•Govt restates commitment to providing incentives to operators
TO realise Nigeria’s 30 per cent broadband target by 2018, the country will need mass deployment of the fourth generation mobile broadband, or the Long Term Evolution technologies.
This was the view of Chinese Technology firm, Huawei, which bagged the ‘’Best Technology Vendor Award’ by West Africa Information and Communication Technology (WAFICT) Conference, in recognition of its achievements in Nigeria’s telecoms market.
Speaking at the conference, General Manager of Huawei Nigeria, Julius Akhalumenyo noted that constructing LTE networks could make effective use of existing equipment and technologies and could therefore lower the cost of initial investment.
Akhalumenyo said building mobile networks can significantly enlarge broadband coverage to people living in rural and underprivileged urban areas, adding that LTE enabled smart phones become increasingly more affordable.
“There is no doubt that higher capacity is needed in the near future. That also suggests that the public and private sectors should work more closely to continue the momentum of rolling out more advanced networks in Nigeria”, he stated.
As a result of the significant increase in voice and data services, Huawei said it has seen a corresponding growth in demand upgrading networks and expanding coverage across all sectors.
As such, to make the communication access much easier and more affordable, Huawei said it has introduced a series of its latest technologies and solutions for Nigeria; for example, its world awarded Single Fixed Access Network (Single FAN) solutions and Hybrid Power Solutions.
Huawei, which emphasized the importance of deploying Broadband network especially the Mobile Broadband (MBB) Networks for Nigeria said, “a World Bank study shows that GDP of low to middle income countries can grow an extra 1.38 per cent if the usage of broadband is up by 10 per cent. Another study suggests that raising broadband penetration in emerging markets to levels currently in Western Europe could add $300 to $420 billion in GDP and create 10 to 14 million new jobs.
Huawei said data released by International Telecom Union estimated 10.9 per cent of Africans have active mobile broadband subscription. That percentage drops to 0.3 per cent when it comes to fixed broadband. On the other hand, the number of Internet users grew 40 per cent in less than two years, from 101 million in 2011, to 140 million in 2013.
The implications are two fold, according to Akhalumenyo, which include first, the potential demand for broadband, which is huge in Nigeria and secondly, mobile broadband is an opportunity to bring more Nigerians online.
To other speakers at the conference, organized by IT and Telecoms Digest Magazine, Nigeria is still scratching the surface of this potential tool.
According to the Director, Regulatory Affairs at Etisalat Nigeria, Ibrahim Dikko, Nigeria needs to address policy framework on spectrum management, stressing that government need to introduce tax free regime as an incentive to operators.
To Globacom’s Olajide Aremu, going by the amounts of bandwidth in the country, broadband revolution has come to stay in Nigeria.
Aremu said the challenge revolves around distribution of capacities to be able to meet the increasing broadband gap.
He stressed that Nigeria needed to get to the village, adding that it is imperative to go wireless in the rural areas.
According to him, the country needed more infrastructures, especially Base Transceiver Stations to be able to expand services, this is even as he sought the cooperation of both regulator and operators, stressing that this will bring in more investors.
The Minister of Communications Technology, Dr. Omobola Johnson stressed the need for private sector to play active role in developing broadband potential in the country, disclosed that government woul provide incentives to operators.
The minister, who said Nigeria cannot play a second fiddle to countries which are already ahead, said that broadband access and Internet technologies are key enablers of socio-economic growth and a knowledge-based economy, adding that the presence of broadband as a strategic tool in any nation enables the creation of a digital economy crucial for fostering inclusive development.
“The importance of broadband penetration to the overall development of economies has been constantly reinforced by global statistics that reiterate that for every 10 per cent increase in broadband penetration, there is a commensurate increase of 1.3 per cent in the GDP of a country”, she stated.
TO realise Nigeria’s 30 per cent broadband target by 2018, the country will need mass deployment of the fourth generation mobile broadband, or the Long Term Evolution technologies.
This was the view of Chinese Technology firm, Huawei, which bagged the ‘’Best Technology Vendor Award’ by West Africa Information and Communication Technology (WAFICT) Conference, in recognition of its achievements in Nigeria’s telecoms market.
Speaking at the conference, General Manager of Huawei Nigeria, Julius Akhalumenyo noted that constructing LTE networks could make effective use of existing equipment and technologies and could therefore lower the cost of initial investment.
Akhalumenyo said building mobile networks can significantly enlarge broadband coverage to people living in rural and underprivileged urban areas, adding that LTE enabled smart phones become increasingly more affordable.
“There is no doubt that higher capacity is needed in the near future. That also suggests that the public and private sectors should work more closely to continue the momentum of rolling out more advanced networks in Nigeria”, he stated.
As a result of the significant increase in voice and data services, Huawei said it has seen a corresponding growth in demand upgrading networks and expanding coverage across all sectors.
As such, to make the communication access much easier and more affordable, Huawei said it has introduced a series of its latest technologies and solutions for Nigeria; for example, its world awarded Single Fixed Access Network (Single FAN) solutions and Hybrid Power Solutions.
Huawei, which emphasized the importance of deploying Broadband network especially the Mobile Broadband (MBB) Networks for Nigeria said, “a World Bank study shows that GDP of low to middle income countries can grow an extra 1.38 per cent if the usage of broadband is up by 10 per cent. Another study suggests that raising broadband penetration in emerging markets to levels currently in Western Europe could add $300 to $420 billion in GDP and create 10 to 14 million new jobs.
Huawei said data released by International Telecom Union estimated 10.9 per cent of Africans have active mobile broadband subscription. That percentage drops to 0.3 per cent when it comes to fixed broadband. On the other hand, the number of Internet users grew 40 per cent in less than two years, from 101 million in 2011, to 140 million in 2013.
The implications are two fold, according to Akhalumenyo, which include first, the potential demand for broadband, which is huge in Nigeria and secondly, mobile broadband is an opportunity to bring more Nigerians online.
To other speakers at the conference, organized by IT and Telecoms Digest Magazine, Nigeria is still scratching the surface of this potential tool.
According to the Director, Regulatory Affairs at Etisalat Nigeria, Ibrahim Dikko, Nigeria needs to address policy framework on spectrum management, stressing that government need to introduce tax free regime as an incentive to operators.
To Globacom’s Olajide Aremu, going by the amounts of bandwidth in the country, broadband revolution has come to stay in Nigeria.
Aremu said the challenge revolves around distribution of capacities to be able to meet the increasing broadband gap.
He stressed that Nigeria needed to get to the village, adding that it is imperative to go wireless in the rural areas.
According to him, the country needed more infrastructures, especially Base Transceiver Stations to be able to expand services, this is even as he sought the cooperation of both regulator and operators, stressing that this will bring in more investors.
The Minister of Communications Technology, Dr. Omobola Johnson stressed the need for private sector to play active role in developing broadband potential in the country, disclosed that government woul provide incentives to operators.
The minister, who said Nigeria cannot play a second fiddle to countries which are already ahead, said that broadband access and Internet technologies are key enablers of socio-economic growth and a knowledge-based economy, adding that the presence of broadband as a strategic tool in any nation enables the creation of a digital economy crucial for fostering inclusive development.
“The importance of broadband penetration to the overall development of economies has been constantly reinforced by global statistics that reiterate that for every 10 per cent increase in broadband penetration, there is a commensurate increase of 1.3 per cent in the GDP of a country”, she stated.
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