Cabinet has approved the deployment of the fifth generation (5G) technology in Namibia at its recently held meeting.
The approval comes after Cabinet in 2020 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 was submitted to Cabinet for consideration.
The development means Namibia could soon become one of the countries in the region to have a 5G network after Zambia last month became the latest African market to get 5G services, with the rollout of 5G ramping up in recent months, notably, Safaricom launching 5G services in Kenya, Vodacom doing similar in Tanzania, Telkom in South Africa, MTN in Nigeria, with Orange having switched on 5G services in Botswana.
Namibia’s biggest mobile operator, Mobile Telecommunications (MTC) Limited, at its recent annual results presentation had highlighted its readiness to deploy 5G services, having already upgraded its network infrastructure to ensure that its network is ready to deploy 5G technology in preparation for future lifting of the country’s existing moratorium.
The listed telco had previously appealed to the government to lift the moratorium placed on 5G technology in the country, citing the technology as a key enabler towards the fourth Industrial Revolution.
Namibia had placed the moratorium due to conspiracy theories linking 5G networks – which is the fifth generation of wireless communications technologies supporting cellular data networks – to Coronavirus.
The fifth generation technology is the next generation of mobile internet connection and offers faster download rates.
