L-R: Chief Marketing Officer, MTN Nigeria, Mr. Bola Akingbade;
Chief Executive Officer, MTN Nigeria, Mr. Brett Goschen; Assistant
Director, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Saka Adebola Adeyemo; Chief
Executive Officer, Guaranty Trust Bank Nigeria Plc, Mr. Segun Agbaje
and Managing Director/CEO, Fortis Mobile Money, Mr. Henry Nwawuba at
the launch of Mobile Money powered by MTN in Lagos.
If the statement credited to the Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji on the near impossibility of having a regular electricity power supply even in the future is taken serious then telecoms operators may have to continue to plough bulk of their earning into power generation.
The reason is that the minister is introducing a plan that would further worsen the condition under which the GSM and CDMA’s are operating.
And indeed, their subscribers may have to continue to suffer from the consequences of poor quality service, caused more often by power failure at base stations. All mobile telephone operators in the country power their base stations with generating sets, not one but two.
Investigations revealed that the operators do maintenance on the generating sets at least twice in a month that is besides unplanned repair, which maybe done those generating sets as break-down occurs.
Recently at a public function, the President of Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators in Nigeria, (ALTON), Engr. Gbenga Adebayo noted that power is a major money gulper for the operators stressing that depending solely on government for electricity power provision to power base stations and switching centre is one risk that the operators cannot take.
According to him, when the base stations goes off, the subscriber would be the first to raise usual alarm of service failure adding that very few subscribers would realise that the fault is not entirely that of the operator.
While explaining further on the essence of electricity power to stable and reliable telecoms services, Adebayo disclosed that bulk of the revenue of the operators go into generating electricity power to run their base stations adding that it is the huge investment that they have made in electricity power generation that is keeping them in business.
It would be recalled that one of the reasons at the wake of the deregulation of the telecoms sector given by foreign investors who were shying away from Nigeria was the issue of the operating environment. The initial complain of the foreign investors was that as a leading economy in Africa, Nigeria was unable to tackle the problem of electricity. And as such was considered an unsafe destination for investment in telecoms.
However, those who brave the odds to make investment in that regard have had to paid dearly for it by making huge investment in electricity power generation unlike what they would have done in other countries of the world.
The statement of the minister, some industry sources said capable of cripplingly the telecoms sector saying that it embracing that 10 years after the deregulation and considering the huge money that government made from them (operators) with none of it ploughed back to develop the power sector, at least for the sake of the telecoms industry.
The source in one of the telecoms company wondered why it is so difficult for government to sacrifice part of the fund that they have made from the operators to give special funding for power in the telecoms sector.
Besides the fact that the statement of the minister is considered a bad omen by some sources in the industry, as it means more years of struggling by the operators to give reliable, efficient and quality services to their subscribers, yet industry leaders have begun criticise some of the decision of the minister.
President Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Engr Titi Omo-Ettu said that the establishment of Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Board is a pointer that all is not well in the energy sector.
The Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Board was one of the strategy of the minister tackle the age long electricity power problem in the nation but Omo-Ettu, noted that “The fact that the craftsmen of the reform have identified the need for that board is an admission of dangers the entire concept portends for that all important sector."
According to him, establishing a bureaucracy to solve a problem which needs a private sector orientation and solution is a waste of time and resources saying "How can they be breeding another bureaucracy after the establishment of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), which from all readings and inferences does not have a focus as things stand now?".
"They want to use an illegal body to confuse a legal but impotent body. We need private sector initiatives to run in parallel with government bodies if they insist on perpetuating government companies to provide electricity and allow our people have a choice to make."
The ATCON boss stated that “We cannot and should not keep breeding bureaucracies which are fundamentally sluggish and put civil servants in charge of businesses that mean much to our economy.”
He observed that the privatization power generating plants, implies a dash of our commonwealth and also discouragement of private initiatives from providing alternatives that are needed.
Explaining on how best to tackle the power problem, he urged the minister to take clue from the reforms of the telecoms sector stressing that "what we did was to allow the private sector compete with government bureaucracies and you can see that when they killed NITEL, we still had alternatives to fall back on."
Omo-Ettu said that he is worried about the trend of events in the power sector saying that as a stakeholder in the power sector and as a concerned Nigerian, who is part of the long suffering citizenry, the subject matter on power needs to be revisited. And the reason is not far fetch, because its constituency is one of the worst hit.
