The Nigerian Communications Commission data showed that 5G adoption in Nigeria had moved to 1.11 percent of all connections in January 2024.
jerrymusa.com reports that based on information obtained from its website on Tuesday, 5G saw a little uptick from 1.04 percent in December 2023.
Even with this little acceleration, the nation’s 5G growth rate is still growing slowly, highlighting the challenges involved in making the switch to next-generation networks.
5g Adoption Process
Nonetheless, the information demonstrated that 2G subscriptions, which accounted for 57.78% of connections in January 2024, are still the most common.
The percentage of 4G subscribers increased from 31.33% in December 2023 to 31.75% in January 2024.
The telecom regulator awarded 5G licences to the winning bidders for the 3.5GHz spectrum in 2022. Since then, a few carriers in Nigeria with 5G licences have begun to build out their networks.
In September 2022, MTN Nigeria spearheaded the commercial launch of 5G activities, with Mafab Communications and Airtel Nigeria following suit in January and June of 2023, respectively.
A number of significant cities, including Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, Kano, Owerri, and Maiduguri, have started to roll out 5G.
Experts stated that limited infrastructure and hefty equipment, router, and device costs are the key reasons why 5G adoption in Nigeria is still low.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, Tony Izuagbe, President of the Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria, the introduction of 5G technology required increased infrastructure and increased connectivity among the infrastructure.
“Excitement surrounds 5G. Operators are receiving a lot of requests, and there is awareness,” he stated.
“But whether or not more people embrace 5G will depend on the infrastructure that is in place. You are aware that supply and demand play a role,” he remarked.
The Nigerian government has established a national 5G programme to address these issues and guarantee the successful rollout of 5G in key cities by 2025.
Ex-President key-General Muhammadu Buhari (retd) stated at the strategy’s introduction: “The national policy includes a deployment plan to ensure that major cities across the country benefit from 5G technologies.”
Additionally, it aims to make 5G a key economic engine, a spurrer for the nation’s smart cities, and a platform for the employment creation necessary to sustain the digital economy.
“Africa has the lowest rate of 5G coverage worldwide, with only 6% of people on the continent having access to the technology as of December 2023, according to data released by the International Telecommunications Union, a specialised agency of the United Nations.”
This is partially explained by the continued importance of earlier mobile technologies throughout the continent, namely 2G and 3G networks.
In several African nations, including Nigeria, the ITU report brought attention to the continued reliance on 2G and 3G networks. These technologies provide an affordable way to provide basic mobile services, particularly in areas without access to 4G and 5G networks.