The approval was made on Wednesday after a presentation by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami.
This was contained in a press statement titled ‘Federal Executive Council approves 5G Policy for Nigeria’ issued by the minister’s Technical Assistant on Information Technology, Dr Femi Adeluyi, on Wednesday.
The statement read, “The Federal Executive Council has approved the National Policy on Fifth Generation Networks for Nigeria’s digital economy.”
“The implementation of the National Policy is with immediate effect.”
The statement revealed that the policy was developed in two years in order to engage stakeholders and ensure sufficient public awareness, adding that there was a three-month 5G trial in 2019 in an attempt to assess the health and security effects of deploying 5G in the country.
The statement said, “The national policy has been developed over a period of two years due to the need for extensive stakeholder engagement and the need to ensure adequate public awareness and sensitisation.
“The stakeholder engagement was thorough and multi-sectoral in nature. It also took into account the report of the three-month 5G trials that commenced on November 25, 2019.
“The report critically reviewed and studied the health and security implications of deploying 5G in Nigeria.”
It further stated that the National Frequency Management Council would release the spectrum to the Nigerian Communications Commission soon for mobile network operators meeting all necessary conditions.
“The NFMC, chaired by Minister Pantami, will soon release spectrum to the NCC for MNOs that meet all the required conditions,” it stated.
The PUNCH had earlier reported that the Nigerian Communications Commission had said that although the commission was ready to deploy 5G networks, it was awaiting the Federal Government’s approval for the auction of the 5G spectrum.
