General News
Core Design Principles of Next Generation Integrated Remote Connectivity for Broadband Services

By Andrew Aroh
Turnkey Broadband Network solutions exist for connecting remote sites into the network where reliable internet or leased lines services are not readily available. The solution for the remote connectivity services bring secure voice, data and video services to remote sites, increasing user productivity and integrating remote and local operations.
Remote connectivity solution ensure that distant customers, field employees and partners share the benefits of access to information and services, while maintaining security measures.
Through the Integration of Terrestrial Wireless, Fiber and Satellite Communications, ICT professionals can design, and deliver a customized solution that is optimized for cost efficiency, performance and flexibility.
Creating a Customer Solution
A dedicated team is appointed for every aspect of the project:
- Systems Analysis
- The Initial Design & Review
- The final Design
- Supplier Selection
- Licensing Application
- Site Surveys
- Procurement
- Staging
- Deployment
- Testing
- Network Management and Support
End- to-end designs often include over-sight projects and the integration of data networks with radio systems or microwave/ satellite systems.
Matching business needs to the platform technologies requires an understanding of the role of the network link.
The analysis and design phase matches business requirements and customer applications to the most appropriate technologies.
The required solution provides a secure, global broadband infrastructure through high-speed networks of terrestrial wireless, Fiber and Satellite connectivity, local partnering networks and network operations centers/Gateways.
Properly engineered solutions for remote connectivity services will offer:
- Global voice, data and video communication to remote offices, residents and SMEs.
- Requirement analysis and technology-independent design to determine the most appropriate solution for remote location connectivity.
- End-to-end solutions for design, project management and deployment, including integration of radio systems with microwave/Satellite network systems and applications.
- Proven project management methodologies ensuring that project are delivered on time, within budget and client-agreed specifications.
- Suite of services on the platform allows customers to leverage the expertise and partnerships that extend support across a wide range of broadband technologies.
Broadband technology offers single site, portable communications for short projects, data to Gigabytes range with voice and video.
- VSAT technology offers access to a wide range of cost-effective; satellite-based services regardless of location.
- SCPC technology offers point-to-point solutions for longer projects, a full range of data options for multiple voice channels and high performance data and video.
- Fast deployment options are available for short-term projects, typically up to 2048kbps with a maximum of 100Mbps.
- TDMA-(VBM/MF) technology offers solutions that are particularly valuable in regions with little infrastructure, yet requiring a fully-meshed operating environment.
- The solution is suitable for medium to long-term projects with bit-rates up to 8x2048kbps possible and well-suited to busty applications.
- Traffic can vary dynamically using SCPC or TDMA techniques, such as data plus occasional video conferencing, providing cost-effective bandwidth management.
- To enable the promise of the digital enterprise, emerging broadband Network solutions combines:
- Specialized technologies
- Domain experience
- Global infrastructure
- Supported by industry –certified technical consulting capabilities, the growing suite of services provides:
- Secure global IP infrastructure
- Integrated information security solutions
- Wireless and remote network connectivity
- Complete network managed services.
Secure Connectivity Centers Provide Secure Broadband Gateways: Creating a flexible center:
- Secure connectivity centers can be configured with several powerful options to add features and performance as business requirement grow:
- A redundancy module is available to eliminate any single secure point of failure.
- Reporting options allow central monitoring of security policy modifications and enforcement.
- The Virtual Private Network (VPN) connectivity module brings all of the other capabilities of the secure connectivity center to VPN configurations, providing the same elements of secure connectivity that protect dedicated Intranets and
- The secure connectivity center can be designed to function smoothly as a complete turnkey solution, installed on an enterprise’s premise and operated by the organization’s ICT professionals.
- We provide essential skills transfer to bring ICT professionals up to speed on the exceptional capabilities of this innovative approach to security management.
- The secure connectivity center offers:
- A remarkable reduction in deployment time, allowing an enterprise to stay well ahead of the competition and the technology curve.
- A quick-time-to-market and a more rapid addition and removal of new services and partner connections, which can be a powerful enabler in a growing e-business enterprise.
- Protected connectivity between multiple customers and multiple services in multiple locations.
This is because as an organization grows, more network connections and greater demands on functionality create exponentially greater costs for management and administration of security policies and procedures.
