MTN Nigeria has finally turned on its 5G mobile connection services in 190 sites across West Africa including Nigeria. Since its rollout, mobile users have been reporting internet speeds greater than 1.4 GB per second.
The National Communication Commission was the one to announce that 5G will be available in the country on August 24 after preparing with the Federal Government for almost three years. It’s known that South Africa already has 5G since 2019 with Rain, so this was already due for a few years now in the Western part of the continent.
With the availability of 5G in Nigeria, how would this impact the different local industries? From being able to access different online services like USA casinos 24/7 and getting a smoother streaming experience, to the county’s socio-economic ecosystem, we’ll be taking a look at all of them. Let’s dive right into that, shall we?
Entertainment Industry
5G is quite revolutionary for the entertainment industry in Nigeria. This will enable so many internet activities and services to perform better. For example, with 5G, streaming services offered by Netflix and other companies will improve.
This could motivate more people to get online streaming subscriptions as they can finally get their money’s worth. That said, we’ll likely see more streaming services available in Nigeria in the coming months or years.
Aside from video streaming, gaming will also drastically improve. A strong connection can give online gamers a lag-free experience. This is especially the case for mobile gaming. Even PC and Consoles can efficiently perform when used for online gaming even if they connect to mobile hotspots.
Besides regular video games, online real money games will also most likely see a significant increase. That said, might show interest in playing at casinos listed on websites like casino whizz. Online casino players will simply encounter fewer connectivity problems, which could make them trust online casinos better.
Nigeria’s Socio-Economic Ecosystem
Peter Olusoji Ogundele, Ericsson Nigeria’s country manager, recently spoke with This Day Live about the other possible effects of 5G in the country including its socio-economic ecosystem.
When asked about the impact of 5G in Nigeria, Ogundele said, “The adoption and rollout of 5G networks will significantly boost Nigeria’s socio-economic ecosystem. Possessing low latency and high capacity, 5G will propel the nation’s ambitions for smart city development, smart transportation, and digitalized healthcare while also boosting industrial automation across the nation.”
He explained that digital technologies powered by 5G like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) will simply help the nation realize other digital development agendas.
He said, “Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has long played an important role in social inclusion, improving employment outcomes, and enabling greater access to education and skills acquisition.
“As the government rolls out 5G in the country we are confident it will lead to inclusive growth and allow large sections of Nigerian society to contribute to the country’s economy.”
He was also able to talk about how some people in the country see that 5G will cause more harm instead because of its electromagnetic wave. Ogundele said that this thought has no substantial evidence.
He explained, “…expert groups and public health authorities including the World Health Organization (WHO) have done thorough reviews of available scientific studies and have concluded that the balance of evidence does not demonstrate any health effects associated with radio wave exposure from either mobile phones or radio base stations complying with international limits.
“I also feel it is important to emphasize that 5G equipment, whether it be mobile devices or base stations, meets the same safety standards as the equipment used in current networks.”
MTN Group’s Take on 5G Connectivity
The CEO of MTN Group also spoke about how 5G can bring in more opportunities and that it’s an exciting time indeed. CEO Ralph Mupita said, “What is exciting for us are the industrial applications that come with 5G, the ability for companies to use high tech in how they run businesses. People talk about web 3.0, the metaverse. 5G enables a lot of that.”
Mupita also emphasized that they are continuously working to ensure that they get to deliver secure frequencies throughout its market – not just in Nigeria.
He said, “We are arranging ourselves to be able to secure the frequencies across markets, there is a multiband auction in South Africa that we will participate in, and other markets will be calling. In the next couple of years, we will arrange to have the 5G frequencies and then build out the ecosystem.”
