ICT

IDC Lowers Tablet Forecast

The International Data Corporation (IDC) has reduced its tablet projections for the year down to 233 million shipments, and this reflects a 6.5 percent year-over-year growth rate compared to the 12.1 percent growth rate previously expected. The research firm stated while Western markets are seeing flat growth for 2014, the rest of the world including emerging and developing markets will see a 12 percent growth, because smaller tablets in the less-than-8-inches size are becoming increasingly popular with cheaper prices.

In view of this, Mr. Jean Philippe Bouchard, IDC, said "when we start digging into the regional dynamics, we realise that there is still a good desire for this product category. While mature markets like North America and Western Europe will combine for flat unit growth in 2014, the remaining regional markets will generate 12 percent unit growth over the same period.

IDC stated that although North America and Western Europe will continue to drive significant revenue from the tablet market, at least in terms of dollars spent, most of the global tablet shipments will drop in the rest of the world. Also on this Mr. Jitesh Ubrani, IDC, affirmed "we expect the rest of the world to account for the majority of shipments in the years to come.”

And on smartphone, latest research data points to a strong global smartphone market in the years ahead, despite saturation levels in Western markets, particularly Europe and the United States. IDC stated that it estimates more than 1.25 billion smartphones will be shipped this year, an increase of close to 24 percent from 2013. That figure is expected to grow to 1.8 billion shipments by 2018. However, emerging markets have been crucial in spurring the growth, accounting for more than 50 percent of all annual smartphone shipments since 2011, but mature markets will continue to slow by 5 percent growth for 2014.

According to Mr. Ramon Llamas, IDC, the smartphone market which has experienced runaway growth over the last several years is starting to slow. "The key for vendors now is to maintain a presence in the higher-margin mature markets, while establishing a sustainable presence within the fast-growing emerging markets. To enable this strategy, operating system companies are partnering with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to provide low-cost handsets," he said.

In addition, Ryan Reith, IDC, explained that emerging markets will grow to 921 million devices this year, accounting for just over 73 percent of all smartphones shipped. The research firm stated that the catalyst is Android which will take on about 88 percent of the entire market. However, Google has received support from over 150 handset manufacturers which has resulted in a massive spike in the platform's market share.

MultiChoice Promises Quality HD Sports Coverage

MultiChoice has pledged to deliver quality high definition (HD) coverage of the Barclay’s Premier League (BPL) season through its SuperSport channel on DStv and GOtv as it brought a live studio audience to watch the opening match in Lagos.

Speaking at the event, Mr. Martin Mabutho, general manager, Marketing, MultiChoice Nigeria, said MultiChoice and SuperSport wanted soccer fans to feel the passion of the game, which was why a live studio experiencewas created for the opening games of the Barclays Premier League.

Mabutho promised that MultiChoice through DStv and GOtv will bring quality live high definition coverage of games in the Barclay’s Premier League,to its subscribers. “We want our subscribers to enjoy quality football this season and in the tradition they are used to. The games will be brought to them in excellent quality and sound, as well as in HD.” he remarked. He also thanked broadcast sponsors of the Barclay’s Premier League; Guinness Nigeria PLC, Globacom, Samsung, Honeywell and Wakanow, calling them partners in the love of football for their support of the game which is arguably the World’s most watched sport.

The live audience at the MultiChoice BPL Kick off saw the SuperSport panel of analysts offer projections about what to expect this season, as well as highlights to look forward to. The analysts were Charles Anazodo, Prince Victor Ikpeba, Segun Agbede and ChisomMbonu.

 

GOtv Leads in Sensitisation on Digital Migration

 GOtv,  a leading pay television company tied to MultiChoice has been at the forefront of creating awareness on the digital migration switch over that will commence on 17, June 2015, with lots of campaign across the country for public enlightenment. Mrs. Elizabeth Amkpa, general manager, GOtv Nigeria, has stated that the company has been engaged in lots of customer forum and other initiatives in ensuring adequate sensitisation on the digital migration.

“GOtv is not unaware of the low level of awareness on the impending switch-over from analogue to digital broadcasting in Nigeria. We have being holding the GOcustomer forum and town hall meetings in various cities to educate Nigerians of the migration. Furthermore, our recently unveiled campaign, Digilevelz Don Land which kicked-off in Jos, Plateau State  in June, and which we are taking around the country is aimed at sensitising the public about this topical issue in Nigeria’s broadcast industry”, she added.

