After launching its fifth generation (5G) network in Abuja and Lagos, Mafab Communications said it will launch the latest telecom network in Kano, Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Enugu in coming weeks.
Disclosing this during the telecom operator’s 5G launch in Lagos on Thursday, the Chairman and Founder of Mafab Communications, Dr Musbahu Muhammad Bashir, said the company would be expanding its network across all states in Nigeria in due course.
“It is only logical that after the historic launch in Abuja, our next stop should be the Centre of Excellence, Lagos.
“Lagos is not just the commercial nerve centre of Nigeria, but also a prime destination for tourism, sports, entertainment and culture. And the future is now even brighter with more exciting prospects and possibilities with the digital play of Mcom 5G Network”, Bashir said.
The Mafab chair said Mcom 5G launch marked the beginning of immense opportunities for the country to achieve infinite possibilities with a purpose of enabling connectivity for a digital future.
As the second operator to launch 5G in Nigeria, he said Mcom would provide more coverage for Nigerians and worked on acceleration of broadband services.
Putting things in proper perspective; he said Mcom would play a major role in advancing new technologies that would push Nigeria beyond just being a consumer of technology but a country playing an active role in developing and implementing new technologies.
He added: “It will also enable our country to take its position as a global technology hub in Africa and the world at large. You may have heard it before, but it bears re-telling that the 5G network will usher into this country a wide array of business opportunities, wherein various business outfits will expand their frontiers with operational ease and speed, especially in the fields of education, medical sciences, engineering, security, businesses like the banking sector, SMEs, smart cities, transportation, entertainment etc., and allow Nigerians meet the long-term goal of ensuring that everybody is connected.
“Our plans are quite ambitious and realistic. With the initial rollout in 6 cities, Mcom plans to rollout additional sites and cities across the country”.
He said the 5G technology is not just a mobile network but represents a new culture, and a new era of connectivity where billions of devices exchange data and instill intelligence in our everyday life.
In his speech, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State said the launch of Mafab’s 5G network in Lagos would bring Lagos closer to realising its dream of becoming a Smart City.
“It is a fact that the contribution of the telecommunications industry has been a significant economic driver for Lagos State in particular and Nigeria as a whole, contributing more than $70 billion and helping to create over half a million jobs. The prospects of what we can accomplish with the 5G network, which is next level technology, fills me with high hopes for the future of the different sectors of our economy, most especially the security sector”, Sanwo-Olu said.
The governor said the overall objective of his administration is to harness technology to enhance and empower the residents and investors in Lagos in order to achieve the transformation of Lagos State into a smart City hub in Africa.
He added: “I am now very optimistic that we will achieve resounding success because the opportunity that MAFAB 5G network represents has met our preparedness, part of which is the country’s technology hub found in the Yaba district of Lagos, which when completed will be our own African Silicon Valley. “
But unveiling the new logo of the organisation, Mafab’s Communications spokesperson, Mr Adebayo Onigbanjo, said that as an operator born in the data age, Mafab would aim to serve customers.
“We would also serve the country by maximising the value of digital technology”, Onigbanjo added.
In December 2021, after 11 rounds of bidding that lasted eight hours, Mafab and MTN Nigeria emerged as the two successful winners of the 3.5gigahertz (GHz) spectrum auction for the deployment of 5G technology in Nigeria. NCC also confirmed that the two companies fully paid $273.6 million each for the 5G spectrum licence in February 2022.
