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Communications minister confirms MTN demonstrated 5G spectrum in Nigeria

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The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami on Tuesday said the 5G demonstration carried out by MTN Nigeria in November last year was done with the 4G spectrum.

Pantami stated this in an interview on Channels Television in reaction to claims that 5G technology was responsible for the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The minister also insisted that 5G had not been deployed in the country, adding the trials in Abuja, Lagos and Calabar to demonstrate the capabilities of 5G to drive economic growth and social inclusiveness were done with the 4G spectrum because 5G was not yet available in the country.

It would be recalled that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on Monday said there was no connection between 5G and the COVID-19 pandemic, contrary to claims in certain quarters.

According to the Public Affairs Director at the NCC, Dr Henry Nkemadu, there was no correlation between 5G technology and COVID-19, describing 5G as an advancement on 4G technology and had been designed to transform the world positively.

He also disclosed that the trial for the 5G in the country, which lasted for three months, had been concluded and installations decommissioned.

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“There is no link whatsoever between 5G and coronavirus. The 5G technology will transform the world by connecting everything with everybody. It will create millions of jobs; it will add billions of dollars to the economy and can solve some of our problems such as insecurity and improve governance and efficiency in the society,” the NCC director said.

He further explained that the recent deployment of fibre in certain area in the country was because there was an urgent need to expand the network to provide optimum capacity for the large amount of voice and data usage which had increased and not for 5G technology.

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