NCC: Moving Beyond Conspiracy Theories To Unleashing 5G Power

By Sulaimon Olanrewaju

As the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) gets set to auction two 3.5GHz licences today, as a prelude to deploying the fifth generation (5G) mobile technology standard for broadband cellular networks in Nigeria, Sulaimon Olanrewaju looks at the issues surrounding the 4G successor.

Although the world has witnessed the deployment of five different generations of mobile technology since the 1980s, none has been as controversial as the 5G. The major controversy about the technology is its link with COVID-19 pandemic and cancer. This is principally because COVID-19 hit the world with a bang in 2019, shortly after the commencement of 5G deployment. According to conspiracy theorists, 5G radiation weakens the immune system, thus making the body vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Others claim that the deployment of the technology would make people more susceptible to cancer. These beliefs resulted in telephone masts being burnt in many countries, including United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Sweden.

In Nigeria, some prominent persons echoed the same sentiments, thus creating fears in many about the adverse effects of the technology on life and living. So loud was the noise about the harmful nature of the technology that the Senate, early in the year, decided to hold an investigative hearing on the status of the 5G network in Nigeria and its technological impact on the citizens.

At the hearing, the Senate President, Dr Ahmad Lawan, said the Senate resolved to conduct the public hearing in response to a motion of public importance and urgency by Senator Uche Ekwunife, Chairman, Senate Committee on Science and Technology, to resolve all public health and safety concerns around 5G before NCC could proceed with its deployment. At the end, the Senate was convinced about the harmlessness of the technology.

Unfortunately, the negative narrative about the 5G technology has shrouded its benefits. The fifth generation technology has a dual edge of greater transmission speed and lower latency over others. While the 5G is at least 10 times faster than the 4G, its latency (the time between when an order is given to a device and when the action is executed) is 10 times less than that of 4G. This unleashes the possibility for a greater capacity of remote execution, a greater number of connected devices and the possibility of implementing virtual networks. Consequently, the new technology will have immense positive impacts on governance, health, education and the economy as government operations will be transformed, remote surgery becomes a possibility, remote learning a reality and the economy receives a boost as oodles of employment opportunities are created.

Although the NCC had been involved in a number of activities in preparation for the deployment of 5G in Nigeria, the real breakthrough for the technology did not come until September 8, this year when the Federal Executive Council (FEC) gave its nod to the National Policy on Fifth Generation (5G) Networks for Nigeria’s Digital Economy following a presentation by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami. This was followed by the release of spectrum to the NCC by the National Frequency Management Council (NFMC), thus started the process that culminated in the mock auction of 3.5GHz spectrum for the three qualified bidders; MTN Nigeria, Mafab Communications Ltd, and Airtel Networks Ltd last Friday. The mock auction was preparatory to the main auction scheduled for today in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.

While admitting, last week, that some people would not want to go near the 5G technology with a barge pole as a consequence of what they had heard about it, Professor Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice-Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), said most of the fears about the technology are unfounded.

Danbatta, who was speaking last Thursday at a capacity-building workshop for journalists organised by the NCC in collaboration with TheCable, in Lagos, said there is no scientific evidence to prove that radiation emissions from the 5G has any negative health impact.

The EVC, who was represented by Anthony Ikemefuna, Head of Wireless Networks at the commission, said “The biggest giver of electromagnetic waves is the sun. It’s also the biggest source of energy in the world. The World Health Organisation and the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) came up with a document that says that the safe range of electromagnetic exposure is 10W/m2.

“The microwave is 3W/m2. Hair dryer is 1W/m2. The smartphone is 200mW/m2. And then the 5G radio is 0.159w/m2. So, if you start looking at it empirically, from the available information, your 5G radio is safer than your cellphone.

“So, as of today, there is no evidence to show any negative impact on human health associated with radiation from 5G network. Apart from the World Health Organisation and the ICNIRP, the UK and also the Institute for Engineering and Technology have come out to say the same thing.”

Danbatta, who said the technology would be deployed in the New Year, added that 5G would be advantageous to the nation as it would engender unique latency, improved transparency in governance, increased GDP and job creation.

He added that the goal of the deployment is to “have a flexible network that is adaptable to various uses.”

He, however, said since the “1Gbps capacity from traditional microwaves cannot meet the 20Gbps demand of 5G; we need to step up into the e-Band spectrum/fiberisation of base stations”.

The EVC, while talking about the factors that may hinder the deployment of the technology, mentioned poor electricity and right of way issues.

According to him, “Some people write to us every day, begging us to establish base stations in their area, while some people are writing to say it should be taken away.

“Another challenge is that of inflation, because you know inflation has a way of dragging cost up. When we’re talking about 5G, we’re talking about a new radio base station. So, the point is we’re going to spend a lot of money. We don’t manufacture those things here. We’ll have to import them and inflation isn’t helping matters. A dollar is about N570 now and that’s not good at all.

“And, of course, every device that will be coming into Nigeria has to be type-approved. So, you can imagine the type of work that NCC will have to go through to type-approve different types of devices that will be shipped into the country as a result of 5G.

“Also, there has to be reliable energy. Virtually every base station in Nigeria today has a generator. Our power system has to be more reliable.”

In his presentation at the workshop, Dr Ikechukwu Adinde, Director of Public Affairs, NCC, who was represented by Omoniyi Ibietan, underscored the milestones recorded since GSM debuted in the country 20 years ago.

Adinde, whose presentation was on 20 Years of GSM in Nigeria, said over the past two decades, the telecommunications sector has become a major contributor to economic growth and has precipitated unprecedented job creation across the industry value chain. It has birthed digital transformation across industry verticals and has also become an enabler of other sectors such as banking, media, aviation, medicine, education and agriculture.

While noting that Nigeria’s leadership stride in digital drive must be maintained, Adinde said, “The last 20 years have been eventful; the next 20 years will be greater through our collective efforts as stakeholders in the Nigeria’s telecommunications ecosystem.”

Mr Ken Ugbechie, publisher of Political Economist, who also presented a paper at the event, said the Nigerian media had not done enough to disabuse the mind of sceptics that 5G technology had nothing to do with COVID-19.

He said, “We should dismantle all conspiracy theories boldly and loudly. Reassure our audiences that if 1G did not give them malaria, 2G did not birth diarrhea, 3G did not produce pneumonia or 4G HIV there is no way 5G could be the causative agent of coronavirus, cancer or autism.”

He added, “As editors, news managers and reporters, we should provoke discourses and reports that highlight how farmers can leverage 5G technology to increase their yield by first getting the right seedlings. Adopting appropriate farming methods as recommended by experts will lead to good harvest. The media should explain to the farmer, the agronomists, agric extension officers, the off-takers and every other player in the value chain how 5G technology can help them optimize their performance and efficiency.”