Chinese firms are currently developing 4.5G and 5.G technologies which are currently being tried and tested as the world prepares for fifth generation long-term evolution (5G LTE) broadband services, while Nigeria pledges to drive its economy on the back of cutting edge technologies and analyst say the country is moving too slowly.
BusinessDay learnt that 4.5G LTE will be available before the end of this year, while 5G is to be officially launched in 2020.
As technology continues to move rapidly in other parts of the world, especially in China which is known as the global tech hub, industry analysts in Nigeria fear that the country might be left out of the global technology revolution.
Leading the chase is Huawei, which disclosed in Shenzhen, China on Monday that it has developed 5G technology, which is currently being tried and tested prior to its official launch date of 2020.
According to the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), this move is fuelled by the Internet of Things (IoT) where everything is being connected and accessible through a smart phone.
Speaking at the tour of the Huawei manufacturing plant in Shenzhen China, Chen Jie, spokesperson for Huawei, told select journalists from around sub- Saharan Africa, including BusinessDay, that the company is currently working on 4.5G connections which will be finalised before the end of this year.
“We are constantly moving broadband speed to connect people with things. People can now connect almost everything. Even animals can be tracked with their location; plants can be tracked, and you can know the soil temperature and climate just with a connected device. You can open the door of your house from anywhere you are around the world and watch your house on your phone with a connected camera. The world is totally going digital,” Jie said.
Speaking more broadly on Huawei’s 4.5G plan, she said thousands of customers are already trying out the 4.5G connection.
“We have companies like Vodafone, Etisalat, China Unicom, Telefonica, T-Mobile, Zain, stc and other networks that are trying it out right now and by the end of 2016 it should be out for consumers,” she said.
Although some foreign information technology (IT) solution providers in Nigeria such as Ericsson have launched new solutions to support communication service providers in capturing the business opportunities created as the 5G era moves closer, industry watchers say more needs to be done in terms of development by local players and the Federal Government in preparation for the global launch of the expected fastest internet speed connection (5G LTE) when launched globally less than five years from now.
Speaking on a number of strategies that experts need to adopt for 5G in Nigeria to have a sustainable future, Bashir Gwandu, former acting CEO of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and chairman ITU group said ensuring sustained research effort, global stakeholder engagement and collaboration, innovative regulation
and policy development, would help in this regard. Gwandu said other needed measures include technical standards harmonisation and spectrum availability and early release, infrastucture design and harmonisation, co-existence and network interference minimisation.”
JUMOKE AKIYODE in Shenzhen, China
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