by SAVIOUS KWINIKA
Editor-In-Chief
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – OIL companies in Nigeria, Africa’s biggest producer of the commodity, and educational institutions are among the earliest adopters of MTN’s 5G network rollout, which is encouraging the mobile operator in its biggest market.
The pan-African provider singled out partnerships with Seplat Oil and Gas as well as Huawei and Baze University in Abuja, the capital as driving the adoption
A partnership with Seplat is to provide 5G connectivity that will facilitate the digitalisation of their processes.
In a tripartite arrangement, MTN has joined forces with Huawei and Baze University to provide 5G connectivity across the campus, which is necessary for education technology (EdTech).
“These are some examples of organisations across industries that have deployed our 5G network to advance their operations,” said Funso Aina, MTN Nigeria Senior Manager for External Relations.
The executive was speaking in an exclusive interview with CAJ News Africa.
MTN Nigeria, the largest mobile network operator in the West African country that comprises the continent’s largest economy and most populous nation, introduced the 5G network in August 2022, covering 20 cities.
The South African-headquartered mobile network operator has covered over 80 percent of the Nigerian population with 4G network and has pledged to expand its 5G network coverage.
“The innovators and early adopters have responded very well to our 5G network and to date we have received feedback that suggests that a number of our subscribers are satisfied with the performance and reliability of our 5G network across various use cases which include e-learning, work-from-home (WFH), digital entertainment, home security and surveillance, smart homes, augmented reality (AR)/virtual reality (VR), online business,” said Aina.
He bemoaned that some of the subscribers did not have 5G enabled devices, such as compatible smartphones, which resulted in them not enjoying the benefits of the advanced network.
“At the individual level, one of the gaps we have identified is that some of our subscribers do not have a 5G-enabled device,” Ainsa said.
As a result, MTN has partnered with device financing platforms such as Intelligra and M-KOPA to uplift Nigerians via the Buy Now, Pay Later option.
The operator has also collaborated with smartphone makers Infinix, Samsung and Tecno to launch the 5G-enabled smartphones and hopes these alliances will help increase smartphone penetration in Nigeria to 60 percent by 2025.
“We will continue to partner with other relevant platforms and organisations to make smartphones affordable for Nigerians,” Aina assured.
MTN Nigeria is the market leader in Nigeria, boasting 92.71 million subscribers from a total market share of 226.7 million subscribers
Second placed Globacom boasts 60.76 million subscribers while third Airtel and fourth 9mobile have 60.30 million and 13.07 million subscribers respectively.
– CAJ News