Amkpa affirmed that as the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) intends to flag-offthe second phase of the digital switch-over, September sees GOtv going big with its public awareness campaign. The pay television company on 3 September came up with an informative radio drama series named Change Lane as well as the Digilevelz Talk-show to further deepen the awareness campaign.

According to her, Change Lane is an engaging 13-week radio drama which breaks down the meaning and importance of the digital switch-over to the mass market using interesting and relatable characters in a humorous yet educational manner. It will be recorded in Pidgin English, Yoruba and Hausa and would be on several radio stations such as Wazobia FM, Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja; Bond FM, Lagos; Vibez FM, Benin; Rhythm FM, Jos; Orisun FM, Osun; KSMC, Kaduna and Akwa Ibom Broadcasting Corporation, Uyo among others.

On the other hand, Digilevelz Talk-show is a 15-minute interactive, radio phone-in programme that will also inform and educate the populace on the digital migration.  It would be aired every Wednesday on Nigeria Info, 99.3 FM, Lagos and the Radio Nigeria Network every Thursday, reaching a wide audience across the country. Nigerians can also join the conversations via GOtv Facebook page - www.facebook.com/GOtvNg.

The Digilevelz Talk-show will be hosted by Mr. Biyi Adeyemo, managing partner and chief executive officer, Leeds Bryan International. He is the anchorperson for the weekly mobile money show on radio and the Insurance talk show which educates Nigerians on financial literacy and financial inclusion.

GOtv is a digital pay television offering on the Digital Terrestrial Television platform and managed by MultiChoice Nigeria. It is currently available in Ibadan, Port Harcourt, Lagos, Enugu, Benin, Aba, Owerri, Kano, Kaduna, Onitsha, Asaba, Uyo, Abuja, Calabar, Osogbo, Ife, Ogbomoso, Akure, Oyo, Jos, Abeokuta, Ilesa, Ede, Iseyin and Makurdi.

 

CWG Outlines Its Success Impact on Businesses

 Computer Warehouse Group (CWG Plc), at the twilight of a five year strategic plan to take the company in a different direction into a more robust subscription businesses model, paused to evaluate the progress achieved, and the impact on her hitherto traditional business, underpinned by technology sales and support to major enterprises in Africa.

In view of this, Mr. Austin Okere, group chief executive officer, said “we crafted the plan code named CWG 2.0 in 2010, realising back then the pervasiveness of cloud computing, and the major enablement for this in our region following the increase in broadband access from 0.65 terabyte to a combined capacity of 9terbyte per second. We were very clear that while our tremendous growth over the years had been propelled by our traditional businesses in hardware and software sales and support, and very small aperture terminals (VSAT) bandwidth vending, these represented mature and declining margin businesses, the import of which have been evident in our recent financial statements’.

The uptake of the company’s new cloud products not only in Nigeria but also in Ghana, Cameroon and Uganda proves that its emerging business model of providing cloud services on a subscription basis is scalable, repeatable and transferable, albeit relatively more sustainable and profitable. Following the listing on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in November last year, the company built a tier-3 data centre and the release of many products, some in collaboration with other innovative companies such as MTN Nigeria, Diamond bank and Ericsson among others.

According to James Agada, chief technology officer, CWG Plc, CWG2.0 defines the future direction of the company. It comprises products such as Smerp, an online resource planning solution that enhances proper business inventory management by business owners; Openshoppen, an e-commerce site that provides multiple shop owners the opportunity to open virtual shops online, complemented by an integrated secured payment gateway, thereby allowing online buyers to pay for products and services with their cards. It also include a payment terminal service provider (PTSP) smart grid solution, and various cloud services which promote the cashless policy initiative of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

However, the company is currently nurturing relationships with the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (Smedan), the Bank of Industry and other agencies charged with the support and growth of SMEs to take advantage of her vast offering. In addition, CWG has entered into strategic partnership with SES Astra, a satellite services provider to provide teleport and platform services for the pioneer satellite-based free to air and free to view digital television system that would be launched in the fourth quarter of 2014.

According to Gbadebo Adesina, head, Power Business, CWG Plc, the privatization of the power sector has unveiled a new revenue opportunity for the company as it has partnered with a company in India to provide solution to address the technical and non-technical loses in power distribution. “We expect that this new line of business will be at implementation stage by third quarter of 2015,” he said.

