By Prince Osuagwu
LAGOS – The much awaited Glo submarine cable system Glo 1, weekend, made a historic landing in Alfa Beach, Lagos, Nigeria. The landing is expected to mark the beginning of cheap bandwidth which in itself would translate into many possibilities in the Information and Communications sector of the Nigerian economy.
The project jointly executed by Globacom and its partners, Alcatel Lucent may give Nigeria lead in telemedicine, eCommerce and egovernance among other practices that transform economies.
Speaking at the scene of the landing, Globacom’s Executive Director, Human Resources, Mr Adewale Shangowawa, noted that with the landing of the Glo1 submarine cable, Globacom has scored another first and as well has taken a bold step to give Nigeria the lead in the magical broadband revolution in Africa.
The 9800km cable is coming from Bude in UK and connects Nigeria to the rest of West Africa and the UK. It has landing points in Nigeria, London and Lisbon in Portugal. It is deploying 16 branching units to connect countries in West Africa.
According to Shangowawa, “globally, the tradition is for a consortium of telecommunication companies to team up to set up a submarine cable network to enhance their connectivity and bandwidth capacity. Globacom has become an exception to the norm.
It is the first single telecommunication company in the world to own its submarine cable. The high capacity Glo 1 optic fibre cable will bring direct connectivity between West Africa, the UK and the rest of the world. The 9,800 km long cable will provide huge capacity on its 2-fibre pair system. The Glo 1 cable will also provide excess bandwidth to all the cities connected to the cable.
This will translate into much faster and more robust connectivity for voice, data and video. The cable will connect 14 West African countries through the branching units to the rest of the world. It will boost economic activities in the region, create job opportunities and serve companies in Europe and Africa.
Facts of the submarine cable landing included that Glo 1 provides connectivity from Lagos to Bude in United Kingdom through fibre optic cable laid undersea.
The cable which is of the 32 STM 64 type has virtual infinite capacity and therefore offers sufficient capacity for traffic for the Globacom’s mobile, fixed, and internet telecommunication services.
I knew glo can do it. All the friends of glo in ghana say a good jod done
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Betty
http://cellularaccessoriess.com
This is really a cheering news and it signifies an iminent revolution in our telecommunication sector. We need this kind of ambitious developments in the country if we truly desire to be one of the much -talked -about 20 most developed economies by 2020. Kudos 2 Globacom and its partners Alcatel Lucent.
A welcome development for Nigeria via the collaboration of Globacom and Alcatel, this is a welcome development for Nigeria and Africa.
this is indeed a welcome development.I have been bleed by mtn through their data services.I hope this will usher in an era of pocket friendly and fast internet connectivity.Glo should wake up as it is loosing the data war to mtn and zain
A most welcome development for Nigeria. This is the third fibre optic cable to hit the African coastline this year. It’s my hope that this cables will help Africa bridge the digital chasm and herald a new digital era in the continent. It’s also my hope that these cables will be used to nurture local digital content – a key ingredient for the total emancipation of the continent.
A welcome development for Nigeria via the collaboration of Globacom and Alcatel which has several economic opportunities. However, great attention ought to be paid as to the possible hazards of such nascent venture.