with the full instructions laid out within this IM, applicants, are to submit a completed application, including appropriate template documentation and confirmation of transfer of the Intention-to-Bid Deposit (IBD), of $27,3600.00 by 17.00 hours West African Time (WAT) on 05 December 2022.

READ ALSO:  Data Governance will Ensure Maximum Value Derivation from Digital Economy – NITDA Boss

“A Bank Guarantee, or similar instruments, will not be acceptable. This deposit will bind the Applicant to take up a licence, should it be a successful bidder, at the Reserve Price or any higher bid value submitted during the process.” 

Coast clears for MTN

Meanwhile, with the new eligibility criteria in the final IM, MTN Nigeria is now qualified to participate in the auction. The updated IM, which was the result of the stakeholder engagement forum held by the Commission last week, changed part of the eligibility criteria. 

While NCC stated in the initial IM that licensees with up to 100MHz in the 3.5GHz band will not be eligible to participate in the auction, the updated IM said:

“Any Licensee of the Commission or any entity that has up to 200MHz in the 3.5GHz band in Nigeria will not be eligible to participate in this Auction.” 

Currently, there is no operator in Nigeria that has up to 200MHz in the 3.5GHz spectrum band. MTN and Mafab Communications which won the first 3.5GHz spectrum auction last year have 100MHz each, meaning that either of them can still participate in the coming auction.  

While Mafab is yet to roll out, MTN is eyeing another 100MHz out of the two lots to be auctioned next month. According to the company, having another lot of 100Mhz in the 3.5GHz spectrum band will enable it to deliver 5G service more efficiently.  

The post 5G Spectrum Auction Bidders Must Pay $27.36 Million Deposit – NCC appeared first on Tech Digest News.

TECHDIGEST – The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says it has set the reserve price for its new 5G spectrums at $273.60m each and offering two slots in the 3.5 gigahertz (GHz) spectrum band for the deployment of the fifth generation (5G) network in the country.

The commission made this known on Saturday in a memorandum titled ‘Information Memorandum on 3.5 GHz Spectrum Auction’.

According to the NCC, the offering includes remaining lots of 2 x 100 megahertz (MHz) in the 3.5 GHz spectrum band “to support 5G deployment in Nigeria”.

“The Reserve Price (RP) is the minimum price for one lot of 100MHz TDD for a ten (10) year licence tenure fixed at Two Hundred and Seventy-Three Million and Six Hundred Thousand United States Dollars only (US$273,600,000.00) or it’s equivalent in Naira at the prevailing Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) rates at the time of the auction,” the memorandum reads.

READ ALSO: Buhari Confers ‘Digital Innovation Award’ on Pantami

The commission said it had developed a draft information memorandum (IM) to support the attainment of this objective through an auction process.

“The commission will hold a Public Consultation in respect of the draft IM on November 15, 2022,” it said.

“This is in line with the commission’s participatory rule-making process for the communications sector, to give stakeholders and interested parties an opportunity to review and comment on the draft IM before the final document is published.”

The commission added that applicants for the spectrum do not have to be licensed network operators in the country but will need a unified access service licence (UASL) if their bid is successful.

In February 2022, MTN Nigeria and Mafab Communications Limited made their full payment of $273.6 million each for a 5G spectrum licence after emerging winners of the 3. 5 GHz spectrum auction.

Currently, MTN has launched the 5G mobile network, whereas Mafab has suspended the roll-out until December.

The post NCC Sets To Issue Two More 5G Licences appeared first on Tech Digest News.

TECHDIGEST – Under her digital economy agenda, Nigeria projects to increase her Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to 15 per cent by 2025, thereby brightening her chances of claiming a share of the global digital economy valued at $11.5 trillion. But the dearth of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure is clogging the wheel of progress in transforming the country into a regional and global digital powerhouse.This has pushed the adoption and implementation of local content and indigenous capabilities, as well as public-private partnerships, to drive the agenda to the front burner. Assistant Editor CHIKODI OKEREOCHA reports.

With a burgeoning tech-savvy youth population with spending power, increasing smartphone and Internet penetration rates, among other favourable indicators, Nigeria looks good to leverage her digital economy agenda to transform into a regional and global digital powerhouse and, ultimately, boost productivity across all economic sectors.

For instance, with 109.2 million Internet users, Nigeria’s Internet penetration rate stood at 51 per cent of the total population put at 214.1 million in January 2022. Her 176.3 million cellular mobile connections were also equivalent to 82.4 per cent of the total population as at the same period.

