The Chief Technical Officer of MTN Nigeria, Mohammed Rufai, says the telecom giant is not in a rush to shut down the 2G and 3G following deployment of its 5G network.
Rufai disclosed that MTN will continue to invest in 3G technology because many Nigerians are yet to upgrade their devices to use 4G or 5G.
He said some of its subscribers are still on 2G and 3G devices and the telco would not want to cut any of them off by shutting down the old technologies, added that the 3G spectrum can also be converted to provide 4G and 5G service when 3G is shut down in the future.
“The fact that we are going to 5G does not mean we will not cater to the needs of subscribers that require the lower technology.
He revealed that 90 per cent of Nigeria’s population has 2G technology, while over 83 per cent of the population has 3G coverage, and 4G coverage has reached over 79 percent of Nigerians and it is still growing.
“Each subscriber has their own needs. Some only need 3G; some subscribers will move to 4G. Even though there are significant benefits to moving to higher technology in terms of speed and latency, we try to cater to the needs of everyone. So, devices are one of the main factors in moving to higher technology, and we’re moving quickly.
“So, while we are investing in new technology, we must also maintain the other technologies that are needed by the people that use them and the people that don’t yet have the devices for the newer technologies.
“This is the reason why we are still investing in and expanding on the old technologies, and also because the spectrum, the license allocated by NCC, and the network resources that are used for 3G can also be used on other technologies in the future, so the investment is still usable for the higher technologies when the devices are ready.”
Speaking on the progress made by the company in 5G service expansion, the CTO said MTN has now rolled out the service in 6 more cities after the initial 7 at the launch in September last year. This brings the total number of cities with 5G networks to 13.
