There was a time that, the 3G network was the biggest technological achievement and every major player in the industry, jostled around to be part of it.
Not so long after, the 4G network came out and it was 10 times faster than 3G.
4G speed is between 20Mbps and 50Mbps, which, to a very large extent, are very fast.
4G technologies, such as, Carrier Aggregation, combine two, or, more carriers, into one data channel to enhance the data capacity.
Now, 5G network is the latest, major evolution in mobile network technology and every major player, across the world, has started jostling around, again, to be part of it.
According to Wikipedia, The first fairly substantial deployment of 5G, was in April 2019.
In South Korea, SK Telecom, claimed 38,000 base stations, KT Corporation 30,000 and LG U Plus 18,000; of which 85% are in six major cities.
They are using the 3.5 GHz, (sub-6), spectrum in non-standalone, (NSA), mode and tested speeds, were from 193 to 430 Mbit/s down. 260,000 signed up in the first month and the goal is 10% of phones on 5G, by the end of 2019.
The powerful countries in the world understand the fact that, the 5G network is a powerful tool and any country that wins the right, as its primary provider, will have the power to control the world, to some extent of which, one is controlling what people do online.
The country’s economy also will be boosted by a 100%.
The United States and China, are currently having a “go” at each other, to see who will be the first to win the right for this technology.
While major powerful countries are jostling for this, Africa seems to be less concerned and less worried about this.
Just as it has always been, Africa is not making any attempt to flex its muscle a little bit, in terms of acquiring the 5G network, at the soonest.
The fact is that, 5G network, is very expensive, due to its spectrum, but should not deter Africa, as there are ways to go about it, based on the report jointly published by Ericsson and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, (CSIR), titled: “Making 5G a Reality for Africa,”.
Now is the time Africa needs to wake up and collaborate among each other, to see how to tap into this and make it a reality.
In 2010, the United States economy was boosted by nearly $100 billion dollars and more than a million jobs were created, as a result of their acquiring the right of 4G.
If the United States can benefit $100 billion dollars over ten years ago, imagine the extent of how much Africa will benefit in this present time.
You can read here the concerns of rolling out the 5G Network.
Featured Image: neweratech
