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| NIGCOMSAT pledges wider, cheaper internet services By Guardian NIGERIA yesterday began activities marking the first year of the Nigerian Communication Satellite (NIGCOMSAT), with promises of greater and cheaper Internet services in the country. Also, through the Debt Management Office (DMO), the country has finalized plans to pay next year the first instalment of the loan obtained to fund the project. The satellite is said to be "healthy and doing well in orbit." At 00:01am (Beijing Time) on May 14, 2007, Nigeria's first communications satellite NigcomSat-1 was successfully launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center (XSLC) aboard a Long March 3B launch vehicle. The satellite was built through a loan from EXIM bank of China. The Debt Management Office manages the debt, while the revenue from the project is said to be going back to government as internally generated revenue. Managing Director of the Nigeria Communications Satellite Limited, Ahmed Rufai, told reporters in Abuja yesterday that the spacecraft was built at the cost of N256 Million US Dollars (excluding tax). He gave assurance that the satellite was alive and working very well. He spoke on the extent of work on the Nigeria Communication Satellite 2 and 3, disclosing that the funding for the two projects would come directly from government this time around. According to him, the company had invested in human development and demonstrated its capacity to develop into a huge commercial enterprise and compete in the international satellite market with established commercial entities. Rufai regretted that licensing issues with the regulatory authority had delayed the company's plans to bring down the cost of GSM calls, among others. He, however, assured that the issues would be resolved. He, therefore, stressed the need for government to institute policies and measures to guarantee its sustainability and continuity as it strives to guarantee Nigeria's leading position in the global satellite operations. According to him, in pursuit of government intervention in the area of affordable ICT to Nigerian communities, the NIGCOMSAT-1 was currently being utilised to provide Community Tele-Centres (CTC) nationwide. Seventy-nine of the centres, according to him, have been deployed. He explained: "The CTC is a franchise project being run by NIGCOMSAT Limited to provide Nigerians in remote and un-served urban areas with affordable access to internet, multimedia and voice-over internet protocol. The centres are also designed to provide value-added services such as e-learning centres for distant learning students, e-health care delivery, wireless access to homes, repair centres, space education, etc in the long run. The centres will be distribution points for the company's e-learning certification suit. The CTCs will be commissioned by the end of this month in the various states." He was optimistic that with such efforts, Nigerian homes would, in less than one month, begin to enjoy the full services of cheaper Internet services, which the company would be providing. He said: "In less than one month, even the woman selling tomatoes on the road will be able to afford our services." Noting that the satellite was highly profitable, especially going by patronage, he stressed: "Today marks one year in orbit of NIGCOMSAT-1, a high-powered brid, spanning more than 26 meters. NIGCOMSAT-1 is a 40 transponder, hybrid quad band (C, Ku, Ka, L-bands), high-powered space craft designed to address the nation's socio-economic needs technologically." He announced that the satellite was currently carrying NTA, CIT, Emperon, Galaxy Backbone Plc and Cyberspace with sales commitment to Defence Headquarters, Immigration, Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), Craft Technologies, SBS, Digitech Broadcasting International, some PTOs and ISPs. "The communications satellite with at least a 15-year service life, has a hybrid design that will provide state- of-the-art satellite communications for Africa in four main bands. These are the C band providing communications within the West, Central and East Africa, an L band navigation payload for global coverage, a Ku band with two beams providing intra-communications within Western Africa and Southern Africa respectively, and a Ka band providing bi-directional trunking and broadcasting communications between Europe and Nigeria with a spot beam, and a second spot beam, providing links between Southern Africa and Nigeria," he added. And maintaining that the company is set to blaze the trail for similar indigenous investments in the industry, he assured that work had reached advanced stage to construct the second and subsequently a third communication satellite for the country. To help check the incidence of missing aircraft, he disclosed that the company, with its L-Band, had developed a mechanism that would make it possible for the nation's air space to be totally covered by the satellite. Disclosing that the mechanism had been brought to the attention of the National Airspace Management Authority (NAMA) and the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) officials, he gave assurance that it would be easier to monitor happenings on the airspace real time.
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