An analysis of the huge investment made by the telecoms operators showed that over N3.63 billion is invested by the operators monthly on generating power sets. The money is for the powering of about 15,000 cell sites owned by the operators. The money is for the cost of diesel, maintenance and other miscellaneous expenses.
The ALTON boss at a function recently said that the erratic power supply in the country is taking a heavy toll on the operation of member companies of the association saying both the GSM and CDMA operators use an average of 25 million litres of diesel every month.
He said that since their license mandates them provide interrupted services across the country for 24/7 hours, they had to provide alternative sources of power in the absence of power supply from the government owned Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).
He added that in most communities access to the sites is often difficulty either due to the activities of the community leaders as well as that of the miscreant also known as ‘area boys’.
The implication, of that according to Adebayo is the persistent network failure resulting to poor service delivery, increase operational and capital expenditure as well as and the threat to operational integrity of telecoms networks in the country.
Also, MTN Nigeria had at a seminar on telecoms infrastructure in Lagos revealed that it spent over N12bilion in acquiring generators to provide power for its many base stations nationwide.
He explained that spend N500m monthly on diesel procurement and generator maintenance, adding that it had 7,000 base stations covering 85 per cent of Nigeria’s landmass, which must be constantly powered.
The President, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria, Mr. Titi Omo-Ettu, had recently said that inadequate power supply posed a serious impediment to Information Communications Technology growth in the country.
“What the telecoms sector needs now is radically improved public power supply. That is an issue the President must address sincerely and genuinely. If the problems of the telecoms sector are weighted, energy takes 70 per cent,” the ATCON boss said.
Omo-Ettu also said that about 45 per cent of the indigenous telecoms licensees, who commenced business when the telecoms industry was liberalised in 1993, had collapsed now due to the harsh economic environment, with inadequate power supply being a major problem.
“Unknown to the public, 40 per cent of telecoms licensees, who commenced business at the turn of liberalisation in 1993, had shut up shop because of erratic power supply,” he said.
He noted that many of the affected companies were Internet Service Providers, adding that erratic power supply could limit future ICT growth in the country if nothing was done to reverse the ugly trend.
To solve the protracted power supply crisis in the country, Omo-Ettu called on the Federal Government to urgently and sincerely liberalise the energy sector.
Since help seems not to have been coming from the government, some of the operators have fashioned out ways to help themselves.
One of such method is the introduction of co-location of base stations which has helped to cut down cost for the operators. For instance there are co-location agreement between MTN and Etisalat.
Recently, Airtel Networks Limited, disclosed that it has invested over $600m in the past one year to expand the capacity and enhance the robustness of its network in pursuit of world class Quality of Service (QoS).
The company’s Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director, Mr. Deepak Srivastava, said that the investment was meant to to upgrade 250 diesel powered stations in Nigeria to Green-sites, an initiative designed to enable the company harness solar energy to operate its base stations.
According to him, the Green-Sites would contribute to a considerable reduction of CO2 emissions and prevent network outages associated with inconsistent power supply.
Srivastava regretted that non-availability of regular grid power supply to sites across the country is responsible for over 70 per cent of down time resulting in poor QoS, adding that the Green-Site would go a long way in addressing this critical challenge.
He hinted that the company was exploring other options including a partnership with the World Bank to address the nagging issue of power supply especially to the remote communities.
“Even as we pursue the Green-Site solution”, he revealed “Airtel has in the last six months installed dual generating sets in 200 sites and installed high back up batteries in 600 sites, while noting that an additional high capacity back up batteries and 500 new Generating Sets are to be deployed by March 2012”.
He lamented that in some other countries, operators are concerned with managing customer experience rather than keeping the sites up as is the case in Nigeria, where power outages, fibre cut and community issues have combined to undermine the integrity of the network quality.
Despite these moves, the regulatory body, Nigeria Communications Commission, (NCC) said that it would sanction any operator who failed to deliver quality services to its subscriber.
The slow pace response of the government to tackling the power issue may just be one factor that would easily expose the operators to the stiff sanction of the NCC.
Another consequence according Omo-Ettu the power problem would continue to deny the sector of world-class investors, which has continued to date.
In what appears to be a speedy response to the call by the telecoms operators for a National Telecoms Infrastructure Policy that would protect telecoms infrastructure from the activities of vandals, particularly in remote communities where it is difficult to monitor such facilities, the National Assembly is considering facilitating a bill to that effect.
