Exciting times are in the offing for telecommunications consumers, as some firms are beginning to take advantage of the enormous bandwidth capacity on offer from new fibre-optic cable systems which are rolling out in the country to strengthen existing services to produce new, innovative solutions which promise to transform the Nigerian economy.
Fibre-optic cable systems typically carry telecommunication, internet and other data traffic and offer much higher bandwidth (speeds) than microwave and other radio solutions. For years, and until the last few weeks, the only cable system serving Nigeria’s Internet and data needs was the SAT-3/WASC or South Atlantic 3/West Africa. Submarine Cable is a submarine communications cable linking Portugal and Spain to South Africa, with connections to several West African countries along the route.
The Main One Cable System and Glo-One were launched in the last few weeks. Main One is owned by Main Street Technologies Company while Glo-One belongs to Nigeria’s second national operator – Globacom; both of which are Nigerian. A few other such initiatives are in the making. Experts say that the proliferation of submarine cable systems has opened up the information and communication technology (ICT) sector to further foreign direct investment.
In addition, they have advised players in the ICT industry to take up the challenge of developing and implementing practical investment plans in the area of broadband infrastructure deployment and content creation so as to spread the benefits of these cables to the Nigerian populace. Similarly, the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) in a recent memo to its members announced plans to spearhead a three-phase implementation agenda in this direction. This would include: building infrastructure across the country, managing data services in a new way and embarking on a stimulant funding campaign of local entrepreneurs.
Besides, all three mobile phone operators (MTN Nigeria, Etisalat Nigeria, and Starcomms Plc) who bought capacity from Main One cable agree that the connection would open a new window of opportunity for them to introduce enhanced mobile and data services that will add value to the life of the Nigerian phone user.
For Starcomms Plc, the connection to Main One cable would enable the firm to effectively offer its Inter-Standard Roaming (ISR) solution, BusinessDay has gathered. This solution enables a Starcomms CDMA phone user to make pre-paid roaming calls to an international GSM network. Now, customers of Starcomms can enjoy more efficient and quality voice and data services on their phones. Analysts say that the company has taken the first step towards opening up a vast untapped market for mobile operators. Steven Evans, chief executive officer (CEO), Etisalat Nigeria, assured industry stakeholders recently that “with the latest technology, customers on the Etisalat network will have the benefit of increased broadband and enhanced data services.”
A reliable source at Etisalat Nigeria told BusinessDay that the company was fully aware of falling revenue from voice services and was indeed positioning itself to becoming a dominant player in the internet space through the expansion of its mobile data services strategically tailored towards enhancing connectivity and boosting efficiency.