Nigeria expects MTN, Mafab to rollout 5G services from August

Nigeria expects MTN and Mafab Communication to roll out 5G services in Africa’s most populous nation over the next three months after it awarded licences to them, the telecoms regulator said on Wednesday.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) issued 5G licences to MTN Nigeria, the west African nation’s biggest mobile telecoms company, and little-known Mafab Communications, after payment of $273.6 million each in February.

The NCC said in a statement the licensees were expected to start rolling out 5G services from Aug. 24.

By issuing the licences, Nigeria joins the race to expand 5G technology in sub-saharan Africa, where mobile operators in Kenya, South African and Lesotho have already launched the service.

The next generation mobile technology offers faster data speeds and lower latency or response time. It allows several devices to be connected at once and in future could help in the running of driverless cars and facilitate communication and interconnectivity between smart devices. Reuters