Ikenna-Emeka: 5G Technology Will Address Digital Needs

The Chief Broadband Officer, MTN Nigeria, Onyinye Ikenna-Emeka, speaks about the fast evolving nature of emerging technology and how 5G technology will address the human digital needs among others. Emma Okonji presents the excerpts:

Tell us more about the 5G technology. What is the difference between 4G and 5G technologies and why is MTN keen about 5G technology rollout?

Before I discuss the 5G technology, I will like to talk about 2G, 3G and 4G technologies, on which the 5G technology was built upon. While the 2G technology is used to transmit information via voice signals, the 3G is used to transmit information like data transfer through video conferencing and multimedia services (MMS). 4G technology is for video streaming and high speed data connectivity, while 5G comes with higher data speed and with low latency.

In the days of 3G technology, users could browse the internet at certain speed, send emails and download few files that are not too heavy. Users could also connect to social media like WhatsApp, Instagram, among others. From 3G, we moved to 4G, which comes with video streaming and download of heavy files at a higher download speed and connectivity speed with lower latency, which is the ability and time to complete a given task. So 5G was built on 2G, 3G and 4G technologies, with higher connectivity speed and with lower latency. 5G speaks to speed that is as high as 1Gigabyte with very low latency, which allows for massive number of devices and supports Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality (AR) and other emerging technologies. With 5G, people can download very heavy files with lesser time. 5G has also brought technology to different sectors like the health sector, education sector, sports, telecommunications, among other sectors.

You have just explained how different technologies have evolved over time, from 2G, 3G, 4G to 5G. Why is technology evolving so fast, and what are the benefits to users?

Yes, technology is evolving very fast because it is the nature of technology to evolve fast. Again, technology is an enabler that addresses the human digital needs that are constantly evolving. The human race is consistently looking for new ways to become more economically viable. Humans have growing needs and they constantly seek better ways of addressing their needs with technology. For this reasons, technology is also evolving fast in order to meet the growing needs of consumers. With 5G technology, consumers can do more in less time, thus driving efficiency and expanding market horizon in real time. The 5G technology enables people to engage with others and transact businesses with others from remote locations without the physical presence of the persons transacting the business. MTN for instance, views its customers from the way they work, learn and play and uses technology as an enabler to help its customers do more in less time at a very convenient way. If a small business for instance, have a challenge of access to market, MTN will offer such customer the technology that will enable it have unhindered access to market, even from the comfort of their offices or shops. So technology enables people to reach out to more markets globally than they even would have expect. Evolving technology comes with so much benefits for every user, and one of them is to position businesses in such a way that businesses can be accessible to all. It also provides the right platforms for people to access funds to grow their business.

How will you describe evolving technology in relation to business sustainability and partnerships that work?

Technology can help sustain business growth and it can open up business partnerships for those that adopt the right technology. Technology gives Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) the opportunity to have the right data connectivity, which is what 5G offers and the 5G technology is driving the fourth industrial revolution that is creating platforms for business partnerships, thus driving growth among businesses.

MTN was the first telecoms operator to carry out commercial launch of 5G in Nigeria in 2022, beginning with seven cities across the country, with a promise to expand to more cities. How many states and cities have been covered with MTN’s 5G network till date?

When MTN launched its 5G network on a commercial basis in 2022, we started with 190 sites in seven cities, but as at the last check in December 31, 2023, we have expanded our 5G network to 1,600 sites across 20 cities in Nigeria, and we will continue to expand in 2024 to give access to more Nigerians to connect to 5G. We have since discovered that the 5G take-off across the cities has been commendable and welcomed by the people and we will continue to expand to other cities and building more 5G sites according to our expansion plans and the digital needs of the people. At MTN, we are passionate about driving 5G across Nigeria because we believe in Nigeria and Nigerians who are keen at benefitting from a modern connected life with 5G. MTN is committed to providing 5G access to the people, not just from a mobile broadband perspective, but also from the fixed broadband perspective, which we express through our Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) network.

Having covered 20 cities across Nigeria with 5G as at December 31, 2023, what are your plans to cover the entire country with your 5G network?

Because of our belief and commitment as a telecoms company to offer the best customer experience to our fast growing customers, we have continued to offer the best connected services to our customers to enable them have the best connected lives ever. Based on our belief and commitment, we have continued to invest in our network and such investments will help us to cover the entire country with our 5G in few years time. MTN is investing in network infrastructure and we are continually laying our fibre optic cables and building more 5G sites across the country to achieve our network expansion plans. One thing that MTN prides itself in, is about our mix of technologies. We have a mix of 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G technologies as well as other emerging technologies. We will continue to ride on our mix of technologies to deploy broadband connectivity across the country and we are very much aligned with federal government’s policy on broadband growth across the country.

Given the poor infrastructural development in the country, coupled with the current 48 per cent broadband penetration rate, do you see the federal government achieving 70 per cent broadband penetration by2025 as enshrined in the Nigerian National Broadband Plan (2020-2025)?

