FWAs Get Respite as Satellites Go to C-Band

Nigeria will launch its future communication satellites on the conventional C band, original frequency allocation for communications satellites to effectively free the interference-free 3.5 GHz spectrums for Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) licensees, Nigeria CommunicationsWeek can now reveal.
The 3.5GHz band, most widely available band allocated for broadband wireless access worldwide was meant to accelerate the provision of Internet and data services using WiMAX, a revolutionary disruptive technology that allows companies to provide wireless access to subscribers within a 30 mile radius.
But a long drawn battle between satellite, Nigerian Communication Satellite Limited which launched the ill-fated Africa’s first geosynchronous communication satellite on one hand and terrestrial communication, the licensees of FWA on the other limited the achievement of mass provision of voice and data across the country.
It will be recalled that a presidential fiat had given NigComSat last mile telecom license, a term for operators that offer telecommunications services directly to end users.
Had the NigComSat-1’s lifespan not been cut short due to communications and power problems, Nigerian Communication Satellite Limited would have competed with the FWAs in the provision of voice and data.
Nigeria CommunicationsWeek gathered that the untimely demise of the over $256 million NigComSat-1 just 18 months after the satellite was put in the space by Chinese company, the China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC) meant that the frequency will be idling now.
For Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), it is a welcome relief given the cost of relocating the FWAs to other frequency. And for the telecommunications industry, it is opportunity for FWA companies to rejig their operations which have remained caged in apprehension and uncertainty.
Some of the companies are MTN Nigeria, XS Broadband, Startech Connection, Rainbownet, Oduatel, Musty Digital and Security, Cyberspace, IPNX, Wideways, Modern Telecom, Mega Tech Engineering, Megatech Software, Gold-Jay Enterprises, Choffan Communications, Big Communications, Global Communications Network, Pime Global Service, Sirius Wireless, African Telecommunications Network, North West Communications, Horizon Broadcasting and Telecommunications and Swift Network. Only a few of the companies have started any form of network deployment