‘With the Optic Fibre, Glo has conquered poor telecoms services’

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OlowonihiRecently, Globacom, the Second National Carrier commissioned the Onitsha-Awka-Enugu leg of its Optic Fibre backbone in Onitsha. The project is part of the 10,000-kilometre-Optic Fibre ring being built round the country by the telecoms operator to provide excellent services to Nigerians. BODE ADEWUMI who was at the event spoke with Mr. Martins Olusola Olowonihi, the acting Chief Operating Officer, Glo Broad Access, on the project as well as other issues in the telecoms industry in the country. Excerpts:

Now, what are the activities Globacom is embarking upon apart from this that would ensure that it gives the best telecoms services to Nigerians?
Just as you may know, we just launched the Onitsha-Awka-Enugu Fibre Optic backbone. All this while, all over the country, transmission on the GSM has been through microwave transmission and that as we all know, is not the best way to communicate. There has been a lot of limitations, call drops, poor call completion etc. In order to give the best services to Nigerians, just like we have in Europe and all around the world, Globacom is laying ten thousand-kilometre-Fibre Optic round the country.

Fibre Optic transmission ensures a high quality voice, high speed data and high speed video, we call it a triple play. All the issue of call drops and all the rest will be a thing of the past as soon as we finished this optic fibre ring. So, today we have launched the Onitsha-Awka-Enugu, and already, we are live in Lagos to Abeokuta, Ijebu-Ode to Ibadan, to Ore, to Benin, to Warri, to Kayama and to Port-Harcourt.

And we are live also from Port-Harcourt to Aba to Owerri. Abuja to Minna, Abuja to Kaduna to Zaria and Kano. And in the next couple of months, we will complete the ring, and besides even all this, the fixed telephony, that is the fixed line, with this backbone, we are comfortable to roll out our fixed lines and Nigerians, for once will experience the revolution. Because the whole country has less down five hundred thousand fixed lines, that is the real fixed line, we are not talking about the (CDMA), less than five hundred thousand in a country that is forty eight years old, that is talking independence.

So, with Globacom coming, we have promised to deliver three hundred thousand lines in the next eighteen months to Nigerians. This fixed line is going to be a convergence of the triple play, that is quality voice, high data and video conference.

The quality of service issue has been a very big one with the NCC having to come hard on two of the major operators. With this Optic Fibre that you have put in place, what other things do you think Glo and other operators should do to make sure that we have world class telecommunications services in Nigeria?
Well, strategically looking at Globacom, Globacom is a true Nigerian company and we are here to bring the best technology around the world into Nigeria and we are committed to that. Not only that, we want to be the best not only in Nigeria, but the best in Africa. And today, just like you know, we are leading in Africa and the Middle East just in four years of operation.

Globacom, like I said is not here to shortchange Nigerians. We know the capacity of our network. As at today, we ensure that we only sell SIMs and products in line with capacity that we have built, and we keep on building more capacity. With our backbone, we can roll out more products, more services and more lines. I think that is the way forward.If every network will emulate what Globacom is doing, I think the quality of service will be greatly improved.

Let me take you back to the fixed line. Glo was supposed to roll out the fixed lines sometime in December, that was the earlier plan we heard. Now, what has kept it from rolling this out?
Yes, you did mention that Glo was about to roll out fixed lines. We have been technically ready for about two years, but there are certain requirements you need to meet. We have the regulatory body (NCC), we need to meet certain requirements on pricing and so many other issues. So, I think we have gotten over all that, we have a solid agreement with the NCC and we are ready to roll out now.

Is this the last phase of the Optic Fibre ring or is it still going ahead?
Just as I said earlier, we are rolling out a ten-thousand-kilometre Optic Fibre round the country. It has been on for the past three and a half years and this is not the first. Just like I told you, we are already live in Lagos to Abeokuta to Ibadan, to Benin, to Warri, down to Port Harcourt, Abuja to Minna, Abuja to Kaduna, Zaria. So, it’s a continuous thing and it will continue even up to the next twelve to fifteen months. So, it’s a continuous project, because it’s a backbone, it’s a major project.

When do we expect the fixed lines?
The fixed lines will be ready in the next two, three weeks maximum.

Could you mention some of the states that would be the first beneficiaries?
Well, you know its unlike (GSM), that you can activate and release all over immediately. Our own fixed line is different from CDMA’s. Its not a wireless thing, is a wired thing. So, there are processes to be put in place and source other things and we are going to be rolling out. We have capacity to roll out in every part of the country, but we are committed to rolling out in a very organised and quality manner.

We are rolling out immediately in Lagos, in Port-Harcourt, in Ibadan, in Abuja, in Kano, and even in Onitsha. In the next six months, we have about thirteen cities where we are going to roll out services.

You just mentioned that your fixed line is wired, I mean in this age of wireless communication, why did you choose this technology?
Just like I said earlier, the most efficient and the best way to transmit, may be voice, data and video is through the optic fibre ring or cable. You talked about this jet age of mobile, yes, but if you are going to experience the technological advancement, we have seen in Europe and everywhere we must have a wired fixed. Because in your offices, in your homes, if you have a wired fixed, you can do all manners of things apart from quality voice calls. You know with the (GSM) you see some people in their homes, they have to go to certain areas to be able make calls, but with your fixed line, it is an end to end thing.

And besides that, the speed of data transmission is unique and video transmission is of the highest quality and this you cannot achieve with the microwave transmission that we currently have which is an air wave or a wireless thing. You cannot achieve the quality of voice, you cannot achieve the speed of internet or video with the air wave. So, the Optic Fibre, as an end to end thing gives you more speed, better voice quality and for data voice and video. Its a triple play.

Globacom is the Second National carrier, would you say Globacom at this juncture would be able to do part of its licence dictates to lease out backbone to other would be operators?
I can tell you that for the past two years, Globacom as the Second National Carrier has been carrying traffic on our backbone for a lot of telecoms operators. I don’t want to start mentioning names, but I’m saying it boldly that we carry traffic for a lot of telecoms operators.