Also, Mr. Remi Adeloye, financial controller, CWG Plc, affirmed that the company’s 2014 first half of the year revenue of N8.3bn is 16 percent below 2013 N9.9bn, while gross profit of N1.6bn is 23 percent below the N2.1bn in 2013. The lower H1 revenue is a reflection of the continued decline in margins on traditional IT infrastructure business due to commoditisation and competitive pressures, as well as viable alternatives in the cloud computing frontier. “The financial position of the group remains strong with adequate liquidity, leverage and efficiency ratios. H1 2014 current ratio improved to 1.5 as against H1 2013 which was 1.4 signifying strong liquidity and adequacy of working capital to meet transactional needs. Also CWG’s leverage debt to equity ratio remains low at 9 percent as against 10 percent in 2013,” Adeloye explained.

Emphasizing the imperative in the shift in strategy, Okere added ‘we consider the refocusing of our business into a subscription based model as a dual advantage play. In addition to being a more sustaining strategy, it maximizes our social impact investing on the economy of Africa, and helps to create jobs by empowering entrepreneurs in the countries of our operation. The dip in our H1 numbers will be compensated for when the full import of CWG2.0 comes fully on stream by H2 2015.’

M-Net Africa Gears up For AMVCA 2015

 M-Net Africa producers of Africa Magic in association with Multichoice and sponsor, Amstel Malta is announcing the call to entry for the 2015 edition of the AfricaMagic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCAs), the prestigious initiative that honours film and television talent across the continent. However, participants have been directed to send their entries and winners will be announced at an award night at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos in March 2015.

The AMVCAs were created to celebrate the contribution of African filmmakers, actors and technicians in the success of the continent’s film and television industry and with the success of the 2013 and 2014 editions, preparations are in top gear for the 2015 edition.

Commenting on this, Wangi Mba-Uzoukwu, regional director, M-Net Africa (West Africa), said the African movie and television industry is brimming with exciting talent and at AfricaMagic, M-Net contribute to the industry by not only giving these talents the platform to showcase their art/efforts and celebrate their achievements, but also to encourage them to keep up the pace.

Also, Mr. John Ugbe, managing director, MultiChoice Nigeria, expressed his delight at the growing success of the AfricaMagic Viewers’ Choice Awards. He stated there have been two editions of the AMVCAs and so far, the improvement this has brought to African film production cannot be ignored. “For us as MultiChoice, the success of these awards further showcases our commitment to recognising the amazing skills that exist in this ever-growing industry. 

Furthermore, our continued investment demonstrates our dedication in helping to uncover and celebrate talent in the African continent. I have much confidence that the 2015 edition will leave an even bigger impact on the African film production industry than the previous two,” he said.

And in her remark, Miss Hannatu Ageni-Yusuf, brand manager, Amstel Malta, said as the number one premium Malt brand in the country, Amstel Malta is again pleased to be part of the 2015 Africa Magic Viewer’s Choice Awards. It is truly a unique platform which aligns perfectly with the brand’s essence, encouraging and also rewarding young ambitious Africans who have proved to be the best they can be. ‘Last year on this platform, Amstel Malta launched its new campaign, tagged ‘the journey’; this year, it is set to allow consumers witness the joy from being focused on their goals and even beating their bestwhile on their journey to success,” she stated.

However, the first edition of the AMVCAs ceremony took place in Lagos on the 9th of March, 2013 and was broadcast live from Lagos to DStv and GOtv audiences in more than 50 countries across the continent.

Entry for the AMVCAs is free and the closing date for submissions is the 31st of October, 2014. Participants should send their entries to: AfricaMagic Viewers’ Choice Awards, PO Box 2963, Pinegowrie, 2123, South Africa, with attention to the Manager, Local Productions Africa. They can also log on to www.africamagic.tv for more details on the submission procedure and requirements.

Glo to Provide Data Network to Varsity

 Globacom has made plans to partner with the University of Ilorin to place the institution’s curriculum and academic work on its network infrastructure. This is seen as a move that would take education in the country to a higher level as  students will be able to access their lectures and lecturers from anywhere in the world. The platform will be accessed through students’ hand-held devices or computers and designed to revolutionise classroom experience of Nigerian university students. This will ride on Globacom’s vast and modern voice and data technology.

This was the crux of the discussion held by the principal officers of the school led by Prof. Abdulganiyu Ambali, the vice chancellor, recently. While discussing with top management of Glo, Ambali rated the telecom company as the number one service provider with the capacity to deliver end-to-end solutions for every sector of the economy.  He said Glo has changed the face of the telecom industry in the country with its huge investments in technology. Glo is however the official telecom partner of the institution, providing direct and exclusive Internet connectivity to the whole university community.  Ambali applauded the existing relationship the institution already has with the company and requested that it should be upgraded to meet the demands of teaching in the Internet age.