One of the telecoms operators recently drew the attention of government to the need to have such policy due to the persist destructing of telecoms infrastructure in the country.
While on a tour of the facilities of MTN Nigeria in Lagos, Acting Chairman, House Committee on Communications of the House of Representatives Committee on Communications, Mr. hinted that the lawmakers was ready to facilitate moves that would see such policy come to light.
According to Bawa the House would give assistance to the regulatory body of the industry, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) if such proposal for an Act that will safeguard telecoms infrastructures in Nigeria comes before the House saying that it is prepared work with relevant agencies and network operators to ensure that there comes to an end the era of poor quality of service (QoS).
While awaiting the passage of such Act, he said that the committee in conjunction with NCC has agreed to sanction anyone found vandalising telecoms infrastructure in any part of the country.
The lawmaker while disclosing that the House is not unaware of the numerous challenges plaguing the industry said that an Act is coming up, which would streamline the issue and allow a unified regulation and taxation system.
On the lingering issue between operators and the Ministry of Environment, regarding the health and safety of telecoms mast, which are in residential areas in the country, the lawmaker pledged that the House would wade into the case and ensure that the ministry allows operators to build more base stations adding that he is aware of the importance of base stations to quality services.
He explained that "We got that report and we have spoken with NCC and I believe that the NCC is trying to solve that problem and we are also working with the Ministry of Environment to find a lasting solution to that problem."
To enhance the value and customer experience of communication, Visafone has unveiled a new prepaid package tagged Visa Entrée Xpress.
The new package enables customers to call other network at 50k/second for the first minute of the day and thereafter 30k/second with the sole aim of giving customers who talk more to enjoy tariffs as low as 15k/second.
A statement signed by the Head Corporate Communication, Mr. Joseph Ushigiale, described this new innovative package as "another platform Visafone is applying to enrich customers’ experiences, make communication affordable and accessible to majority of customers."
According to the statement; “Visafone does not only offer the lowest tariffs but it also gives clear voice and data quality with a wider reach.”
The managing director/chief executive officer of Visafone, Mr. Sailesh Iyer said that apart from the low tariff customers would enjoy on the Visa Entrée Xpress package, customers would also enjoy SMS rate at N5/SMS for Visafone to Visafone, N10/SMS to any other network in Nigeria and N15 to international networks.
Iyer explained that new subscribers would receive 60 free on-net SMS valid for 60 days with 1 free on-net minute every time they make an off-net call with a duration of 60 seconds or more."
The company is reputed for its customer friendly and rewarding programmes, apart from giving them value for money through attractive tariffs and excellent voice and data quality.
Visafone has displayed considerable leadership in the mobile sub-sector of the Nigerian telecoms landscape. The company is constantly seeking to revolutionize the customer service delivery thereby lowering churn and continuing the exponential growth trajectory in customer experience.
Just recently, the less than four year old company was certified by the CDG as the first Open Market Handsets (OMH) compliant network in Africa. Visafone has won several prestigious awards for excellence, innovation and customer initiatives.
It has recorded several firsts since its establishment, the most recent being its certification by CDG as the first Open Market Handsets (OMH) compliant network in Africa.
Meanwhile in its quest for addressing the ever growing needs and demands of its customer Visafone has introduced one more customer friendly Data Plan of 5GB, this is to upgrade the current data users whose monthly usage exceeds 3GB but is less than 10GB,enabling the customer to optimize their data usage as per his usage pattern.
The Managing Director, Mr. Sailesh Iyer in a statement signed by Joseph Ushigiale, head corporate communication expressed confidence that the new data plan will continue to give subscribers consistently high speed experience to the internet at a competitive rate of N7, 499 and with a validity period of 30 days.
According to him, “This new package will no doubt be useful to those who have been yearning for a data plan that exceeds the current 3GB threshold and need around 5GB,” he added.
Visafone recently slashed the prices of its hardware as well as data bundles besides revamping its existing data plans, thus providing a whole new world of internet access and experience for both existing and new subscribers with high speed broadband internet services via CDMA 1x and 3G EVDO on the Visafone-pioneered EVDO Rev A network.
Iyer pointed out that ”given the superb experience in terms of access, surfing and fast download speeds that Visafone data subscribers enjoy, this creates irresistible value for data devotees across the spectrum of corporate users, travelling businessmen, students, dedicated downloaders or casual browsers and email enthusiasts.”
