By Lamin Cham
Qcell GSM company on Friday rolled out 5G technology making The Gambia one of a dozen nations in Africa to get the fifth generation cellular network.
The launch took place at a ceremony at the international conference centre and was graced by President Adama Barrow.
The president said the launching was “a highly appreciative, transformational initiative and an impressive achievement” for QGroup and the country.
“As Gambians, we are proud that within the Ecowas region we are the first country, commercially, to roll out this latest generation of communication technology for cellular networks. Qcell’s example today illustrates that a country does not necessarily have to be big to provide citizens of vision, who can think big and act bold to, set the pace for change and progress for emulation,” the president said.
He reiterated that his government will continue to adopt the enabling policies that would allow Gambian companies to flourish.
QGroup CEO, Muhammed Jah, said 5G is the latest evolution in mobile technology and as the name indicates, it is the fifth generation of mobile phone communications standards now being rolled out commercially around the world.
“The new technology promises to be at least 20 times faster than 4G, and will underpin the great advances of the next era, from self-driving cars to smart cities and artificial intelligence. Its greater capacity allows many more devices to be connected at the same time, which will have far-reaching impact on how people live, work, and play all over the world. In the next few weeks and months, we will disseminate information on everything we need to know about the new network,” Mr Jah told the launching crowd which also included representatives of the government of Sierra Leone where Qcell also operates; Huawei; and Qcell staff.
Jah thanked his staff, Qcell subscribers and the engineers and technicians from Huawei Technologies.
Others speakers at the launching included digital communications minister, the chairman of the board of Pura, Sierra Leone’s deputy minister and the West Africa head of Huawei. Qcell awarded certificates of appreciation to individuals and institutions.