Broadband usage has also been rising, moving up from 40.9 per cent in February, this year to 44.5 per cent in July, a figure considered hopeful for achieving the national broadband target of 70 per cent in 2025, according to the Executive Vice Chairman of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta.

Ordinarily, the afore-mentioned strong fundamentals, coupled with the growing interest of local and foreign investors, particularly in the country’s ICT sector, should position Africa’s largest and most populous economy to achieve her target of leveraging a robust digital economy to boost her Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to 15 per cent by 2025.

But, while the end-game of increasing the GDP to 15 per cent by 2025 was to brighten her chances of cornering a chunk of the global digital economy valued at $11.5 trillion, which translates to about 16 per cent of the global economy, the dearth of effective and efficient digital infrastructure to catalyse her transition are hurting her chances.

Indeed, the ICT sector’s contribution to the GDP has been one of the fastest growing components and is becoming the country’s most important long-term growth prospect. For instance, ICT contributed 18.44 per cent to the GDP in Q2 2022, while the oil sector contributed 6.33 per cent to the total real GDP in Q2 2022, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

However, while an obviously excited Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami, attributed the ICT sector’s growing contribution to the GDP to the current administration’s commitment to the development of the digital economy, fears are rife that the minister’s excitement may be short-lived, unless the nation’s inadequate ICT infrastructure (computers, Internet and broadband) are addressed.

According to Information & Technology (IT) experts, ICT infrastructure plays a key role in the socio-economic and technological development of a digital economy, which essentially refers to transformational changes occurring in the way businesses and individuals produce, deliver and consume goods and services in an increasingly digitalised marketplace.

A digital economy allows people to access products and services and creates wealth through social media and e-commerce using the appropriate applications. It boosts the productivity and local and global competitiveness of businesses as they can now use technology to automate their operations and processes. This is because businesses are able to use the Internet to reach new markets and customers.

But as promising as the future of a Nigerian economy based on digital technologies is, the country’s huge digital infrastructure gap may truncate her journey to that envisaged future. Inadequate access to the latest technologies and infrastructure, which are growth catalysts for modern digital economies, may hurt Nigeria’s opportunity of reaping the full benefits of a digital economy.

The Nation learnt that the infrastructure deficit threatening to truncate Nigeria’s transformation to a digital economy runs through the gamut of solid infrastructure (deployment of fixed and mobile infrastructure to deepen broadband penetration); service infrastructure (support for government digital services and the provision of robust digital platforms to drive the digital economy).

There is also soft infrastructure (strengthening public confidence in the use of digital technologies and participation in the digital economy), with the President of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Michael Olawale-Cole, noting that the multiplier effects of an effective and efficient digital infrastructure on national development cannot be overemphasised.

He said this was why the Federal Government announced a target of $40 billion private capital investment in digital infrastructure by 2025, besides facilitating about $1 billion in private equity. It also inaugurated the National Council on Infrastructure, with a plan of doubling the infrastructure stock of the GDP from 35 per cent to about 70 per cent.

Olawale-Cole spoke at the eighth edition of Information Communication Technology and Telecommunication (ICTEL) Expo organised by the chamber and held in Lagos, last week.

The two-day event, which featured exhibitions, presentations by keynote speakers, and pitch sessions, among others, was themed: “Ensuring Efficient Digital Infrastructure in Nigeria.”

Olawale-Cole said despite the lofty targets set for the country’s digital infrastructure, government lacked the political will to implement laudable policies that could transform the digital infrastructure. Noting that the reason for doubting the government’s 70 per cent target for infrastructure contribution to GDP was linked to the decade-long corruption, he said poor infrastructure was the greatest socio-economic development challenge.

However, the Federal Government has never hidden its intention to transform Nigeria into a digital economy. From October 17, 2019, when President Muhammadu Buhari approved the re-designation of the Ministry of Communications as the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, the administration left no one in doubt of its intension to achieve the feat.

The change of name expanded the ministry’s mandate to include a key aspect of the priority areas set for it, which is the “Development and Implementation of a Digital Economy Policy and Strategy.” Accordingly, the new ministry was assigned the role of coordinating all activities related to digital economy, and it has since been doing so.

However, the expansion of the ministry’s mandate was not the only indication of the government’s realisation that the economy’s local and global competitiveness depended on how it deploys technology to transform various sectors of the economy. It has also been paying attention and emphasis on the integration of ICT infrastructure in its policies and programmes.

