MTC has appealed to the government to lift the moratorium placed on 5G technology in the country.
“Almost every country in Africa has embraced the 5G technology and are enjoying its benefits. Sadly, we still have a moratorium on 5G in Namibia and it is rather unfortunate that a country that has always been first in rolling out such technologies has now become the last due to conspiracy theories that have never made sense in the first place. We are thus asking the leadership to lift the moratorium on 5G and allow its citizens to enjoy the benefits of the technology like the rest of the world. We cannot talk about 4IR in the absence of 5G.” MTC’s Chief Human Capital, Corporate and Marketing Officer, Tim Ekandjo said on Thursday during the signing of a tripartite cooperation agreement between MTC, the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) and Huawei.
Ekandjo said 5G technology was a key enabler towards the 4th Industrial Revolution.
“We must note that 5G is a fundamental platform for the 4th Industrial Revolution because it is not just another G on the path of mobile technology evolution. 5G combines greater data transfer speeds and heightened processing power to enable IoT connectivity on a massive scale. It will have a significant impact on every aspect of our digital lives. With 5G comes high data rates, reduced latency, energy savings, cost reductions and higher system changes,” Ekandjo said.
“As we embrace and drive research and innovation, we are pleased that as a country, we have completed an impactful 4IR Conference that kick-starts Namibia’s exciting journey on the 4th Industrial Revolution. It is important that a conducive policy framework is in place to stimulate participation rather than inhibiting it.”
In 2020 cabinet tasked the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism to conduct a strategic environmental assessment of the introduction of 5G technology in the country.
The government also asked the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia, through the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology to accelerate the development of a 5G strategy for Namibia, which will be submitted to Cabinet for consideration.
5G is the next generation of mobile internet connection and offers faster download rates.
Some conspiracy theories have linked 5G networks, which is the fifth generation of wireless communications technologies supporting cellular data networks, to the coronavirus pandemic.
Huawei, which is partnering MTC and NUST in a cooperation agreement to promote research, innovation, technological and entrepreneurial excellence and internationalization, are leaders in the technology.
