The Nigerian Communications Commission has said there is no link between 5G technology and the COVID -19 pandemic.
The Commission, which spoke in a statement issued by Henry Nkemadu, Director, Public Affairs, described claims that 5G technology was responsible for the disease as misleading.
NCC also stressed that 5G technology has not been deployed in Nigeria.
Parts of the statement read, “There is no correlation between 5G technology and COVID-19.
“5G is an advancement on today’s 4G technology designed to transform the world positively.
“There is no deployment of 5G in Nigeria at the moment.”
The NCC back in November 2019 approved trial test for 5G for a period of three months and that the trial has been concluded and installation decommissioned.
“The trial among others was to study and observe any health or security challenges the 5G network might present.
“Relevant stakeholders including members of the security agencies were invited to participate during the trial.”
The Commission added that it will continue to maintain its policy of technology neutrality and will continue to encourage service providers to deploy the best technology that will meet the needs of the society in a secured and friendly manner.
NCC further explained that 5G is the fifth generation of mobile technology which is an improvement of today’s 4G technology with enhanced capabilities.
“5G technology provides the platform for new and emerging technologies such as Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence and Big Data to improve the way we live and work,” the statement said. ‎
It added that the 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.” ‎
In the same vein, NCC explained that telecoms operators are rolling out more fibre during the lockdown because of the increase in the volume of voice and data usage.
“As a result of the lockdown, the amount of voice and data usage has increased by huge amounts and there is need to expand the network to provide optimum quality of service to users sitting at home.
“Telecom is also critical for information dissemination during the lockdown,” the Commission explained.