Receiving the delegation, Mr. Prabhat Aggarwal, chief commercial director, Globacom, explained that the company has the richest experience in providing integrated telecom services to organisations in the country. According to him, Glo is the official telecom carrier for most of the leading firms including the oil and gas sector, banking, manufacturing, food and beverage sectors as well as government establishments.

“With this track record and given our wide network running on microwave infrastructure, optic fiber and the Glo  1 submarine cable,  it will not be difficult to provide integrated voice and data services to your institution for academic, administration and  security purposes,”  Aggarwal stated.

He explained to the team that the company already have an electronic learning (eLearning)  template that can put all faculty curriculum, lecture notes and cached teaching sessions for up to 5 years on the intranet or Internet for the academic community to access at will and from anywhere. This is in addition to video streaming, local intranet and extranet, web-based learning plus teleconferencing facilities which can make a live connection between students in a class and a lecturer from anywhere in the school with internal communication solutions including closed user group, fixed wireless connections and bucket general packet radio service services which provides bulk data bundle for the entire community and private automated branch exchange connections.

 

Airtel Receives Commendation on Role in Mobile Health Care

Stakeholders of the Pampaida millennium villages’ project in Kaduna have commended Airtel’s mobile-health service, an intervention which has significantly reduced the mortality rate of infants and mothers in several villages in Kaduna State.

Expressing their gratitude, the health workers in the communities as well as beneficiaries urged Airtel to continue in its genuine commitment at improving the quality of life of Nigerians as demonstrated by the smooth operations of the M-health service. Under the M-health initiative, Airtel is providing critical telecom infrastructure including a 3G mast, smartphones, toll free lines and closed user group services for the health workers in the villages.The Pampaida Millennium Village Project in Kaduna is one of the two millennium villages inaugurated by the federal government in May 2006 in line with the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

Mr. Bala Yunusa, team leader and operations manager, Pampaida Millennium Villages Project (MVP), described the role played by Airtel Nigeria as vital and indispensable towards achieving the key goals of the project. He said after conducting a rapid diagnostic test, the village health workers are able to capture and send real time information on their mobile phones to a server which provides automatic response and guidance for the health workers on the field. “The mobile data provided by Airtel is used to send required details to the remote server, while the closed user group allows smooth communication among the team of health workers.  This is made possible by our partner Airtel Nigeria in collaboration with Ericsson,” Yunusa explained.

While highlighting some of the achievements recorded by the health project, Dr. Clement Woje, coordinator, MVP, stated that it has resulted in increased access and utilisation of health care services, decreased malaria prevalence rate and influenced a general decline in child and maternal mortality. Also, Mr. Ojo Adedotun, a health facilitator under the project said the project records a monthly average of 30 to 40 child deliveries out of which 10 to 15 are done at home, and that the M-health service plays significant roles in the success of these deliveries.

On the other hand, Mr. Segun Ogunsanya, managing director and chief executive officer,  Airtel Nigeria, stated that the telecom company has provided communications solutions that will help to improve the quality of life of people in one of the remotest parts of the country.

"The communication solutions that have been deployed will enable the people of Pampaida make calls, access health services and education and improve their economic status. We are convinced that the attendant benefits and potential of this project will fast-track transformation of the lives of residents of Pampaida,” he said.

Pampaida is located in Kaduna State and it comprises 57 settlements/villages with a total population of about 27, 000 people divided into about 4, 050 households. It has 4 health centres in Saulawa, Kwari, Fadama and Kale districts where the village health workers serve.

 

MTN, IHS Sign Pact on Infrastructure Outsourcing

MTN Nigeria has reached an agreement with IHS Holding Limited for the transfer of 9,151 telecom towers in order to reduce operating costs, drive network efficiencies and further expand voice and data capacity.

Under the terms of the transaction and subject to requisite regulatory approvals, the towers will be transferred to a new company, which will be owned jointly by MTN and HIS with IHS having full operational control.

The new towers company will market independent infrastructure sharing services to other mobile operators and Internet Service Providers (ISPs), and the transaction is expected to close in fourth quarter (Q4) of 2014.

