. . . Seek to dominate Nigeria’s internet access market
Ben Uzor Jr
There are burly indications that Globacom, Second National Carrier, will obtain a new spectrum license from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) by third quarter of 2011, informed sources close to the network told Business Day at the weekend. This new frequency spectrum, our sources further maintained will enable the telecom firm offer more efficient and reasonably priced broadband internet services to its teeming subscribers on its Long Term Evolution (LTE) platform. Officials of the telecom operator however declined to comment on the development when contacted.
Only recently, Globacom announced that it had launched the LTE network in Nigeria but industry watchers had doubted the telecom firms claim because suitable spectrum was yet to be issued and also because compatible devices were yet to become available in the country. A prominent industry analyst, who spoke with Business Day at the weekend, said Nigeria had failed to effectively manage its national frequency resources, stressing that it might pose a serious challenge to Globacom’s aspirations.
Our sources disclosed that Globacom was testing LTE in 30-40 locations in Lagos, with preliminary results showing that internet speeds are ten times faster than available 3G services. Investigation revealed that Globacom was currently using a combination of its existing GSM and 3G spectrums to conduct LTE testing, but intends to obtain either 2.1 or 2.6 GHz licenses from the NCC. Besides, Equipment providers have emphasised the need for effective management of the spectrum resources.
According to them, the frequency bands most suitable for deploying LTE are 700MHz and 2.6GHz.The 700MHz band is recommended for wide and rural areas, whilst 2.6GHz is said to deliver better internet speed and more effective in urban areas. But ironically, such spectrum bands are hardly in use by telecoms companies in Nigeria. According to the analyst, there is an urgent need to free up these frequency spectrum because LTE deployment will further deepen competition in the data segment of Nigeria’s highly competitive telecoms market, thus, giving Nigerians more value for their money.
This, the further analyst explained was because LTE promises to open up new revenue generating streams for telcos by enabling new capabilities well beyond traditional voice and data services. According to the analyst, the price of data and other broadband internet services, including BlackBerry (BB) subscriptions, will come down remarkably as the recent take-off of two submarine cable initiatives (Glo-One and Main One ) have continued to drive data and Internet subscription charges down.
Until recently, monthly BlackBerry charges were about N5, 000 across networks, today however, it is as low as N2, 500 and promises to go lower still. With regard to the timeline for implementation, our source confirmed that Globacom will commence roll-out of LTE services in the beginning of 2012, pointing out that modems will however be available in Q3 of 2011. 3G customers will ultimately become LTE customers, one industry analyst told BusinessDay, but warned that unless handsets are available at a cheaper rate uptake will be limited.
LTE is a revolutionary Fourth Generation Mobile Technology which enhances data transfer rates, providing unmatched mobile broadband experience. This new wireless technology will provide telecoms consumers in the country with widespread all-IP based services such as superfast broadband access, video blogging, high quality multimedia streaming, enhanced gaming services etc. Business Day checks reveal that 24 networks worldwide have successfully adopted and launched LTE networks.
check out my blog: www.benedictspace.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment