In 2019, MTN Nigeria tested the 5G network in Abuja, Lagos and Calabar with mobile operators like Ericsson, Huawei and ZTE. The country was the first in West Africa to start a 5G trial.
What is 5G?
The fifth-generation mobile network, 5G, is a new worldwide wireless technology that has replaced previous generations. It’s the fifth generation of mobile networks after 1G, 2G, 3G and 4G technologies. 5G enables a new network capable of connecting virtually everyone and everything.
What is the impact of 5G in other countries?
Nations such as the United States, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and Germany have now installed 5G networks in some of their cities and began selling compatible devices to other countries. Some estimates predict that by 2025, 5G will account for 20% of worldwide connectivity. Because 5G implementation is still in its early stages, it is too early to assess the impact it has had on these countries.
What to expect from the availability of 5G in Nigeria?
The presence of 5G will come with significant advantages in Nigeria, including those outlined below.
Lower latency
Latency is the time it takes for a signal to travel from the source to the receiving point and return. Every generation of wireless networks has aimed at reducing latency. With the data transmission round-trip taking less than five milliseconds, 5G networks will have even shorter latencies than 4G LTE. 5G latency is likely to be faster compared to what the human eye can see to allow controlling devices remotely in near real-time.
The speed at which humans react will be the only limitation for remote applications that utilise 5G and Internet of Things (IoT)—and many new apps will require communication between machines not limited by the speed of human reaction. High internet speed and low latency are perfect for virtual reality (VR) online gaming on sites like Casumo casino and Augmented Reality (AR) apps.
Higher data transmission rate
The 5G network will significantly boost speed and offer numerous advantages over previous generations. As each new wireless network generation has shown, there has been a significant rate increase, and the benefits of 5G will go far beyond 4G LTE.
The length of time it takes to transfer a high-resolution movie at peak download rates decreases from seven minutes to just six seconds. Consumers and companies may begin to consider 5G networks a viable alternative for fast broadband connections once carriers offer full 5G capabilities.
Larger capacity
Speed is thrilling, but one of the topics that analysts and industry leaders consider is how 5G may help organisations scale their technological projects. 5G will deliver up to 1,000 times more capacity than 4G, which will create fertile ground for the development of IoT.
The new 5G and Internet of Things (IoT) technology are a match made in heaven, poised to revolutionise how wireless networks—and the internet as a whole—are used. New applications and use cases for cities, factories, farms, schools and homes will emerge in Nigeria due to the ability to support hundreds or thousands of devices communicating simultaneously.
Increased bandwidth
5G networks will have a much higher speed and greater network capacity than 4G LTE networks, which will allow for the transmission of more significant amounts of data. Since 5G networks use a different architecture from traditional 4G systems, they can better optimise network traffic and manage usage spikes.
Nigeria is closer to the age of 5G technology, with telecommunications companies laying foundations by carrying out trial runs for this new and remarkably improved wireless network.