Many companies take a piecemeal approach, adding new firewalls and security protocols on an incremental basis, resulting in bewildering management complexity.
However, a secure connectivity center enables protected connectivity between multiple customers and multiple services in multiple locations.
- This flexible, centralized management and control system replaces a myraid of individual security solutions with an integrated, network-wide implementation allowing end-to-end solutions from corporate web access to multi-system connectivity.
- Secure connectivity centers provide secure broadband gateways to the internet with centrally managed application and database sharing, providing an unparallel level of sophistication and flexibility.
- Enterprises today are also faced with increasing demand to access and share applications and data.
Secure connectivity centers simplify Network sharing i.e. simply secure interconnection of networks with incompatible routing or address conflicts, and create secure enclaves that can extend geographically to sites anywhere an enterprise does business.
In General, secure connectivity centers offers:
- Lower cost of management for multiple business partners networks
- A proven, turnkey solution for complex extranet problems
- Reduced time-to-market and time-to-savings for secure, multi-network connectivity
- Easy to manage control for enterprise-wide security
- A powerful enabler for security-critical e-business opportunities
- Secure, seamless connections for multiple partners, locations and platforms
- Integration into a Secure Private Network
Managed VPN Broadband Services Provide Secure Connectivity with remote or mobile locations
- Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a restricted network that uses public domain to connect nodes, providing a way to encapsulate, or ‘’tunnel’’ private data cheaply, reliably, and securely through a public network, usually the internet.
- The development of VPN technologies provides new opportunities to leverage the universal availability of the INTERNET for even the most security-critical streams of network communication.
- Traffic that formally moved over dedicated lines now travels securely over public infrastructure.
- To ensure security through this powerful business enabler called VPN, emerging broadband solutions can bring together all the essential resources, including:
- Firewalls
- Public key Infrastructure (PKI) encryption
- Remote authentication with smart cards.
- A host of other complex and evolving technologies.
- Keeping mobile employees connected to business-critical data, applications and project-team collaboration channels is becoming increasingly essentials.
- Again, moving extranet traffic to a VPN often results in significant cost savings, especially for business with widespread locations and highly mobile users.
- The broadband solutions can provide exceptional resources and field-tested solutions for reaching mobile locations.
- A broadband managed VPN uses an extensive network of local resources and leverages firsthand knowledge of reliable vendors, products and services.
- Independence from particular software and hardware vendors allows a business to bring exactly the right technologies together to meet an enterprise’s unique and specific VPN needs.
- Whether linking a limited number of desktop sites to network resources or integrating hundreds of sites and thousands of users in a multinational deployment, managed broadband VPN solution offers unmatched flexibility in creating effective and innovative virtual private network solutions.
Creating the Most Reliable Managed VPN Services:
- Managed VPN services select and manage the most reliable internet service providers to offer the best-in-class service
- By optimizing local internet infrastructure and managing compliance with the bewildering array of regulations, the required broadband solution creates an effective solution for enterprises needing reliable, site-to-site VPN capabilities as part of the total enterprise connectivity scheme.
- Managed VPN services provide greater flexibility in responding to immediate e-business opportunities and enable the establishment of secure connectivity with remote or mobile locations where dedicated infrastructure would be cost-prohibitive or logistically impossible.
- Therefore, broadband solutions with managed VPN services offer:
- Utilization of existing internet infrastructure and bandwidth for secure connectivity.
- The ability to add and change sites quickly for project-specific connectivity.
- Lower operating costs without compromising intellectual property or network security.
- A Secure network for rapid growth and seamless migration to new technologies.
- Maintenance of quality-of-service (QoS) and improved service level agreements (SLAs).
Quality-of-service evaluations are required to determine system performance and optimization.
Broadband IP Networking Solutions
- There are currently so many business sites and locations out of reach of land-based broadband connections around the world, including Nigeria.
- These locations need cost-efficient solutions to turn their businesses
- Different approach to delivering broadband IP networking via satellite delivers a high-performance private, secure and cost-effective way for organizations to extend the reach of broadband IP network to locations that are currently not cost-effectively served by land-based services.
- Emerging Satellite Access Modems address a large, underserved and fast growing market for business, government, agencies, carriers and other organizations seeking an expedient way to develop or extend broadband IP networks.
