Although Nigeria joined South Africa and Kenya in deploying the Fifth-Generation (5G) network on August 24 through MTN, an expert has stated that the country needs an additional three years for the network to stabilize.
Ajay Awasthi, the chief executive officer of Spectranet, who made the estimate, blamed the situation on a lack of fiber infrastructure in the nation.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) reported that as of the end of 2021, there were 49, 579 towers owned by mobile and fixed carriers as well as collocation and infrastructure businesses.
It also noted that the operators reported having installed 86,057 kilometers of fiber optic cable and 38,288 base stations overall (terrestrial fiber and submarine cable)
Speaking on Wednesday in Lagos at the launch of a new device called WiTel (a WiFi router and desktop phone combined), Ajay claimed that Nigeria’s current level of fiber deployment was still low compared to the country’s population, which would impede seamless 5G access.
The CEO of Spectranet claimed that 5G was required for its extremely high speed, low latency, and ability to power applications like the Internet of Things (IoT) among others, but added that “more fiber is required to achieve this high speed and low latency.”
“If you look at the number of towers, which are connected to fibre, knowing full well that 5G would on the towers through the antennas, with backhaul and switches among others connectivity can only be achieved with fibre infrastructure not through microwave because of latency and capacity issues.
“There is hardly any fibre in Nigeria at this point. If you look at most of the European countries, the number of towers connected to fibres could be 50 to 60 per cent. If you look at the number of towers, which are connected to fibre in Nigeria, I am not sure it is up to 20 per cent and could even be lower. Unless that is sorted out, 5G will remain a pipe dream in Nigeria.”
According to Awasthi, tower firms have not started connecting their towers to fiber right now, and till that happens it may be tough to push 5G. He claimed that the genuine 5G experience will come roughly two or three years from now.
Users will obtain it, he claimed, but it will be compromised. Since you are utilizing a microwave, the latency will be high, much like with 4G, yet your speed will still be a problem.
The CEO of Spectranet also pointed out a flaw in the potential of satellite communications to deliver desired 5G experiences, stating that while satellite has incredibly wide coverage and doesn’t typically have problems because it is in the sky, it also has its hurdles.
“It has limited bandwidth and is very expensive. It is very expensive to operate satellites. It is good to offer coverage in areas, especially in rural areas because of coverage but you will not get a very high speed. Even if you get it, it will be very expensive. It is good to have speed but there are vast areas where there is still no coverage.”
Meanwhile, with the introduction of WiTel all in one magic box, which combines the features of a WiFi router with a desktop phone for homes and businesses, Spectranet has managed to restore the nation’s ailing fixed line services.
Awasthi emphasized that the new service solves the issue of a landline telephone in Nigeria, where he puts its penetration at less than 5%, and said that it would increase the odds of survival for small and medium-sized businesses in the nation.
He said that when WiTel is initially activated with a seven-digit landline, consumers will receive 100GB and 200 minutes of talk time.
While Spectranet is available in four major cities—Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Ibadan—the CEO of WiTel claimed the service is currently only available in Lagos and Abuja but would soon be expanded to additional cities before the year is over.
However, he claimed that calls might enter the WiTel from different networks around the nation without affecting the availability of data services.
