Stiff licensing regulations could hinder 5G rollout, experts warn
Stringent licensing requirements and high fees are likely to hinder the roll out of fifth-generation (5G) mobile Internet technology in the country, experts have warned.
Senate committee on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) heard that for full benefits of 5G to be realised, the government must quickly come up with a policy framework that addresses these threats.
Huawei’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Government Affairs, Adam Lane said current framework does little to ease the burden of operators who find it difficult to pay exorbitant licence fees before they even start operations.
“This leaves us, mobile network operators (MNOs) with less money to build the network and even hire staff,” he said during a virtual presentation to the Gideon Moi - led Senate Committee yesterday.
Lane singled out jurisdictions like United Arab Emirates with a flexible policy where operators build infrastructure and pay the requisite fees later.
Kenya Information and Communications Act (KICA) demands of operators to pay upfront, all fees running into millions of shillings, a factor that has already slowed coverage of 3G and 4G network in remote parts of the country.
This prompted Abshiro Halake, vice chairperson of the ICT committee to express fears that “5G will accelerate rural exclusion and become a form of discrimination.”
Experts reckon the 5G technology will build on the gains achieved in the country, amidst Covid-19 pandemic, where it has been used to hold virtual meetings and learning, provide telemedicine and even deployed by companies for offsite work by their on-essential workforce.
“If we look back at 3G or 4G, voice and data is the main scenario of their application but 5G is about the drive for the digital economy in different industries like at the port,” said Hou Tao, Vice President of Huawei Technologies.
