Nigeria's international calls to hit one billion minutes as Glogateway opens
By Sonny Aragba-Akpore, Asst. Communication's Editor
WITH a projection to increase Nigeria's out-bound international traffic minutes to one billion from its present 350 million yearly, Second Network Operator (SNO), Globacom Limited yesterday launched the first phase of international gateway in Lagos.
Prior to the launch, only the Nigerian Telecommunication Limited (NITEL) had such authority to carry out-bound traffic for itself and a third party.
But with the commissioning of this first phase by Globacom, international gateway services have been deregulated, as the SNO will now jostle for a pie of international traffic with NITEL.
This phase, located in the heart of London, United Kingdom (UK), will serve as hub for the European countries with which Nigerian callers would exchange traffic via Globacom gateway.
Specifically, Globacom will carry third party and own traffic for out-bound and in-bound calls.
The London hub is the first in the series of such hubs spread across parts of the world, including switches in parts of Africa, Europe, Americas, Singapore, Hong Kong, United Arab Emirate, and Australia.
The London switch will be followed by those of Paris (France), Frankfurt (Germany), and another one in the USA in the next few months.
Globacom's dedicated circuit will enable clear signals of callers who will now have direct link to other callers without going through a third party.
Officials of Globacom, including Chief Operating Officer (COO) for Glo Gateway, the company which manages the international operations, Mr. Ashok Israni, told reporters that the gateway will provide ease of transmission for users whether they are on the Glo Mobile or fixed line networks.
"Our plan is to be a major player in the global telecom industry," Israni said.
So far, the company is said to have entered into interconnect pacts with some of the world's leading gateway owners including Belgacom of Belgium, Link Africa, and KPN Euro voice of Netherlands, France Telecom, IDT Global and Cable & Wireless of the U.K.
The rest are iBasis of USA, T-systems of Germany and Teleglobe of Canada.
"The facilities will enable the network to directly interconnect other leading international carrier service providers, provide quality hubbing service for other operators in the world," Israni added.
The Glo Gateway will be backed by the four hubs it has in Lagos (2), Abuja (1) and Port Harcourt (1).
According to the officials, because of the direct link through the underground sea cable known as SAT-3 to the rest of the world, calls emanating from Nigeria will be significant at low cost.
The officials listed other benefits to include "ability to make and receive quality international calls due to direct interconnection with other carriers, reduction in delays and the elimination of distortions due to the world class infrastructure deployed, with improved call completion rates."
So far, the gateway provides access to subscribers to link 547 networks spread in 152 countries.
"Subscribers can equally send short Messages (SMS) to these destinations," Israni added.
Globacom plans to invest in a high capacity optic fibre submarine cable for direct connectivity to U.K. to cater for long term bandwidth requirements, address current traffic trends and avail connectivity to the rest of the world.
Israni said Globacom deployed the most advanced technology to build its Gateway and international switch infrastructures to deliver quality international services.
He added the services were world class in standard, adding that "Globacom is already known for its world class services, and our Gateway operation is structured to ensure that users experience value in service delivery by eliminating the frustrations of international calls terminating in Nigeria."`