The emergence of MTN Nigeria and Mafab Communications Ltd, as winners of the keenly-contested 3.5 GHz spectrum auction for Fifth Generation (5G) deployment, as well as the $574.2 million realised from the auction, were indications of government’s readiness to achieve the digital economy agenda.

Operators of cloud computing services to the rescue

While industry operators, stakeholders and Nigerians await the Federal Government to pluck up the political will to walk the digital infrastructure talk, the adoption and implementation of local content and indigenous capabilities to drive the  agenda has taken centre stage, with some local ICT companies leading the charge.

For instance, the Director of Operations, Unitellas Edge Cloud, Blessing Omo, said investing in digital infrastructure, particularly edge cloud technologies, which offer cost savings, capacity to scale rapidly, advance cyber-security features and access to powerful analytical tools for processing big data, was key to achieving the digital economy agenda.

Blessing, who spoke on ‘Digital Transformation: Unlocking Value with Edge Clouds in Nigeria’, at the expo, said Nigeria could achieve the next stage of her digital transformation and reap the benefits of cloud services by shifting focus from reliance on legacy IT systems to more cloud-based solutions.

“Edge Clouds are compact or modular data centres closer to where the end users utilise them. Edge Computing brings processing closer to the source of data and enables the unlocking of the value of data assets in real time for critical decision making,” she explained.

Citing the Automation World 2021 Cloud & Edge survey, which said 62 per cent of companies were leveraging cloud technologies as part of their digital transformation roadmap, Blessing said countries like the United States, United Kingdom, Singapore and others, which are implementing cloud policies in governance, have recorded accelerated digital transformation and delivery of essential public and business services.

By 2025, companies around the world are expected to use cloud technology in some way, with 85 per cent of business applications predicted to be based on it. In the United Arab Emirate (UAE), for instance, the share of cloud-related digital transformation spending is expected to increase to 30 per cent in 2024, up from 22 per cent in 2020.

Insisting that Nigeria can follow the same trajectory, the Unitellas chief operating officer said the primary benefits or values that implementing edge clouds in Nigeria would deliver included improved latency, reduction of response time, conservation of network resource (low-bandwidth costs), and improved security and privacy, among others.

Others are reduced capital flight in foreign exchange, increased confidence in local technology, constant availability of mission-critical applications, and cost savings due to pay per use without CapEx investments.

The Managng Director, Unitellas Edge Cloud, Mr. Smith Osemeke, harped on the need to prioritise the use of available local cloud technologies to cut off latency and drive Nigeria’s digital transformation instead of relying on the use of public clouds, outside Nigeria’s shores, with its attendant security and latency-related issues.

Osemeke, who was one of the discussants on the Expo’s panel session focused on ‘Education, Digital Learning and Digital Infrastructure in Nigeria,’ said the challenge of online learning in Nigeria still boils down to digital infrastructure hence, the need to interrogate what government is doing to ensure the required infrastructure are available locally.

“There is need to create more awareness about our local capabilities. The infrastructure is here to drive Nigeria’s digital transformation. We must encourage local content to create jobs and conserve foreign exchange,” he said.

For the Managing Director, Galaxy Backbone Limited (GBB), Prof. Mohammad Abubakar, public-private partnership (PPP) holds the key to providing efficient digital infrastructure.

Abubakar, who was represented at the Expo by the Group Head, Business Development, GBB, Mr. Dauda Oyeleye, said to further solidify GBB, a government agency’s stand on PPP, the company created an Enterprise Business Group (EBG) tasked with the responsibility of managing private customers as well as structured partnerships.

He said GBB had a pervasive fibre connectivity network across the nation, which the private sector could key into. “We have established partnerships with managed service providers, real estate developers, as well as other local organisations to reach the goal of attaining a digital Nigeria.

“Our state-of-the-art infrastructure has been instrumental in sealing these deals and the partnerships just keep getting better. `GBB has taken steps to secure public confidence in the use of its digital infrastructure, through trusted international third-party attestations and would continue to redefine collaboration within and outside the country,” Abubakar said.

On his part, the Chairman, Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu, called for the scaling up of Nigeria’s digital infrastructure through adequate multi-sectoral investments to accommodate the country’s rapidly-growing digital economy.

Source: the nation 

The post Options To Fast-Tracking Nigeria’s Digital Economy appeared first on Tech Digest News.

