Nigeria’s telecoms infrastructure gap estimated at $136 billion
Towercos pledges commitment to low-cost 5G deployment
Tower infrastructure companies (Towercos) have expressed readiness to help mobile network operators (MNOs)
free up some required expenses to ensure the fifth-generation (5G) technology is delivered to Nigerians
at a lower cost.
Though they noted that the expansion of telecommunications services in Nigeria is currently faced with
about a $136 billion infrastructure gap, they stressed that if industry collaboration is achieved, more
development could be attracted to the sector.
Speaking at the second edition of Policy Implementation Assisted Forum (PAIFo), organised by BusinessMetrics Nigeria, to discuss national policy on 5G and themed ‘Ascertaining Full Readiness to make 5G Work in Nigeria’, the operators said the industry must rally ahead of 5G roll out.
Akintemi further noted that 5G has put new demands on towercos as a major stakeholder to bridge the infrastructure gap for the new technology.
He anticipated that 5G demands from towercos will include two to four times the current the number of sites (micro and street furniture); twice to thrice the power consumption of current sites; required fibre connectivity for scalability; and space to accommodate massive multiple-in multiple-out (MiMo) Antennas.
“Other fresh demands to meet Nigeria’s 5G target are high reliability and availability/uptime towards 99.999 per cent,
that is, downtime of 24 seconds per month; new competence and skilled resources and data centres for edge computing.
“In terms of bridging the infrastructure gap, the above considerations are at the forefront for IHS Nigeria. They require significant investment, regulatory support and customer collaboration,” Akintemi said.