Nigeria’s
National Carrier, Globacom, has stated that it is bidding for the 2.3GHz
broadband spectrum licence
being auctioned by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) as part of its
aggressive investment strategy to give Nigerians the best-in-class telecom
services.
The
licence, the company further
explained, would ultimately improve the quality of service available to all
telecom subscribers nationwide.
Speaking
during a courtesy call on him by the leadership of Nigeria Information
Technology Reporters’ Association (NITRA), Globacom Group Chief Operating
Officer, Mr. Mohamed Jameel, said the company remains committed to its aggressive
investment drive, adding that obtaining the broadband spectrum licence on offer
would enable the company to mobilise necessary infrastructure to move
telecommunications to its next phase of development in Nigeria.
According
to the NCC’s plan, the winner of the single 2.3 GHz spectrum will become the
sole wholesaler of broadband services to other service providers in the
Nigerian market. Mr. Jameel stressed that the licence has therefore placed a
critical responsibility on the licence winner because going forward, there will
be more dependence on the Internet.
“There’s
going to be more reliance on cloud services and for that to work efficiently,
you have to be surrounded by the internet. Globacom is equipped to make that
happen. We have the capacity to deploy very quickly, the technical know-how and
the international bandwidth through our Glo 1 submarine cable,” he said.
On
the issue of quality of service, Mr. Jameel said no operator is happy when the
quality of service is poor, explaining that any spell of sub-optimal service
quality saddens the company because of the lost revenue for as long as it
lasts.
“When
a site goes down, it negatively impacts the quality of service in the immediate
community it is meant to serve. If it is a hub site, the negative impact
transcends the immediate community, because other sites dependent on the site
that is down will also be technically out of commission. In essence, a site
that goes down can negatively impact thousands of subscribers far and near, and
the operator is incapable of making revenue. We don’t want that. No operator
wants that,” he said.
He
identified equipment vandalism, wilful shutdown of base stations by agencies of
government and power cuts as some of the main causes of spells of sub-optimal
quality of service on telecom networks in Nigeria.
He
called on the government to assist telecom operators to fight some of the
challenges militating against quality of service. He said for instance, it will
be helpful for the government to harmonise all the taxes payable by operators
for its infrastructure across the country.
He
argued that if an operator knows that it is to pay certain amount for its
installation in a particular location, it will be easy to factor this cost into
its budget at the beginning of each year and pay. He said this will prevent
situations where Local Government and other agencies of government shut down
cell sites over revenue issues.
The
leadership of NITRA led by its president, Emma Okonji and Vice President,
Stanley Okenwa, lauded Globacom for its massive investment in the Nigerian
telecom industry. They described Globacom as ‘the greatest driver of local
content in Nigeria’s telecommunications sector” and urged the company not to
relent in its efforts to empower Nigerians.
