Nigeria: We Will Not Allow Nigerians to Be Exploited in the Name ... - AllAfrica.com

Lagos

At SatCom Africa which held a few hebdomads ago in South Africa, the international community was very interested in Nigeria, and the fourth estate pelted foreman of the Nigerian regulating agency, Nigerian Communications Commission, (NCC) Engr Ernest Ndukwe with questions.

Everybody have being talking about dearly-won bandwidth. Even at this event, it was a hot issue noted as a continent-wide problem. I cognize that when the telecommunications operators submit duty construction to the commission, it is either the committee O.K.s or inquires them to travel back and rework it. But, we don't hear of such as with Internet services suppliers who sell bandwidth at extortionate costs. What is the regulating base on the cost?

Satellite bandwidth is an International commodity. It is not curious to Nigeria; what we would not however let is for Nigerians to pay more than than other people are paying for artificial satellite bandwidth internationally. And that's wherefore I was surprised when the artificial artificial satellite proprietor in Federal Republic Of Nigeria was talking about doing last statute mile service; there is actually a deficit of satellite bandwidth around the world, that they can do tons of money from merchandising the transponder space they have got to operating companies. Even at this meeting today, you had the Curate from Ghana, saying that why are they not selling bandwidth to them?

That was our initial calculation that when this artificial artificial satellite company come ups upstream, that it would have got Africa as its marketplace topographic point and do the money because there is money to be made both for C-band and the KU-band, so, really, International satellite is like oil price. There is a cost for petroleum oil, it is determined according to the marketplace dynamics. Because of the nature of satellite, its footmark (what we name footmark is the insurance area) is not restricted to any peculiar area; so, what is sold in state A is what is sold in state B.

There is also issue about sometimes, what they name in-between men, but, it is also hard to make away with these center men. For instance, Federal Republic Of Nigeria when it desires to sell its oil, it doesn't sell directly to people. There are people whose occupation it is to merchandise in oil commodities; so, sometimes, this haps also in artificial satellite business. And like I said, it is an internationally priced trade goods and depending on the artificial satellite provider, they also give price reduction based on volume and how much clip - if it's a long term or a short term contract- all is changes in dynamics.

Early in January, you intimated us about the programs of the NCC to licence three companies to supply fiber eye cablegram to Nigeria. You said that is likely to take topographic point in March; what is the position of that licensing?

it is at a very explorative stage. We don't even cognize whether they have got the money or not. It is not as if they've finished their programs and they are ready to revolve out. They were still trying to involvement investors and spouses that would make the concern with them but they were just asking for the demands for landing cablegram in Nigeria.

So, I believe the lone 1 that is at hand is the Globacom pigboat cablegram substructure which is already being installed. But the other 1 I was talking about was still at the babyhood stage, they are still trying to set their pool together and their programs and financing, but, you cognize to be able to make all those things, you should be able to state your moneymen the regulating environment and what the regulations of battle are. So, that's wherefore I made that statement.

Who are those companies that have got approached the NCC?

It might be too premature to state who they are because they were on an explorative mission. That's why I advert Globacom because that 1 is certain but, I believe it's those companies that should denote when they are ready to come up into the country, I wouldn't desire to make it because some of those companies talk to us on the footing of confidentiality and trust.

NCC have a very strong regulating clasp and powerfulness over telecom operators, but, we don't see a batch of such as regulating powerfulness over artificial satellite operators. Why?

It's the same regulating powerfulness we have got over everybody. It depends on the sort of service you are providing. You cognize why people don't experience the artificial satellite 1 is that they are not giving service to individual. You, for instance, would not travel and purchase a artificial satellite phone, so, that's wherefore it looks like that; mostly, they are servicing large companies, banks, operators of one type or the other you cognize they also utilize them for backhaul even for GSM services and all that.

So, that is where those people have got got got got and of course, some of them supply Internet services and when we have problems, we have complaints, we also cover with those ailments but, because they are fewer and doesn't concern so many people, people don't really care about them; but, it is the same degree of regulating inadvertence that we have and the regulating duty we have over all operators in the Nigerian environment.

You did state in your presentation that the South African Regulatory Assembly is more than H2O tight than the Occident African Telecommunications Regulatory Assembly (WATRA). How make you mean?

