Broadband Brings Prosperity- Omo-Ettu

The burgeoning broadband banquet being laid out with the landing of Glo 1 and Main One, two major cable initiatives are presenting Nigeria with the opportunity of prosperity and wealth creation, Nigeria CommunicationsWeek has learnt.
To be part of the broadband feast, Titi Omo-Ettu, president, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (Atcon) advised Nigerians to create locally made content which are relevant to peculiar needs of the country.
Omo-Ettu spoke at the just concluded annual Assembly of IT Professionals in Abuja by the Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria, (CPN).
He said that for a long time to come, the cable underground will be a choice of tangible communication, more so as fibre will also be regarded as cable.
According to him, the metamorphoses of technology has improved living standards and sharpened business instincts that were not possible a few years back.
The Atcon boss also said that good political leadership is one of those things that will help Nigeria and her citizens leverage on opportunities presented by the overflow of broadband initiatives.
Nigeria CommunicationsWeek gathered that Nigeria and other African countries are at the dawn of broadband revolution with no fewer than nine undersea broadband cable initiatives including two from Nigeria that would serve as innovation catalysts.
There is the $800 million Glo 1 system by Globacom Limited along the west coast of Africa between Nigeria and the UK.  When completed, the cable will be 9,500 km long, and with a minimum capacity of 640 Gbit/s.
The Main One Cable is also a Nigerian grown undersea cable system expected to stretch from Portugal to South Africa with landings along the route in various West African countries.  Promoted by Main Street Technologies the cable system is expected to span 14,000 km and provide additional capacity for international and Internet connectivity to countries between Portugal and South Africa on the west coast of Africa.
All the cable systems are expected to provide access to regional telecom operators and Internet service providers at more affordable rate.
Nigeria CommunicationsWeek gathered that harnessing broadband potential is pivotal to the continent’s development and that submarine fibre optic cables have become the modern vessels for trade and communications between international markets and the African continent.
Presently, on average, accessing the Internet cost Africans 50-100 times more than what it cost consumers in Europe, Asia and North America due partly to a number of factors including the infamous SAT-3 undersea cable which operates in fits and starts.
Nigeria CommunicationsWeek gathered that the situation is not helped because most of the African Internet traffic has to transit through Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) in the U.S. or Europe, requiring African Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to pay long distance charges.