Commenting on the deal, Mr. Sifiso Dabengwa, group president and chief executive officer, MTN Group, said IHS’ deep knowledge and considerable experience in the sector will help drive efficiencies and enhance its network uptime, allowing it to concentrate on further raising its service level. “It would improve our customer experience and ensure we remain the number one operator in Nigeria,” he said. This is the ninth tower transaction for IHS and its fifth with MTN following the transactions in Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Rwanda and Zambia that took place in 2012 and 2013.  On completion of this transaction, IHS will manage over 20,000 towers in Africa.

In his remark, Mr. Michael Ikpoki, chief executive officer, MTN Nigeria said “the separation of the towers and operation of the underlying business by HIS reflects a major part of our strategy to optimise network quality, and technological assets towards creating value and driving innovation to meet our customers’ needs now and in the long term. Indeed, the trends and realities in our industry reveal the increased role of cost efficiency and optimisation of assets in guiding business decisions in order to remain competitive. We will continue to embrace strategies that enhance our services to our customers while ensuring our long-term business continuity, without compromising best practice”.

As part of the deal, the new towers company has committed more than US$500 million of additional investment over four years into tower upgrades and a maintenance programme to improve quality of service and enhance the customer experience on the MTN Nigeria network.  In addition, further investments will be made into IHS’ centralised network operations centre in Nigeria to optimise operations and increase IHS’ market leading network uptimes of over 99 percent. There will also be sustained investments in energy efficiency through the deployment of advanced generators, batteries and alternative power solutions to reduce diesel consumption. However, IHS anticipates creating a considerable number of technical and engineering direct and indirect employment opportunities to be sourced locally in the country.

On the other hand, Mr. Issam Darwish, chief executive officer, IHS Holdings, affirmed that the deal is a significant and transformational agreement for IHS and doubles the size of its business and also confirm the company’s position as the leading mobile infrastructure company in Africa. 

Speedy Deployment of LTE Technology

As the long term evolution (LTE) technology continue to make impact on the mobile networking landscape, 2014 is seen as a year that will mark the arrival of new features and capabilities that would show how capable the technology is in meeting mobile broadband requirements.

According to Analysis Mason research firm, in 2014 more operators will deploy LTE-A carrier aggregation (CA), including operators doing initial LTE deployments. CA benefits operators with multiple spectrum positions, those with small pieces, and particularly operators that are combining acquired networks. The initial focus is on higher-speed services, but we expect more deployments of 5+5MHz carrier aggregation as emerging markets deploy LTE in 2014.

Also, early testing of carrier aggregation is enabling operators to bind separate spectrum channels together to create larger channels and faster wireless services, and reduce operating expenses and capital expenditure costs from running multiple networks.

Voice over LTE:

On Voice over LTE (VoLTE),  Analysys Mason projected that it is unlikely to make a significant impact in 2014 because few countries will have the breadth of network needed for useful service (Japan and the USA are the notable exceptions). However, it is expected that both countries will launch VoLTE services with circuit-switched fallback (CSFB), as a precursor to more-advanced services.

Other countries with concentrated users such as EE in the UK, Telstra in Australia may also launch VoLTE with high definition (HD) voice as a competitive differentiator. Voice support for most operators has to include a ‘fallback’ solution for non-native VoLTE calls, or calls in areas where LTE coverage is lacking or limited.

The research firm also indicated that carriers will move more slowly towards Single Radio Voice Call Continuity (SRVCC), because the complexity of that solution demands a simplification by the equipment vendors for widespread implementation.

Meanwhile, South Korea is the world leader in VoLTE penetration, largely because of the ability to offer 100 per cent LTE network coverage – all three national carriers have embarked on aggressive (and highly competitive) network build-outs. SK Telecom announced that it had more than 4.5 million VoLTE users as of June 2013 and it leads the South Korean market in terms of VoLTE subscribers. For operators to rely on LTE for their voice coverage complete network build-outs are required and Verizon Wireless’s network, the largest LTE network in United States had about 303 million people covered in September 2013, out of a total population of 317 million.

Readiness for LTE:

However, Ken Wirth, president, 4G/LTE Wireless Networks, Alcatel-Lucent, has affirmed that extensive study conducted in several developed countries by the Bell Labs Business Modeling team, disclosed that consumers and businesses are ready for 4G LTE applications, and the interest in new LTE-optimised applications could be translated into a significant market opportunity for telecom service providers. They expressed willingness to switch operators in order to obtain such services, and in the European countries, almost 80 per cent of medium to large enterprises said they would sign up for 4G LTE service to enjoy the benefits of this technological innovation.