What we are saying is that in South Africa, the regulating organic structure (First of all, I don't cognize whether it is the volition to open up up the marketplace sufficiently for allowing rivals to come up in from anywhere)

They have got all sorts of restrictions; I don't cognize whether it is as a consequence of the background from apartheid, there is always that issue about affirmatory action; they are always very discerning of people coming to make concern that'll take concern away from the blacknesses and maybe because they don't desire the Whites to predominate their telecom environment, so, they are very cagy about some of these things and it have affected the manner they make business. I wasn't the 1 that raised it the first time;

it was actually the curate from Republic Of Republic Of Uganda that made an illustration that there are some companies that come up from South Africa to inquire for concern in Uganda. And during their investigations,for owed diligence, they asked them to give illustrations of what they are doing in their ain state as something that would urge them to make that concern and the curate said the responses he acquire are to the consequence that they are not able to make some of those things in their country; so, he was wondering why that should be the case.

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So, there is that issue about South Africa, maybe they are getting away with it because their incumbent operator was very strong and efficient - Telkom South Africa is a giant in this place; it put an norm of one million dollar every twelvemonth on telecom ascent and development; and as you know, it's been privatized long ago; it's have got partly by some other companies ( I believe Vodafone have a share in it and a few other private operating companies), so, it's run professionally as a private company, and they didn't have a sort of issues that we had in Nigeria.

You mentioned about borderless roaming for Occident African countries; from the WATRA's perspective, last year, there was an issue that NCC was working with other regulating organic structures in Occident Africa to guarantee that across the sub-region, roaming complaints are removed. How far with that?

Yes, I am particularly interested in that as a person. Federal Republic Of Nigeria necessitates it, because our people are very entrepreneurial. They go across Africa, doing concern from one state to another - our people traveling a lot- and the large drawback is when you have got to maintain purchasing SIM card game from one county to another; this is not something we would wish to encourage, so, it would be nice if other companies take illustration of Celtel- this their One Network program - so that when people move from one state to another, they 're able to utilize their telephones without a job and they utilize it as if they are using it from their ain place countries.

Bandwidth 101 - Understanding Loop - Port - And More

Here's the scenario....you're in need of increased bandwidth to meet your business voice and/or data applications. You're targeting T1 or DS3 as your solution...without a router (let's say you already have one or will get one seperate from the bandwidth provider).

Before you go out and jump at the first "attractive" business bandwidth offer you see.....there's a few things you need to understand. Particularly the terms Loop and Port....as well as "dedicated" and "shared" connections. Otherwise....you risk paying more for something you don't really need. Or worse yet....paying less for something that doesn't do what you must have.

So here we go....now pay attention and take notes.

Loop is the connection from your building to the provider's interface point, which is usually the main central office for your region, not necessarily the local central office.

Port is the actual connection to the internet backbone.

If your equipment was in the provider's data center, you would not need loop, but there will always be a port.

If your price quotes vary wildly, most likely you are running up against the "shared" vs "dedicated" issue. a "dedicated" connection (usually quoted by Tier I providers like AT&T, MCI, Sprint, Qwest, Savvis) will get you the full bandwidth to the internet backbone. A "shared" connection will get you full bandwidth to the carrier's interface point, from which they buy a big connection to their Tier I carrier.

An example, they buy a T3 (aka DS3) which consists of 28 T1 connections. Then they sell 60 T1 connections, recognizing that not all users will be requiring their full bandwidth at any particular time. Kind of like the old AOL issues of them having 1 modem for every 12 customers, and then having to buy more modems as customers complained about busy signals.

The issue of "shared" connections is a lively issue. You might trek over to the BroadbandReports.com forum for Wireless Internet Providers where you will see several discussions about how many customers can be supported by a link of a certain size.

If you are hosting a web site at your location, or if you are running a real time application and need absolute time sensitive responses to your internet queries, then you want to pony up to pay for the dedicated connection.

Another issue affecting your price would be how long is the loop from your central office to the carrier's interface point. Assuming that you're in Rancho Santa Fe CA (for example), a carrier requiring a loop all the way to Los Angeles would have a higher cost (and thus a higher price), than a carrier with an interface point in San Diego.

