Stakeholders in the telecom sector have predicted that 4G adoption is expected to hit 50 per cent by 2030.
The Head of Sub-Saharan Africa, GSMA Angela Wamola at a press briefing on Monday said Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa are in the decade of 5G, noting that 4G will be the dominant technology in Africa.
According to her, 5G adoption is gathering momentum, but very slow in Africa compared to the rest of the world.
“We are in the decade of 5G and emerging technologies that I’ve mentioned. But do you know that by the end of the decade, 4G adoption in Sub Saharan Africa, Nigeria included, will reach 50 per cent.
“4G will be our dominant technology in Africa. 5G adoption is gathering momentum, but very slowly so that by the end of 2030, it will be at 17 per cent compared to the rest of the world, Greater China, North America, Asia, and Europe will have more than 80 per cent of their population having adopted 5G. And at the end of this, decade, we will start hearing about the next technology, which will be 6G.
“We are at a point in time where if we do nothing as a country and take serious bold decisions as a country, we risk creating another digital divide that leaves Africa and her population behind because the infrastructure will have to be built through a lot of capital, and capital is attracted by growth, by showing adoption, and uptake in the services that are given. Otherwise, we scare private capital from investing in Africa.”
She commended the introduction of the 50 per cent tariff increase by NCC, adding the main objective of the tariff is to ensure that customers can be able to get a reliable and good quality network.
Also speaking, the Senior Director of Public Policy, & Communications Sub-Saharan Africa, GSMA, Caroline Mbugua, stated that the telecommunication sector requires a significant amount of investment, saying that a lot of investment is required in terms of advanced technologies of improving capacity and reliability and efficiency of the network.
She, however, stated that it is targeting a global ranking of about 50 per cent by 2030 for Nigeria in Artificial Intelligence adoption.
She said the faster the rate of adoption, the more quickly and extensively the country will benefit from the effects of adoption, saying that the telecom sector is a major contributor to the economy of Nigeria and provides the foundation for the digital transformation process.
“In our report, which we launched in May last year, in Abuja, we showed that the mobile telecom sector accounted for 13.5 per cent of the total GDP in 2023, which includes the direct value addition by the wider ICT industries and the impact of the sector in enhancing the productivity of other sectors. Because the telecom sector provides the foundation for all other sectors to benefit from digitalisation, be it in agriculture, mining, manufacturing, trade, and even government. And so, overall, the mobile sector contribution to GDP in 2023 was estimated at N33tn.