Nigeria is awaiting the 5G rollout, which is planned for August 2022, with the fifth generation mobile network set to bring benefits to a wide range of industries.
For the most populous country in Africa, 5G will help deliver improvements in the fields of education, business, smart cities and entertainment.
How Nigeria will benefit from 5G
The Nigerian Communications Commission recently revealed that subscriptions to mobile broadband now total 83.37 million in the Giant of Africa. The NCC has highlighted the benefits to Nigeria of 5G wireless technology, which will offer Nigerians higher data speeds, improved reliability and availability. This will mean Nigerians will be in a position to connect smart devices in the home, such as home security systems. In a wider context, 5G will also lead to the creation of smart cities which also raises the prospect of driverless cars.
This comes as Nigeria’s first smart city project, Silicon Delta, in Port Harcourt, has been announced. The project envisages a smart, green city with smart accommodation and the aim is for completion by 2030.
The benefits of 5G to the entertainment industry
5G is set to revolutionise the entertainment industry in Nigeria, it will enable excellent streaming of 4-8K video, giving Nigerians the opportunity to watch the latest Nollywood film releases on Netflix or follow live streams of football matches from around the world.
The technology will also provide gamers with a stable, lag-free online gaming experience on consoles and PCs along with the opportunity to stream live on sites such as Twitch and YouTube. This technology will enable Nigerians to benefit from the latest advances in iGaming, such as live casinos, for which many new UK slot sites have dedicated pages within their sites for traditional casino games such as roulette, blackjack and poker with live dealers. 5G is essential in the field of live streaming in order to provide users with an optimum service.
Throughout Nigeria, the fifth-generation network will also bring benefits to the education sector as 5G will enable virtual learning in Nigerian schools, greatly reduce download speeds for documentaries to be shown in classrooms and create the opportunity for hologram technology to provide virtual guest speakers in schools.
The fifth-generation mobile network will enable Nigeria to participate in what is known as the Internet of Things, which enables the worldwide collection, transmission and sharing of data on the internet via smart devices. In business, this means companies will be able to optimise supply chain management and enable more efficient manufacturing. The result will be that being able to participate actively in the Internet of Things will allow businesses to reduce costs, create efficiency and increase profits. 5G is an essential prerequisite in order to access the Internet of Things.
5G is set to bring a wide range of benefits to Nigeria, which will be felt across a range of industries. Nigerian businesses will reap the rewards of 5G as it provides access to the IoT, while the online entertainment industry will be able to provide improved video streaming experiences to Nigerians, which will benefit online gaming and live streams. It is hoped that 5G technology will create a wealth of opportunities for Nigerians.