MTN as a telecoms company that is very much aligned with the vision and aspirations of the federal government in driving broadband penetration across the country. It is true that the federal government has an ambition to grow broadband penetration to 70 per cent by 2025 as contained in the Nigerian National Broadband Plan (2020-2025) and MTN strongly believes it could be achieved through collaboration. It’s not going to be achieved by one player alone, but through collaborative efforts of all players, riding on different technologies to achieve a common broadband goal. The different technologies include 3G, 4G, 5G, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Fibre, including the satellite technology. A mix of all these technologies, coupled with other emerging technologies, driven by different players in the telecoms sector, will definitely help in achieving the 70 per cent broadband penetration plan by 2025. On the part of MTN, we are committed to playing our roles effectively to help the federal government achieve its broadband objectives. Our deployment and rollout of 5G in 20 cities within a period of 14 months, speaks volume about the MTN commitment to broadband penetration in Nigeria.

How will you compare 5G rollout in Nigeria with other African countries where 5G has been deployed in relation to spread, speed, latency and customer experience?

A number of African countries have rolled out 5G in their regions, such as South Africa, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, among others, but it may be difficult to compare directly, the spread and speed of 5G that has been deployed in the various countries because of different factors that are peculiar to different countries and regions. We have factors such as population size, existing infrastructure, among other factors that are peculiar to certain countries. South Africa, for instance, has a massive fibre infrastructure layout in that country, so the spread of 5G in South Africa cannot be compared with the spread of 5G in other African countries that have less fibre infrastructure layout. Ubiquitous fibre infrastructure allows for higher speed of broadband connectivity, with lower latency. So a country with less fibre deployment will not experience the same broadband speed and latency with countries that have massive fibre deployment.

Being the first to roll out 5G in Nigeria, how did MTN use 5G to impact on businesses and the Nigerian economy since 2022 when it launched its 5G network?

There is so much that MTN has done with the spread of its 5G in terms of impact on individuals, businesses and the economy since 2022, when we launched our 5G technology in Nigeria. The impact is both direct and indirect, and it has been massive. MTN has provided high speed broadband to different institutions and societies. We also have the fit for purpose broadband solutions for SMEs. We have the office broadband device that is designed to boost broadband connectivity in offices across the country. MTN also recognised the fact that devices matter a lot in accessing broadband connectivity, and decided to make routers available for fixed wireless access that are affordable and can be easily accessed by small businesses. In addition to that, MTN is into conversation with different sectors of the economy like the Oil and Gas, Education, E-commerce in order to provide solutions that are specific to them that will help them connect faster to internet.

How will MTN position 5G to create more impact on individuals, businesses and the economy in 2024?

One of the areas that MTN is targeting to drive broadband and 5G connectivity in 2024 is the home. So much data is consumed at home and MTN is consolidating on the homes to provide home-based solutions for families, the reason why MTN is riding on its home-to-home strategies to deliver 5G technology. In the area of education and entertainment, MTN intends to boost more access to broadband connectivity, riding on 5G network in 2024.

What is your take on InfraCos that are supposed to provide infrastructure for telecoms operators to drive network expansion. Are the InfraCos living up to the expectations of telecoms operators?

You are right to say that InfraCos are meant to provide infrastructure for telecoms operators to expand their networks and roll out telecoms services, because that is exactly their role. MTN is in collaboration with various InfraCos for specific operations. Most recently, MTN signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with American Towers to help improve the MTN wireless connectivity across Nigeria. MTN sees the role of the InfraCos as key and MTN will continue to partner them for its 5G services rollout across the country.

How is MTN exploring new ways to get additional spectrum for its business expansion, judging from the scarcity of spectrum across the country?

In terms of spectrum, MTN is very passionate about its network expansion, especially in the rural and underserved communities and we need additional spectrum to achieve this in order to add more value and enhance customer experience. We are consistently upgrading our existing network infrastructure to make sure we are able to improve on our capacity across the areas that we currently exist and also to reduce congestion on our network. Recently we acquired an additional spectrum, to ensure that we have more bandwidth that will allow us to provide better service quality and we look forward to acquiring more spectrums to expand our telecoms business.  

Can you confirm the rumours that MTN is in talk with 9mobile to acquire the telecoms company in order to have access to the 9mobile spectrum?

What I can say is that MTN is exploring national roaming opportunities, in line with our strategies and commitment to provide network-as-a-service to the telecoms market.

How will you address a situation where most of the low income earners and small businesses in the country strongly believe that 5G technology is exclusively for the elites in the society because of its tendency to consume more data, which is very expensive?

This is one of the challenges that we face as business and we have been trying to address it. The first step that will make consumers enjoy 5G service, is the step to acquire a 5G enabled device, and MTN had since recognised that the 5G enabled device is quite expensive and decided to launch with the mobile variant and the fixed wireless variant of 5G services, and this offers consumers the option to choose and make informed decisions. When people are at home and they need connectivity, the best option for them is the fixed wireless access, which allows users to connect easily with any kind of smartphone.  

Again, MTN partnered Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to ensure that 5G devices are affordable for SMEs and for low income earners. MTN also have different 5G data bundles ranging from the daily package, weekly package and monthly package, to serve all customers, irrespective of their financial capacity, in order to reduce the entry barrier and to enable them enjoy the high quality of 5G services that MTN brings.  

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