Visafone is known for its value for money programmes that reward its customers through attractive tariffs and excellent voice and data quality. The wholly owned Nigerian company operates with the service ideals of Quality, Clarity and Coverage and promises to renew the joy of communication and give Nigerians the passport to reach the world. NCC also awarded Visafone for the widest spread of Customer Contact Centre’s during the recently held 10th anniversary of Consumer Parliament.
It has displayed considerable leadership in the mobile sub-sector of the Nigerian telecoms landscape. The company is constantly seeking to revolutionize the customer service delivery thereby lowering churn and continuing the exponential growth trajectory in customer experience.
Visafone has recorded several firsts since its establishment, the most recent being its certification by CDG as the first Open Market Handsets (OMH) compliant network in Africa. Visafone has won several prestigious awards for excellence, innovation and customer initiatives.
In a strategic alliance that would fast-track broadband penetration in the North West of the country, a body known as Sokoto Research and Education Network (SokREN) has been formed.
Ten higher institutions from the region at a weeklong workshop sponsored by the World Bank attended the workshop where the idea for the body was conceived.
A communiqué issued to that effect after the workshop and signed by Ahmed Isa Chafe of Usmanu Danfodyo University, the lead institution in this regional effort towards the emergence of National Research and Education Network noted that the effort is for the good of the region.
The institutions joined in the communiqué are Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto; Kebbi State University of Science and Technology, Aliero; Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto; Federal College Education Technical, Gusau; Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto; Waziri Umaru Federal Polytechnic, Birbin Kebbi; Sokoto State Polytechnic, Sokoto; Abdu Gusau Polytechnic, Talata Mafara; Federal Polytechnic, Kaura Namoda and School of Nursing Sciences, Sokoto.
SokREN and counterpart Eko-Konnect in Lagos are the first of regional networks leveraging proximity to establish physical networks to be connected by a national backbone into the Nigerian Research and Education Network.
Ahead of the planned introduction of mobile money, plans may have reached an advanced stage to convert abandoned Post offices across the country into mobile payment centres. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Nigerian Postal Services (NIPOST) are already in a talk that went through would see CBN and NIPOST share facilities to promote the mobile payment initiatives.
According to a senior official, Shares Services Office, Governor’s Department, CBN, Mr Chidi Umeano, the apex bank had discussed with the management of NIPOST on the possibility of using its offices nationwide.
He told participants at a capacity building workshop for microfinance bank(mfb) operators that NIPOST has several abandoned offices that can be upgraded for mobile payment needs saying that if the arrangement worked, NIPOST’s offices would play key roles in the growth of mobile payment services.
He said: “Instead people buying stamps in NIPOST offices, they would be going there to buy e-values, and later convert it to cash across the country.”
Umeano said provisions had been made for payment options, such as Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards, Point of Sales (POS), Web Banking, among others.
He said depositors who withdraw over N150,000 across the counters in Lagos would be sanctioned as from January 1, while those in other states would be penalised as from June 2012.
He said errant depositors would lose 10 per cent of the amount they withdraw in excess of N150,000, adding that the development would make people to use electronic payment terminals provided by the banks.
Confirming the plan to convert most Post offices to mobile money centres, the Deputy Post Master-General of the Federation, Mr Yashin Bitiyong, said that NIPOST has initiated discussion with the CBN and the twenty three banks to promote mobile banking services in the country.
Bitiyong said that when the discussion sails through, NIPOST‘s customers would be able to key into networks provided by the banks and the e-payment service providers to get the services they are looking for.
“The banks and the e-payment service providers would provide networks that would facilitate mobile payment services. NIPOST would key into networks to ensure that its customers wherever they are, link up and get the services they are looking for”.
He said that NIPOST is not only discussing with CBN and the banks, but its building relationship with technology providers to achieve the desire results. Bitiyong said the agency would use its relationship with the Universal Postal Union (UPN) to advantage by opening its own software soon.
“We are opening our own software based on the relationship we have with other countries at the Universal Postal Union. UPN is an association of countries tasked with the objective of developing postal services globally. Being the Nigerian representative at the Union, we would ensure that we open our own software. We would bring the software to Nigeria, and we would use the software at the most backward end. I’m talking about rural areas. We would find telephone, especially handsets useful in this regard. We want to open our network to receive messages from the telephone, in order to enhance the growth of the mobile payment services,” he added.
