Many technologies have come and gone, while many still remain in use, many years after they were developed, from the period of the first industrial revolution to the fourth that we are currently experiencing.
Arguably, none of these technologies have witnessed so much barrage of skepticism, doubts and in some quarters, outright rejection, as well as vandalization of the infrastructure to support it, than the fifth generation of networks, popularly referred to as 5G.
This barrage of negative reception that the 5G network is receiving, is no thanks to the emergence of the deadly global pandemic, Corona Virus, that engulfed the whole world in late 2019 and in 2020.
The effects of the first wave of the pandemic led to lockdowns in almost all the countries of the world, causing economic downturns in many countries and companies, leading to layoffs of staff.
Aside the conspiracy theory of the cause of the pandemic as emanating from a clique of few people who wanted to control the world, the second most fingered as the cause of the pandemic was the radiation being emitted by the 5G deployment and testing!
Many scientists have, however, come out to debunk the claims that radiation from the 5G deployment and testing was responsible for the Coronavirus pandemic. They claim that the 5G deployment is not dangerous to health, but rather, has a lot of potentials.
On Thursday, February 25, 2021, the Honorable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami), led officials from the Agencies and Parastatals under his Ministry, to an investigative public hearing, on the present state of 5th Generation, (5G), Networks in Nigeria and its technological impact on citizens, at the National Assembly at Abuja.
The Minister assured the lawmakers that, radiation from the 4G network on the phones they are holding is much more harmful than the radiation from the anticipated 5G network.
“The only issue being raised, usually, by people is about radiation, but people fail to realize that the radiation of 4G that we are all using here, is more harmful than that of the 5G”, reiterated the Ministers to the lawmakers.
The Ministers assurance to the lawmakers is quite refreshing, but it could also do us all a world of good for experts in radiation and health, to come up with results of tests carried out in our clime, on the radiation from 4G and 5G networks and their effects on humans.
Once the lawmakers give the nod for the safety and deployment of the 5G network, the stage will be set for the citizens of this country to start enjoying the dividends of the 5G networks, which will all aid the digital economy policy of the government, when the deployment commences and these dividends include:
- Faster internet service. It is quite unfortunate to note that many Nigerians cannot successfully participate in trading Forex, etc. Many who do trade forex today, are usually, making loses because of slow internet services.
- Exponentially faster download speeds of videos, music and large file data
- Less interference, especially, from calls, etc.
- Ability to partake in the efficiency of the internet of things and augmented reality
- Realization of smart cities, with inter-connectivity of devices and infrastructures, working in sync and lots more.
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