TECH DIGEST- The long-awaited open 5G project by MTN Nigeria Communications has officially begun in seven Nigerian cities. The organization announced that it will test the next-generation network architecture in seven states, including Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, Kano, Owerri, and Maiduguri.

Nigeria will join South Africa and Kenya as nations that have formally launched the 5G network on the continent with the successful introduction of this technology. Anywhere there is coverage, customers with the enabled devices will be able to connect and test out the new 5G service.

READ ALSO: PHOTO: Pantami Commissions MAAUN School of Computing… Says as Minister, he still Supervises PhD Candidates

Additionally, MTN stated that walk-in consumers can now place orders at designated MTN walk-in stores, as well as online through the MTN Nigeria website and e-marketplace, where suitable products like routers and mobile phones have been advertised.

These tools are designed to ensure that users have smooth transitions to new technologies. According to the Telecoms company, clients will receive their purchases after the event’s inauguration in the following weeks. Eight months after paying $276 million for a licence, the business successfully launched 5G technology.

According to reports, customers with Samsung phones that support 5G should be able to access the technology in a month, while iPhone users may need to wait until October.

Recall that in December of last year, two telecom companies, MTN and Mafab Communications, each won a licence for the 3.5GHz band. The Fifth-Generation (5G) service has been introduced by MTN, but Mafab Communications has been awarded a five-month extension for the service’s rollout throughout Nigeria. The Nigerian Communications Commission, or NCC, had set August 24, 2022, as the deadline for the deployment of 5G technology.

This development has a significant possibility and a positive future for technology in Nigeria, according to a 2020 GSMA Intelligence analysis by The Mobile Economy, as the spectrum issued

The post MTNNG:  Rollout of 5G Network Services appeared first on Tech Digest News.

TECHDIGEST – The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has issued a 5-month extension to Mafab Communications for the rollout of its 5G service. Mafab, a new player in the Nigerian telecommunications sector that won the 5G spectrum license alongside MTN in December last year, now has until January 2023 to launch 5G.

Going by the conditions of the license, the two operators were expected to roll out the service effective from August 24, 2022. However, while MTN is forging ahead with its plans to deploy the service before the end of Q2 2022, Mafab has 5 more months to prepare.

READ ALSO: Kano Teenager Invents Robot Working With Exoskeleton Remote Control

While Mafab disclosed this in a statement issued on Sunday, the Director of Public Affairs at the NCC, Mr Reuben Mouka, confirmed the development to Nairametrics, noting that the extension was granted due to the delays in issuing Mafab’s unified operational licence, (USAL) and Numbering Plan, which did not happen until the end of July.

In a statement announcing the extension, Chairman of Mafab Communications Limited, Dr. Mushabu Bashir, said: “We are fully committed to bringing the benefits of 5G services to Nigerians and deploying a network that will drive economic development with increased broadband capabilities nationwide. I have no doubt that the service will help deliver improvements in the fields of education, business, smart cities, and entertainment.

“The goal remains to launch before the five-month extension period and we will be sharing more information in the near future,” he added.

The post NCC Extends Mafab Communications 5G Rollout To 2023 appeared first on Tech Digest News.

TECHDIGEST – Chairman of MTN Group, Mr. Mcebisi Jonas and the Group’s CEO, Mr. Ralph Mupita have commended the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami for Nigeria’s 5G roadmap.

Pantami met with the duo during a side meeting at the 2022 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, also known as CHOGM 2022, taking place in Kigali, Rwanda.

MTN Nigeria and little known Mafab Communications Ltd emerged as the two successful winners of the 3.5 gigahertz (GHz) spectrum auction for the deployment of 5G technology in Nigeria December.

The operators are expexcted to commence delivery of 5G services before ending of Q3, 2022.

In Kigali, “the leadership of MTN expressed their gratitude to the minister for his support towards creating an enabling environment for MTN to thrive in its largest global market- Nigeria.

“In particular, they commended the minister for the successful 5G auctioning and licensing process and they assured the Minister of their willingness to roll out 5G services in Nigeria as soon as possible,” said Dr Femi Adeluyi, Technical Assistant (Research and Development) to Prof Pantami.

The statement addded: “The MTN team also officially informed the minister of their decision to hold their next Board Retreat in Nigeria in July 2022. This, they said, is in recognition of the positive impact of Nigeria on their business.

“They also assured the minister of their commitment to expanding their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs in Nigeria.”

The post CHOGM 2022: MTN Commends Pantami Over Nigeria’s 5G Roadmap appeared first on Tech Digest News.