Huawei has committed to doubling its uptake in the fifth generation (5G) networks in Nigeria and other parts of Africa as demand from telecom operators rises.
Its Strategy and Marketing President, Peng Song, gave the commitment during the 13 Global Mobile Broadband Forum, held in Bangkok, Thailand, said the 5G business of the company has been rising on the crest of uptake in Africa.
One of the licencees of 5G in the country, MTN Nigeria, using the 3.5gigahertz (Ghz) spectrum, had rolled out 5G technology in Lagos with a promise to launch the network in six other cities including Abuja, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, Kano, Owerri, and Maiduguri. With this, Nigeria became the third African country to deploy the technology after South Africa and Kenya.
The Lagos 5G commercial launch came on the heels of its 5G pilot launch three weeks ago, as mandated by the telecoms industry regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
The telecoms operator, had in its half-year 2022 report, revealed that it had deployed 127 5G sites in preparation for its 5G launch. The technology is expected to be rolled out in phases, with full national coverage expected by 2025.
The advanced 5G technology promises to extend the reach and capacity of MTN Nigeria’s data network and enable much faster speeds and lower latency, giving customers near-instant access to the things they care about and downloads that take seconds, instead of minutes.
Speaking at the forum, Song said: “Our 5G business success is on an upward trajectory and this growth can be attributed to the African continent. We started off with just 200,000 base stations but today I can announce that we have deployed just under half a million base stations outside china, accounting for 70 per cent of the world’s total.”