- Emerging High-performance, satellite-based IP networking delivers services that are:
- Ubiquitous:
No location on the planet is beyond reach
- Simple:
Ease of deployment and implementation, with self-installation
- Safe:
Private, secure and reliable networking solution
- Profitable:
- Cost-effectively extends the reach of smaller IP networks
- The solution requires no acquisition of large infrastructure
- Improves corporate communications and productivity by enabling better and faster decisions through access to real-time information.
- High Growth:
- New revenue opportunities for users through instantaneous, around-the-clock access to information from all business sites, no matter what location.
- Channel partners win by being able to deploy a new product in a large and underserved market that was not accessible previously.
- Emerging IP networking solutions requires businesses to extend the reach of any broadband IP network to remote locations, rural and sub-urban areas for the benefit of:
- Internet service providers
- Telecom carriers
- Corporations
- Governments
- Communities
- Multi-site organizations
- Competitive advantage based on technology:
- To achieve expected level of performance, virtual Bandwidth Manager (core proprietary) technology combines a state-of-the-art Software Defined Radio (SDR) Platform which provides greater flexibility and performance.
- The integration comes together as New Satellite Access Modem. Which address a large, underserved and fast growing market for:
- Businesses
- Government agencies in the rural and remote areas of the states
- Carriers
- Other organizations
- All these need an expedient way to develop or extend broadband IP networks.
CORE DESIGN PRINCIPLES DRIVE INNOVATION FOR NGNs
The overarching development philosophy is simple: make it efficient. Make it scalable. Make it work anyplace, anytime no matter what the connectivity requirements.
Satellite innovative technology is developed to a universal set of requirements to enable service providers to meet any customer need, no matter the application, bandwidth, and satellite or topology.
INTELLIGENT PLATFORM WITH ENDLESS IP APPLICATIONS
The intelligent platform is a single, integrated scalable communications system that enables service providers to meet any customer requirement. It integrates advanced, technology into a portfolio of hubs, routers and network management software to answer the growing complexity of deploying and managing global IP networks.
- Software: integrates advanced features throughout the entire product portfolio: advanced IP Routing, Automated Beam Switching, Global NMS, Security, Quality-of-service, spread spectrum.
- Hubs: a range of universal satellite hubs provides network operations with greater flexibility to deliver the highest-level connectivity regardless of application, bandwidth, and satellite or network topology.
- Remote Routers: a series of routers designed to suit the needs of any size organization as a ‘’single-box’’ all-in-one solution.
- Network Management System: a complete suite of highly intuitive software-based tools for configuring, monitoring and controlling satellite networks from one location.
So, how do we summarize the design principles?
- Everything is Integrated:
An integrated system brings greater choice and control from configuration to deployment and maintenance
- Efficiency Rules:
We apply the industry’s most ambitious, aggressive approach toward delivering better and better bandwidth efficiency.
- Scalability Pays:
The required product port folio enables service providers to enter markets affordably, scale quickly to seize new business opportunities and stay one step ahead of competition
- Flexibility Matters:
Customers can act quickly, prioritizing bandwidth and applications on the fly with zero barriers.
- Intuitive Management Takes Priority :
This brings ‘’Big Data’’ into play, making management of large, complex global networks second nature.
- Staying Ahead:
While some retail locations must wait for high-speed terrestrial circuits to arrive before opening their doors, others don’t waste any time. They use satellite technology for all voice, data and video applications immediately, opening stores for business faster.
Andrew Aroh is President of SSPI Nigeria
General News
How Investments in Reskilling and Trust Help Businesses Succeed in the Agentic AI Era


Linda Saunders
Businesses that fail to adopt agentic AI, however, risk disruption by competitors or savvy upstarts. This demands a proactive and strategic response from leaders. In this new era of human-AI collaboration, leaders must center their efforts around two key pillars: large-scale employee reskilling and establishing a trustworthy AI ecosystem.
Reskilling for the agentic AI era
With just 15% of workers saying that they have the education and training necessary to use AI effectively, reskilling must be a priority for every business leader.
Employees must be given access to learning opportunities so they can adopt human-AI collaboration skills, including a foundational understanding of agentic AI and prompt engineering — a way to provide clear and effective instructions to AI systems.
Consider, for instance, the evolving role of developers. With AI agents capable of handling routine coding, developers can focus on bigger-picture tasks like system design and future planning.
