By Clifford Agugoesi, Editor-in-Chief
HAVING made a beautiful case for telcos to transition from fossil fuels to green energy, what with the paybacks accruable, penultimate week, through its Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer(EVC/CEO), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, independent telecommunications regulatory body, the Nigerian Communications Commission(NCC) is furthering the dialogue.
How? The latest notice on the Commission’s website reads: Availability of Frequency Slots in the 600 MHz Spectrum Band for Nationwide Deployment. The notice signed on behalf of the Commission by its Director of Public Affairs(DPA) Reuben Muoka reads: “The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in exercise of its functions as enshrined in the Nigeria Communication ACT NCA-2003, do hereby inform interested parties as follows:
1. The Nigerian Communications Commission wishes to bring to the notice of the General Public of the availability of Frequency Slots in the 600MHz Spectrum band for Administrative Assignment.
2. The available slots in the 600 MHz Spectrum band with Bandwidth and Licensing areas are listed in table below:
Slot No.
Band (MHz)
Bandwidth Available
Availability
Licensing Area
Duplex Mode
1
617-627
663-673
10MHz
Nationwide
Nationwide
FDD
2
627-637
673-683
10MHz
Nationwide
Nationwide
FDD
3
637-647
683-693
10MHz
Nationwide
Nationwide
FDD
4
647-652
693-698
5MHz
Nationwide
Nationwide
FDD
3. Interested applicants should download application form via the link: https://www.ncc.gov.ng/technical-regulation/spectrum/spectrum-application from the Commission’s website and complete it in triplicate and submit to the Commission on or before the close of Business on 28/4/2023.
4. The duration of the Licence shall be for a period of Ten (10) Years.
5. Please note that received applications shall be processed after this deadline.”
What is the import of this notice? By it, the NCC is telling 5G telco prospects that cost should not dissuade them from joining the 5G bandwagon; that they should embrace Low-Band Spectrum For 5G as a strategic option. Low-Band Spectra are those below 1 GHz.
As a responsive and responsible regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission should know and actually knows the direction telecommunications generally and 5G specifically is headed. And, this is not just unilateral thinking by NCC. Other global telecoms stakeholders have lent their voices on the use case for Low-Band Spectrum For 5G.
As per the GSMA, “Low-band spectrum is the cornerstone of digital equality and a driver of broad and affordable connectivity. It is vital to giving rural communities equitable access to the services available in urban areas and pushing towards digital inclusion goals. Details could be gleaned from an analysis by GSMA titled Vision 2030: Low-Band Spectrum for 5G: https://www.gsma.com/spectrum/resources/5g-low-band-spectrum/
The GSMA goes ahead to list benefits of low-band spectrum:
- It can provide 5G speeds in rural areas and help to provide a consistent 5G user data.
- Reduce cost of covering roads for 5G-connected vehicles
- Improve the business case for 5G fixed wireless access (FWA)
- Enable smart agriculture, notably precision farming
- 5G capacity solution for areas where mid-bands do not reach
- Improve digital equality with 5G speed in rural areas
- Consistent speeds: deep indoors and in 600 MHz: 5G capacity
The GSMA argues further on the desirability of Sub 1-GHz Spectrum: “Countries in all Regions are moving forward with additional low-band spectrum. Development of the 600 MHz band began in the US and Canada, while Asia is considering complementary alternatives to maximise the 600 MHz band,” it says.
Globally, Low band 5G is believed gaining momentum, Cyber Era NG understands. We can authoritatively confirm so far, 40 operators from 27 countries have launched 5G using low-band spectrum, including T-Mobile and Verizon, USA and Telstra, Australia.