As for any questions about IP addresses, and e-mails:

Most Tier 1 providers will give you up to a class C (256) Block at no charge with justification. Plenty of IP address coverage for whatever your application.

Email, is almost a none issue with T1 service, as most people buying a T1 don't need ISP Email's. But if you do need them, find the best offer. However most providers consider email a free service.

There you go. Now you're armed with a priceless education. That should translate to smart price shopping.

T1 Internet Connection

T1 carrier is one of the most popular leased line options for digital transmission that offers high speed internet connectivity at 1.544Mbits per second. A T1 line is comprised of 24 individual channels, each capable of transferring data at 64Kbits per second. With T1 Internet connection, you can have uninterrupted and reliable data transfer within seconds. In normal phone lines, voices are transmitted through copper wires as analog signal and you can transmit data at around 30 kilobits per seconds with your normal modem.

A T1 Internet connection, on the other hand, is capable of carrying 24 digitized voice channels at the speed of 1.544 megabits per second. A T1 carrier can carry 192,000 bytes of data per seconds – nearly sixty times more data than that of a normal residential modem. T1 Internet connection is capable of providing uninterrupted data transmission which you would not get if you use ordinary modems. If you want to transmit audio or visual data through your residential modem or through your phone service you have high risk of getting jammed since the speed is so slow. With a T1 service, you can eliminate this risk significantly.

Internet service by service providers convert all voice calls as analog rather than in digital format, which not only takes longer time but frustrates customers now that high speed is available. With a T1 line, you not only increase the speed of your data transmission, but also save time for your valuable online work. With the advancement of fiber optics, lesser time is required to convert analog signals to digital format. Fiber optical wires are sometimes used for T1 line to provide maximum speed, although the normal wires are by copper. In case of ordinary modem or residential telephone connection, thin copper wire is used which can rarely carry much load at the time of transmission of data. In T1 Internet connection, broadband internet connection is used which ensures two-way transmission of data at a faster rate than any other method of transmission.

Apart from that, hundreds of users can comfortably share T1 connection, which is impossible if you use modems or telephone line or an ISDN line. If you are interested in online songs and movies, then you will find the ordinary modem or residential telephone service can not meet your demands, as these lines take hours to convert any MP3 files or video files to analog format and to transmit them at the desired destination. A DSL or cable may be options but a T1 line, if you can afford it, is the best option. For a business of 20 or more employees, a T1 service is required. By implementing T1 circuit, you can easily transmit digital and video data at the required destination at great speed and at the same time, have a T1 service that's more reliable.

If you have a small business with twenty to twenty five users, T1 Internet connection is most suitable for you. T1 Internet service works better than ordinary business DSL. It is economical to have T1 bandwidth if your business is small in size and internet is critical for your business. A Channel Service Unit (CSU) is used to connect non-data terminal equipment with a T1 Internet connection to get the desired T1 line speed. A CSU is a device which connects a leased line and remains attached to the customer's system. The main objective of CSU is to encode data, which comes through a broadband T1 line. For the T1 connections, one needs to have a channel service unit.

T1 circuits work simultaneously with your existing phone wires and equipments, though you may require special jacks and connections and some alteration in the wiring to get T1 connection. It is the responsibility of your network service provider to install new wires and equipments according to the requirements. The connection not only runs through conventional metal wires but also runs through fiber optical wires, twisted pair copper wire, coaxial cable, digital microwave, and also through infrared. T1 Internet connection is used for linking remote LAN's. It can also be utilized to bring Centrex service from the telephone company's central office to the business areas cost effectively.

While DSL is a quick and cost effective medium of acquiring high-speed bandwidth, it is usually not intended to support commercial applications or many users at a time. A T1 Internet connection is the ideal solution. Businesses mainly use two types of Internet access – DSL and T1; and from though DSL is less expensive; it is not as reliable as T1 circuits. For installing T1 service, you need to spend the cost for T1 line price, which would include installation fee, although it is at times waived. Customers have an option to negotiate T1 prices but for this, they need to sign a 2 or 3 year term. Today getting a T1 price is easier than it used to be. In conclusion, to get dedicated high speed internet connectivity you can get a T1 internet service. You can enjoy dedicated, reliable and uninterrupted internet connectivity.