Similarly, the Chairman, National Association of Microfinance Banks (NAMB), Lagos State Chapter, Mr Olufemi Babajide, said the cashless banking programme is feasible in the country. Babajide said microfinance banks have important roles to play in mobile banking, in view of its strength and objectives.
He said the microfinance sub-sector has a market size of over 50 million, representing about 65 per cent of the unbanked population in the country.
Two telecoms experts in the country have said that the nation’s builders must begin to consider building big complex systems instead of the small complex projects if their desire to empower Nigerians with ubiquitous communication infrastructure and resources would be realized.
The experts at a workshop and exhibition of Systems Engineering held at the University of Lagos added that there is also the need to consider power plants, refineries, communications systems, smart highways and railways since they are subjects for systems engineering management.
Chief executive officer of MainOne Cable Company, Funke Opeke and President of the Assiocaition Telecommunications Company, (ALTON), Engr.Titi Omo-Ettu who both spoke at the occasion said that it essential that planners of development structures should be thinking of big complex system.
Opeke said that there are so many examples of the infrastructure that enhances our daily lives and national development which would not occur without systems engineering.
Omo-Ettu while commending the University of Lagos for hosting event said that it is worthy of note that the university is known for pioneering training programs which sought solution to problems far ahead of their times.
He observed that the University of Lagos actually pioneered the local undergraduate training in law, mass communication, environmental science, surveying and systems engineering.
According to him, “as much as our development is now entering the total engineering revolution no other faculty of engineering in Nigeria offers training in Systems Engineering but the University of Lagos”.
He added that “We are now entering a new era where big and very complex projects will have to be conceived, designed and delivered at a price that our people can afford and it is time our engineering rises to seeing the management of systems rather than of projects”.
The chief executive of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Mr Oscar Onyema, would deliver the keynote address at the Third MTN Business World Executive Breakfast meeting in Accra.
The event scheduled to take place on December 15 at the Golden Tulip Hotel is on the theme: “Taking Your Business regional”, and would bring together Ghanaian entrepreneurs looking to expand their businesses in the West African sub region as well as CEOs from the country’s banking and financial institutions.
In a statement issued by MTN, Ghana’s leading Telecommunications Company and Business World, Ghana’s foremost business magazine, to the Ghana News Agency in Accra.
The statement said the Executive Breakfast series was a progression of breakfast meetings intended to provide an avenue for executive briefings, a networking and business matching platform for CEOs, senior management professionals, entrepreneurs’ and government officials to meet and discuss current business trends and opportunities in Ghana.
The first meeting on the theme ‘Attracting Private Equity and Venture Capital to Your Business’ was held on April, 20 at the Golden Tulip Hotel and was attended by over 100 CEOs from Ghana’s top businesses.
The second Executive Breakfast Meeting again occurred on August 4, at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Accra.
Commenting on the importance of the series, chief marketing officer of MTN, Rahul De, said that “at MTN we believe the growth of our business clients is intricately linked to our own growth thus these series of meetings are aimed at helping to grow businesses and look at building efficiencies”.
Chief Executive Officer of Business World, Kofi Mangesi, said “Nigeria is a market of interest to many Ghanaian businesses and this meeting seeks to address some of the concerns Ghanaians have in regards to taking their business regional”.
One of the country’s leading technology distribution companies, Technology Distributions Limited, has made a bold step into the online market business.
Known for its deep stock of quality products direct from reputable international Original Equipment Manufacturers, TD, according to its executive director, Marketing Mrs. Chioma Chimere is bringing online, multiple promos that define its pivotal position as the foremost ICT distributor.
She said that shoppers would reap a lot of benefits shopping online at the TD portal beginning with a 5 per cent discount on all laptops adding the resellers could also buy at reseller prices from an exclusive portal accessible through a password.
She explained that the resellers would also get the difference from end user pricing as TD uses its credibility and capacity to serve the untouched online market.
Among the promos that are listed in the online portal is the Empower your Staff Promo that is open only to members of the Partner Advantage Scheme, which according to her is designed to boost healthy competition among resellers and enhance staff productivity within the ICT market.
She said that winners would emerge from a raffle draw after partners must meet their quarterly target of N10m Naira to obtain a partnership voucher which would be used for the raffle draw saying that the managing director of the winning company would nominate a deserving staff who wins the benefits of the promo.
