|
Globacom plans optical fibre link to
United Kingdom
By Shina Badaru and
Emma Okonji
Nigeria's second
national operator (SNO), Globacom Limited, on Tuesday announced plans to build
a high-speed submarine optical fibre link to carry long distance traffic from
Nigeria to the United Kingdom.
The planned
infrastructure is to position the SNO as the leading provider of gateway
services to operators in Nigeria and the entire West African sub-region.
When completed, the
proposed Globacom high capacity (32 STM64) optical fibre submarine cable will
provide direct connectivity of operators to the UK; cater for long term
bandwidth requirements; address current traffic trends and offer connectivity
to the rest of the world.
Also, the
initiative by the Nigerian company will be competing with the SAT-3 optical
fibre submarine linking Africa with the rest of the world and championed by
South African fixed line operator, Telkom.
Executive Director,
Globacom, Mr. Paddy Adenuga dropped the hint at a press conference to mark the
first anniversary of the company’s entry into the Nigerian telecoms
market. The company commenced operation on August 29, last year with the roll
out of its mobile cellular network, Glo Mobile.
The first
anniversary also witnessed the unveiling of Glo Gateway. It is the gateway
services business unit of the SNO which will carry high quality international
voice and data traffic for Nigeria and also provide hubbing and carrier
services to countries in Africa and the rest of the world.
Adenuga added that
the company has completed four international gateways in Nigeria including two
in Lagos, one in Abuja and another in Port Harcourt and intends to play in the
lucrative international prepaid calling card services.
According to him,
the company has been able to resolve its initial dispute with rival public
operator, the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) over access to SAT-3
adding that, “we now both have equal access on an equal and cordial basis
as we as well as NITEL now use it to carry our international traffic.”
Glo’s planned link will compete with SAT-3.
The submarine cable
is owned by a consortium of 36 companies which include leading African telecoms
companies among them Nigeria’s NITEL that contributed about $50 million
while South Africa’s Telkom SA staked $85 million into constructing the
$650 million link that went into commercial service in April 2002.
However, the
company was silent about the long awaited roll-out of the remaining two
business units of its SNO licence bouquet: Glo Fixed and Glo Online which are
to provide fixed line and broadband services respectively.
The company said it
is consolidating its series of firsts in the market with the launch of its
international operations and gateway switch in the UK.
|