According to Salesforce’s latest State of IT survey of software development leaders, more than nine in 10 developers are excited about AI’s impact on their careers, and an overwhelming 96% expect it to change the developer experience for the better. More than four in five believe AI agents will become as essential to app development as traditional software tools, the survey found.
In addition to technical abilities, cultivating human and business skills is vital for fostering a trusted environment where teams feel comfortable experimenting with AI. And, as every employee increasingly manages individual or even teams of agents, developing basic managerial skills across the workforce will become increasingly important.
Identifying the skills is just the first step. To succeed in the agentic AI era, businesses need to develop a comprehensive strategy that incorporates these skills into their workforce plan. This includes setting clear, measurable goals and actively tracking progress.
Managers need to provide active guidance and support to employees throughout this transformation, ensuring the workforce remains relevant and engaged.
Adopting trusted AI across the ecosystem
As the capabilities of agents grow, so too does the responsibility to manage associated risks. It’s imperative to ensure these systems are fair and prevent stereotypes or alienation. The very qualities that make AI transformative can also lead to biases and erode trust if not managed.
To fully harness the potential of agentic AI, businesses must prioritize trust and safety at every stage of development and deployment. This means implementing strong security measures and adhering to ethical AI practices to safeguard data and ensure responsible use.
Guardrails for AI agents can be established using natural language topics and instructions specifying when an agent should escalate or transfer a task to a human. Concerns around data privacy and potential biases must be proactively addressed through strong data protection protocols and transparent communication.
Equally important are tools that foster transparency and empower users to make informed decisions regarding task delegation to AI. Employees need a clear understanding of the capabilities and limitations of the AI agents they collaborate with, alongside having control over the tasks being automated.
A key feature of Agentforce is its capacity for autonomous operation within specifically defined guardrails. This means that while AI agents can operate independently, making decisions and taking actions, they do so within boundaries established by human teams, ensuring alignment with business objectives and policies. The Einstein Trust Layer enables Agentforce to use any LLM safely by ensuring that no Salesforce data is viewed or retained by third-party model providers.
The power of reskilling and trust to drive innovation
The transition to an AI-powered future will bring challenges, particularly ensuring employees have access to the right infrastructure, high-quality data, and relevant skills.
However, by investing in reskilling and comprehensive training programs, organizations can empower teams to work effectively alongside AI agents, adapt to the evolving nature of work, and ultimately drive innovation in this age of digital labor.
Building a robust infrastructure that prioritizes trust and safety, and fosters transparency, will also be instrumental in mitigating disruptions and unlocking new opportunities for growth.
Ultimately, investing in both AI agents and human employees, and actively fostering their collaboration in a trusted way, will enable businesses to operate at scale and realize their full potential in the agentic AI era.
General News
MTN Nigeria’s AGM Highlights Strong Q1 2025 Performance and Future Growth

MTN Nigeria Communications Plc held its 2025 Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos today, where shareholders reviewed the company’s full-year financial performance and endorsed its strategic priorities for the future.
The AGM came on the heels of a strong first quarter in 2025, during which MTN Nigeria invested a record ₦202.4 billion in capital expenditures and posted ₦133.7 billion in profit after tax, marking a major turnaround from a ₦392.7 billion loss in Q1 2024.
This 159% year-on-year surge in Q1 CAPEX—the company’s highest-ever quarterly investment—has gone into expanding network capacity, boosting data speeds, and enhancing service quality nationwide, in response to rising demand for digital services.
The Chairman of the Board, Dr. Ernest Ndukwe (OFR), addressed shareholders, saying: “On behalf of the MTN Nigeria family, I am proud to affirm that our business remains deeply rooted in strength and resilience.
“Our foundation remains solid, and our role within the broader economic landscape is unwavering, even amidst the challenges we encountered over the past year.
“As we reflect on this journey, I am inspired by the resilience of the Board, management, and staff of our Company, backed by the unwavering confidence of our shareholders, the valued support of our customers, and the immense potential of our nation, Nigeria.”
Dr. Karl Toriola, chief executive officer stated: “The year 2024 undoubtedly tested our resilience as we navigated a challenging operating environment marked by severe macroeconomic conditions.
“At MTN Nigeria, we viewed these challenges as catalysts for innovation and decisive action.