Chimere revealed that the intention of TD’s online marketing was to give consumers the best prices no matter the brand stressing “we are aiming at achieving a new consensus in the market – that more affordable pricing is an integral part of TD online marketing”.
She also said that the TD online is a direct reaction to the government’s drive for a cashless society noting that a good distributorship is “a kind of clearing house where manufacturers, resellers and consumers meet to promote the commercial ideals of a given society. Therefore, TD online creates the stress free and seamless exchange between Microsoft, HP, Dell, Zinox, Toshiba, Samsung, Acer, APC by Schneider, and their numerous consumers in sub Saharan Africa”.
Chimere further said that “Apart from pricing and availability TD Online guarantees a new level of speed in the restocking and deployment of ICT products. Literally, it can be said that the top of the range products that you need are just a click away”.
On the enormous possibilities in the online shopping, she said that “It’s an entirely new era in business because of the elimination of the tedious processes in banks, before company cashiers, nudging vetting auditors, and waiting for approvals from supervisors”.
Consumers, she said, “do not have to waste time haggling for discounts because mouth watering discounts have been granted online as means of promoting a new culture by the OEMs. The TD marketing Chief observed that individual products have heaved benefits on online consumers. Samsung, for example, offers a delivery van to any reseller who sells 1,000 units of its star product – the solar powered laptop. Acer offers a free Windows 7 Starter in addition to over 10 per cent price slash on Aspire laptops. Each OEM has something to offer on TD online”.
Technology Distributions Limited commenced business in May 1999 as the pioneer bulk distributor in West Africa for HP, Microsoft, APC, and Epson. Armed with a vision to build a globally recognized ICT distribution company and become the key driver of technology revolution across Africa, TD has evolved into a world-class company with fully developed structures, processes and corporate governance and controls about 60% of ICT products distribution in West Africa.
TD’s impressive branch network has grown from Lagos (Gbagada and Ikeja), Abuja, and Port Harcourt to include international branches in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Ghana, launched in April, 2006, Liberia, 2010, with Sierra Leone, and the Gambia offices at the advanced stage. TD has a partnership with Cisco Systems, the leading supplier of Networking equipment and network management, Toshiba, Acer, Dell and Zinox.
Leading Telecoms Operator, Airtel Networks Limited, has invested over $600m in the past one year to expand the capacity and enhance the robustness of its network in pursuit of world class Quality of Service (QoS).
The company’s Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director, Mr. Deepak Srivastava, announced the investment during a visit by telecoms journalists to Airtel’s newly commissioned Green-Site in Lekki, Lagos.
At a brief parley after the media tour, Srivastava recalled that Airtel recently announced a landmark deal with Ericsson to upgrade 250 diesel powered stations in Nigeria to Green-sites, an initiative designed to enable the company harness solar energy to operate its base stations.
According to him, the Green-Sites would contribute to a considerable reduction of CO2 emissions and prevent network outages associated with inconsistent power supply.
Srivastava regretted that non-availability of regular grid power supply to sites across the country is responsible for over 70 per cent of down time resulting in poor QoS, adding that the Green-Site would go a long way in addressing this critical challenge.
He hinted that the company was exploring other options including a partnership with the World Bank to address the nagging issue of power supply especially to the remote communities.
“Even as we pursue the Green-Site solution”, he revealed “Airtel has in the last six months installed dual generating sets in 200 sites and installed high back up batteries in 600 sites, while noting that an additional high capacity back up batteries and 500 new Generating Sets are to be deployed by March 2012”.
He lamented that in some other countries, operators are concerned with managing customer experience rather than keeping the sites up as is the case in Nigeria, where power outages, fibre cut and community issues have combined to undermine the integrity of the network quality.
Srivastava, who was accompanied by Chief Technical Officer, Awadhesh Kumar Kalia; Regulatory Director, Osondu Nwokoro and Corporate Communications and CSR Director, Emeka Oparah, disclosed that Airtel has, in the last one year, continued to make significant CAPEX (capital expenditure) investment towards improving network quality and has embarked on specific initiatives to expand its network coverage.
“Airtel has invested heavily on Site Rollout, Power improvement projects, fiber roll-out, microwave replacement, technical engineering, network capacity enhancement and adaptive multiple rate” he noted.
He added that Airtel has built over 500 additional sites in the last six months and intends to complete an additional 1000 sites by March 2012.