Also, Mr. Kamar Abass, managing director, Ericsson Nigeria, explained that telecom operators in the country could as well utilise the licences offered to them by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to deploy the 4G LTE network as the choice now lies within them to do so.

He stated that the advancement from 3G to 4G technology would create major impact on their networks, considering the huge difference between the infrastructures entrenched and the utilisation capacity. 

According to him, the rapid increase in mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets has prompted the need for the deployment of LTE technology that would propel the increase demand for high speed broadband services.

The technology will support machine-to-machine (M2M) application more efficiently as recent research from Technology Business Research Inc., shows that the volume of connections will grow to more than 55 billion devices this decade. Also a recent study by Alcatel-Lucent revealed that in a fast-changing world with ever-increasing competitiveness, 4G LTE is set to unlock new business opportunities for both service providers and enterprises alike.

Deployment:

As the deployment of the advanced technology deepens, developed economies the world over, have taken great measures in ensuring its utilisation in the near future. In 2012, China Mobile selected ZTE, a global provider of telecom equipment and network solutions, to install 4G networks in a total of 13 cities, and plans to install 20,000 LTE enabled base transceiver stations (BTS) which would rise to 200,000 twelve months later. 

Etisalat had also made plans to extend its network coverage to more than 99 per cent of the population of the United Arab Emirate with 4G LTE network by 2015. Mr. Saeed Abdulla Al Zarouni, senior vice president, Mobile Networks, Etisalat, said with this initiative, subscribers will experience maximum download speeds of up to 300Mbps when devices that support such speeds become available.

Hutchison 3G Ireland has selected South Korea’s Samsung Electronics as it sole provider of LTE radio access network (RAN) and its core infrastructure equipment. With this, Samsung will deploy LTE BTS including all associated systems and network support services, across 3 Ireland’s network nationwide.

US AT&T Mobility has also published a list of 77 new markets that it said will witness the introduction of Long Term Evolution.

In addition, EE, the UK’s largest mobile network operator by subscribers, has announced plans to double the speed offered by its LTE services, while it also aims to enhance capacity on its 4G network. Under its plans, EE has said that it will boost headline speeds to 80Mbps, with the average speeds for its 4G customers expected to increase to more than 20Mbps, and also double the amount of 1800MHz spectrum from 10MHz to 20MHz.

Vodafone has announced that its LTE network now covers all 81 cities in Germany that have at least 100,000 residents, a population coverage of 50 million people, equivalent to more than 60 per cent of the total population. Telecom New Zealand said it will have the technology up and running on a large part of its telecom mobile network, and has confirmed that Chinese vendor Huawei has been awarded the contract to roll out the network, while Cisco and Ericsson provide equipment for the 4G upgrade.

Purpose:

One trend pushing network operators towards LTE is the growing consumer demand for smartphones and the accompanying desire to stream video content over those devices. The move to more efficient mobile broadband services is also being hastened by the incredible marketing push from larger operators that have engrained the notion that customers need “4G” services.

According to Andrew Seybold, an analyst in the wireless industry, there is buzz in LTE deployment because it is the most spectrally efficient wireless technology based on Internet protocol. With this technology, network switches will be replaced with routers and computers, making them a thing of the past, and it is an evolution. Each new generation of LTE will add more capacity, better edge-of-cell data rates, and even more spectral efficiency.

Comments:

Speaking on LTE deployment in the country, Dr. Eugene Juwah, executive vice chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), said the commission through its initiatives is preparing the telecom industry towards the launch of LTE, after the massive investment in network rollout to boost the quality of service. He said the operators should be prepared for LTE with the acquisition of more spectrums from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the vacation of the 2.5GHz band by June 2015.

Responding to the issue, Mr. Akinwale Goodluck, corporate service executive, MTN Nigeria stated that the operators are waiting for NCC to allocate more spectrums for LTE deployment, and this would commence in 2015, and that it may not necessarily be the 2.5GHz. “It may be the 2.6GHz and other spectrum used for LTE. We are waiting for the allocation by 2015,” he said. This according to him would lead to upgrade of network infrastructure for full utilisation and improvement in service delivery.

Similarly, Mr. Sailesh Iyer, managing director and chief executive officer, Visafone Communications, stated that NCC should think of allocating more spectrums for LTE service to enable CDMA service providers expand coverage and to be more competitive like the big GSM operators. “We will compete effectively with LTE deployment, as it would enhance our service, improve the quality of our network and this would lead to increase in our subscriber base, as the CDMA network can accommodate more voice traffic than the GSM infrastructure,” he stated.