Airtel Nigeria has kick-started its Fifth-Generation (5G) network service in Abuja, Lagos, Ogun and Rivers states yesterday.
The rollout of the service is coming six months after Airtel Nigeria won the 3.5 gigahertz spectrum to launch a 5G network in the country, promising to expand the service to other states of the federation.
Airtel Nigeria joins MTN Nigeria and Mafab Communications Ltd among telecommunications operators that have rolled out 5G Service in the country. According to Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) information Memorandum, 5G licencees are to roll out in at least 10 states within the first one year of being issued licence.
Speaking at the unveiling in Lagos, yesterday during a well attended event, Airtel Nigeria chief executive officer, Carl Cruz, said the 5G revolution is a quantum leap from 4G, stressing that though the latter (4G) is remarkable, 5G opens a new vista.
The Airtel boss posited that with 5G, there would be more collaboration among stakeholders in the telecoms space to do new things with Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Internet of Things, Smart Cities, among others.
Cruz appreciated the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), saying it enabled the country to join the first 60 countries to roll out the service. “Airtel Nigeria is proud to be an early mover with 5G technology, not just in Africa but all over the world.
“Thanks to the commitment of the Nigerian government, 5G became a reality early in Nigeria when only about 60 countries had access worldwide. In addition to that, the frequency spectrum band allocated to 5G will make the experience worthwhile for consumers.
“Our goal as Airtel Nigeria, therefore, is to make 5G accessible and widespread in the country,” Cruz stated. According to him, life definitely is going to get more interesting and easier, “we can only be limited by the limit of our imagination.”
The Airtel CEO said the 5G revolution is a quantum lead from 4G, noting that 5G completely opens a new vista where anything and everything is possible.
He said for instance, with 4G, video playback and video calls are smooth but in 5G, end-to-end video creation with the support of Artificial Intelligence is possible, right there on your browser. 5G is a completely new experience that supercharges cloud computing, telemedicine, self-driving cars, cloud gaming, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality (AR & VR), Internet of Things (IoT), Smart homes, and so much more, he added.
Giving more insight into the Airtel plan, the chief commercial officer, Femi Oshinlaja, said to ensure more Nigerians have access to the technology, the firm is offering the router for N30, 000 and has partnered with Samsung to deliver the Galaxy A14 model at a very affordable price.
He said though 5G is positioned to consume more data because it enables more speed and latency, “the rate and prices of data will remain the same.” Oshinlaja said Airtel has partnered with Samsung for the device while Huawei and ZTE are its technical partners.
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