“We focused on what mattered most, strengthening the resilience of our network, prioritising customer experience, and accelerating the growth of our commercial operations through our customer value management initiatives.”
However, the company reported a ₦400.4 billion net loss for the year, largely due to ₦740.4 billion in foreign exchange losses from the devaluation of the naira, alongside elevated operating costs, and higher interest expenses. Due to negative retained earnings, the Board was unable to recommend a final dividend for FY 2024, consistent with regulatory requirements.
Looking ahead, MTN Nigeria remains optimistic, citing tariff increases, currency stabilisation, and easing inflation as key factors that will support the company’s return to positive equity in 2025.
Chief Financial Officer, MTN Nigeria, Modupe Kadri, commenting on this optimism said, “Our Q1 2025 results reflect strong operational execution and financial discipline, with service revenue up 40.5% and EBITDA growing by 65.9%.
“We delivered N133.7 billion in profit after tax, marking a significant turnaround from the prior year, while maintaining a healthy cash position and robust balance sheet metrics.”
During the AGM, all resolutions were passed by shareholders, including the adoption of the 2024 financial statements, the re-election of directors, and approval of remuneration policies.
The Q1 2025 report shows the company has returned to profitability and remains committed to strengthening network investments, accelerating digital inclusion, and delivering sustained value to its customers and shareholders.
General News
NITDA Inaugurates Start-up Consultative Forum

Nigeria has taken a bold step toward deepening its innovation ecosystem with the official launch of the Start-up Consultative Forum, an initiative designed to accelerate the implementation of the Nigeria Start-up Act (NSA) and strengthen the country’s tech startup ecosystem.
While addressing the forum, NITDA’s Director General, Kashifu Inuwa CCIE, who was represented by Barrister Emmanuel Edet, the Ag. Director, Regulation and Compliance described the platform as more than just a stakeholder meeting.
“It is a commitment to building a stronger tech ecosystem through collaboration, inclusion, and data-driven governance, marking a new phase in the implementation of the Nigeria Startup Act,” he said.
He noted that the Nigeria Startup Act is more than legislation—it is a framework for national development. “Startups are not fringe players. They are central to Nigeria’s economic future,” he asserted.
Inuwa further mentioned that over the past eight months, NITDA has driven key activities under the Act. These include stakeholder workshops across 10 states, roadshows at tech events like Lagos Tech Week, the Omniverse Summit, Moonlight Conference and the Akwa Ibom Tech Week, and awareness campaigns through digital and direct engagement.
The forum, according to Inuwa, will serve as a feedback engine, spotlighting regulatory gaps, guiding policy improvements, and shaping a startup-friendly environment.
Under the Renewed Hope Agenda and the guidance of the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, NITDA continues to support startups through initiatives like the Startup Portal, tech infrastructure deployment, and digital skill training across the country.
The DG emphasised that for startups to thrive, policies must be inclusive and responsive. “Inclusion is not charity. It is a strategy,” he said, calling for equal representation across gender, region, and sector.
While inaugurating the members if the Conservative Forum on behalf of the Director-General, the Director of IT Infrastructure Solutions, Oladejo Olawunmi, ignited the forum with a call to action, envisioning it as a vital nexus for collaborative breakthroughs.
He inspired the members, saying, “We remain deeply committed to nurturing a space where innovation can flourish, and I call upon each of us to embrace the task ahead by shaping ideas into concrete policy and outcomes that leave a lasting impact.”
Earlier, Victoria Fabunmi, National Coordinator of the Office for Nigerian Digital Innovation (ONDI), in her opening address called the Forum, a “structured dialogue between those building the future and those enabling it.”
She outlined five key pillars for success: access to funding, capacity building, supportive policy, inclusive innovation, and global competitiveness.
She urged startups to speak boldly, private sector players to offer more than capital, development partners to scale what works, and government to harmonize efforts. “This Forum must be a problem-solving platform, not another talk shop,” she concluded.
With the Startup Consultative Forum now launched, NITDA aims to turn policy into action, ensuring startups are no longer on the sidelines, but at the center of Nigeria’s innovation journey.
The virtual event was attended by private sector players, development agencies, verified Ecosystem Support Organisations (ESOs), angel investors, venture capital firms, and labelled startups from across the country.
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