Commenting on the company’s Fibre Rollout initiative, the Chief Officer hinted that Airtel had commenced a drive to aggressively grow its existing 4500km of fiber by 1800km, giving a total of 6,300km by March 2012 to provide alternate and multipath redundancy and additional trunk capacity, hinting that this will reduce the impact of fiber cuts on network availability.
On Microwave Replacement, network capacity and technical engineering, Srivastava revealed that Airtel has embarked on several improvement initiatives and is replacing old Microwave radio links with modern high capacity equipment and a total of 150 hops are to be replaced by March 2012.
With sponsorship of the World Bank, through STEP-B, ten institutions attended a one week workshop and meeting that gave birth to the Cluster. A communiqué to this effect was signed on November 18, 2011 and broadcast by Ahmed Isa Chafe of Usmanu Danfodyo University, the lead institution in this regional effort towards the emergence of National Research and Education Network.
These institutions include: Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto; Kebbi State University of Science and Technology, Aliero; Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto; Federal College Education Technical, Gusau; Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto; Waziri Umaru Federal Polytechnic, Birbin Kebbi; Sokoto State Polytechnic, Sokoto; Abdu Gusau Polytechnic, Talata Mafara; Federal Polytechnic, Kaura Namoda and School of Nursing Sciences, Sokoto.
SokREN and counterpart Eko-Konnect in Lagos are the first of regional networks leveraging proximity to establish physical networks to be connected by a national backbone into the Nigerian Research and Education Network
Second National Carrier, Globacom has called for the establishment of a common code of conduct that would regulate the demands that the three tiers of governments make from companies in the country.
The request is based on the consistent cry of companies in the telecoms sector that are groaning under the huge burden of double taxation.
Chief Operating Officer (GCOO) of the company, Mr. Mohamed Jameel, who made the request while on a courtesy visit to the Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson said that conscious effort must be made to save the industry from the stress of double taxation noting that government should save the industry from multiple taxation coming from local youths, local government authorities, state governments and federal government authorities
While highlighting Globacom’s leadership role in innovation, he said that government needs to support the industry in the provision of communication infrastructure to be shared by all players in the industry.
According to him, infrastructure sharing would help reduce the heavy cost of installation being borne by the respective players, saying that cost is often transferred to the subscribers.
On the challenges facing the industry, Jameel lamented that if conscious steps are not taken to save the medium and small players in the GSM category, their fate may soon follow the trends in the CDMA category who have been sapped dry due to heavy and unbearable interconnect charges paid to the dominant player.
Jameel who accompanied on the visit by the Head of Glo 1, Mr. Folu Aderibigbe, thanked the Minister and for all the support given to Globacom by the federal government in its drive to providing world class services to its teeming subscribers, noting that the company is the second leading GSM provider in Nigeria in terms of subscriber base.
He promised that Globacom would continue to be a responsible Nigerian company and would not relent in its efforts to improve the services available to the Nigerian people.
The Glo GCOO recalled that the network has rolled out its services into Republic of Benin, and soon will launch in Ghana. The company has also laid its own submarine cable from US to Europe to Africa down to Nigeria
Responding the Minister,Mrs. Omobola Johnson, described Globacom as a very important player to the GSM services industry in Nigeria commending Globacom for being a catalyst in price reduction and for being a leader in value added services.
The Minister criticized some arms of government for over levying successful companies explaining that contrary to existing laws governing all aspects of taxation the level of compliance has been rather low.
She said that some state governments are “under pressure to shore up internally generated revenues which has made them to descend so heavily on the industries they perceive as “successful”, including telecommunications operators”.
She however informed the team that discussions are on-going to get the various arms and layers of government to comply with the laws governing the telecoms industry.
Johnson added that as Nigeria is trying to build a local ICT industry, it cannot allow the any operator in any category to die, because they address dire and specific needs of the populace.
To this end, she said government is working with a team of consultants to see to that interconnect fees are reduced to something fair to all players.
As the internet buzz continues to hit countries across the globle, Spectranet Limited, a National Service provider has unveils another mind blowing fast internet service that the company pledged will change the face of internet surfing.
At a colourful event, tonight in Lagos, the commercial hub of Nigeria, industry players watched with delight as the traditional rule of the State, His Royal Highnest, Oba Rilwanu logged on to surf the internet using the Spectranet 4G, which provides cutting edge wireless broadband services.
