5G reaches 40% of world’s population as Nigeria pushes for more penetration

The United Nations arm in charge of global communications, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), has disclosed that the Fifth Generation (5G) network has reached 40 per cent of the eight billion people on earth, since launch in 2019.

ITU in its Facts and Figures 2023, released yesterday, however, noted that as with Internet data traffic, the distribution is uneven. While 89 per cent of people in high-income countries are covered by 5G networks, the service is nearly absent in low-income countries.

The global telecoms body, of which Nigeria is a strong member, noted that for many low-income countries, 3G is often the only way to connect to the Internet.

It noted that 3G is not sufficient to access the full benefits of digital technology, such as remote medical diagnostics and online learning. It said 4G service remains a pathway to meaningful connectivity, but only reaches 39 per cent of the population in low-income countries.

Indeed, as of mid 2023, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said about 500,000 5G subscriptions are in Nigeria, while the penetration is about 0.83 per cent of the country’s population of over 200,000 million.

Checks by The Guardian showed that since launch in Nigeria almost two and half years ago, the licensees, MTN, Mafab and Airtel, have pushed for more 5G penetration in the country. While Airtel claims to be in Lagos, Ogun, Port Harcourt and Abuja, MTN is in over 15 cities across the country. However, nothing much can be said of Mafab, except claims of being in Lagos and Abuja.

Also, ITU noted that steady but uneven progress in global Internet connectivity highlights disparities of the digital divide and is leaving people in low-income countries behind.

Analysis on Internet data usage, featured for the first time in ITU’s yearly connectivity report, showed that fixed-broadband services accounted for over 80 per cent of global Internet traffic in 2022.

The volume of Internet traffic across fixed-broadband networks, which remain common in office and home settings, far exceeds that of mobile-broadband networks.

According to ITU, the dominance of fixed networks underscores the global connectivity disparity between high- and low-income countries, with only one fixed-broadband subscription per 100 people in low-income countries due to high prices and a lack of infrastructure.

ITU Secretary-General, Doreen Bogdan-Martin, said: “The further and faster technology advances, the more urgent our mission to connect everyone becomes. Fulfilling the promise of universal and meaningful connectivity is one of the most important causes of our time in our effort to realise the sustainable future we want and need.”