Globacom Moves To Complete $1.25bn IP Network Upgrade

Chima Akwaja

Globacom, Nigeria’s second national telecom operator, is about to complete its $1.25bn (about N200bn) internet protocol (IP) network which it began in April last year.
The massive network improvement project, which will end in few months, will see all its base transceiver stations (BTSs) data enabled and on third generation 3G high-speed broadband access.
Globacom had in 2013 signed a $500 million deal with Chinese equipment vendor, ZTE, to upgrade its infrastructure nationwide for efficient service delivery.
It also signed another $750 million agreement with Huawei Technologies, a leading global ICT solutions provider, to expand the capacity of its network. This brings the total value of the facilities upgrade contract to $1.25 billion.
Globacom’s head of operations, Mr Bisi Koleosho, while making a presentation on the progress made so far said all the equipment are being completely changed. The operator is swopping its sites with modern base stations and switches to have 100 per cent quality of services. About 3,000 sites have been upgraded to the 3G standard; this will bring IP transmission and huge bandwidth to subscribers.
According to him, the quality of the network will improve significantly as 43 per cent of the sites are now on data. Globacom is replacing the old second generation (2G) sites with 3G sites and has placed order for 100 Gigabyte fibre optic backbone to position itself in the emerging big data era which is seeing massive data transmission on networks courtesy of social media driven mobile phones and tablet and notebook communications.
He said, “Within six months, all our sites will be on data network. We have introduced bandwidth management and will roll out new products tailored to subscribers’ needs while leveraging on huge bandwidth from our Glo 1 fibre optic cable. We are working on 1,500 sites that will go live within the next three months.”
Koleosho said Globacom will provide fibre to the home (FTTH), targeting schools,  residential areas, commercial hubs, markets and industrial complexes that need internet bandwidths.
On his part, the group chief operating officer, Globacom, Mr Mohammed Jameel,  said since Globacom entered Nigeria’s telecom space 11 years ago, it envisioned itself playing a pivotal role to Nigeria’s emergence as a digital economy, remarking that “Nigerians witnessed the first ICT revolution with the global system for mobile communication (GSM). They are about to witness the second revolution in ICT that will last for about four to five decades.
“With the investments we have made, wherever you are, you will be able to connect to the broadband internet whether you are at home, office, on the train, etc. With the big data and connected devices emerging, we have to keep developing applications that will thrive on broadband,” he said, adding that the world is looking forward to Globacom as it is actively involved in broadband services that will enrich lives, noting that it was for that reason that the company established its undersea submarine cable.
Globacom’s agreement with ZTE and Huawei will lead to new switches, increase mobile switching centres (MSCs) to ease congestion and construct additional 4,000 km of optic fibre cable which will complement the existing fibre optic facility which is the most extensive fibre coverage of Nigeria. Glo has state-of-the-art IP/MPLS and TDM technologies (30 gigabyte capacity) to meet requirements of enterprise customers, video, voice and data services.
The TDM network will also be upgraded to a fully integrated Generalised Multi-protocol Label Switching (GMPLS). Part of the upgrade will also include installation of new base stations and densification of existing ones; setting up of three new mini call centres across the country to take care of vast increase in subscriber figures and upgrade of the radio access network which will ensure that data customers enjoy unparalleled speed and reliability.