…35,000 km covered, goal is for 95,000km
…education, healthcare, finance, major beneficiaries
Minister of Communications, Innovations and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, says it will cost about $2bn to lay an adequate network of fibre optics cables across Nigeria to enable an efficient deployment of Fifth Generation (5G) technology.
The minister, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Tuesday, also said 5G technology has been deployed and is in use in spots and dots across Nigeria and that the roll out is slowly but surely expanding.
Tijani however observed that the infrastructure that supports the advanced technology is not everywhere in the country.
He said it would cost about $2bn to sufficiently wire Nigeria with a fibre optic cable network required for the seamless experience of the 5G network.
5G Technology is particularly significant for developing countries because it has the capacity to speed up progression, inclusion and development in education and healthcare services through virtual digital enablement.
It also delivers efficient and real-time connectivity and verification interfaces for financial transactions, locally and globally and has been proven to facilitate business in the gaming industry.
“We do in some places,” Tijani said, when asked whether 5G exists in Nigeria.
“The infrastructure that drives 5G is not something that is across the nation.
“So, if you are subscribe to 5G and you move into locations where the infrastructure cannot support it, of course, the quality will drop. 5G exists in Nigeria and there are telcos with the licence,” the minister said.
Tijani said government is doing everything possible to increase the deployment of fibre optics cables in Nigeria.
“We are about 35 to 40 kilometres right now and the goal is to go to 95,000 km,” he said. “It’s going to cost us roughly about $1.5bn to $2bn to wire the entirety of Nigeria.”
The minister hoped that under his leadership, the ministry would in the first four years of the President Bola Tinubu administration, achieve the aspiration of wiring Nigeria.
He said the current government wants to connect schools, hospitals, government offices and other vital places with fibre cables. “Because once we can do this, we start to see changes in the delivery of public services.”
Tijani said he is working on declaring telecoms infrastructure as critical national assets to prevent the vandalism.
