THE African continent is akin to a big communal life; we love to keep in touch with one another. It is not uncommon to see traditional weddings take place in villages, as such on such occasions city dwellers would travel to their roots to rejoice and felicitate with their loved ones back home, at such times we always need to keep in touch with those they left behind in the cities. It is not an uncommon thing for young men and women to travel every now and then visiting their aged parents back in the rural villages. The base line is that in Africa there is a constant need to 'keep in touch', I mean communicate.On the global scene the world we live in now has become information driven, it is fast becoming a global village; suffice to say that the concept of 'village' (in terms of a geographic location with individuals operating as a family, blending strengths of the individual personalities to keep the community progressive albeit bearing in mind the well being of the individuals) still holds true in Africa. It is therefore no surprise then that regions of the world are coming together trying to form a closely knit system, countries are amalgamating together, phenomenon such as free trade zones are beginning to emerge ' It is indeed like a village where people can move freely and communicate in a common language namely 'the sale of goods and services'.NIGCOMSAT Ltd dream is to make the physical villages in Nigeria and indeed Africa into a single virtual village through our global communication infrastructure (Communication Satellites and complementary ground infrastructures) and thereafter, integrate it into the global village. We desire to linkup the rural communities scattered around the country, Nigeria with the cities thus attempting to bring the rural communities up to speed with the ever dynamic and constantly evolving cities.Advanced and emerging economies increasingly rely on information and knowledge as key drivers for productivity and economic growth. The growing quest for knowledge and its diffusion through information and communication technology (ICT) has led to the emergence of informed societies with demand for a well-informed and knowledgeable workforce on the increase.Satellite Connectivity through communication satellites has a pivotal role to play in bridging the knowledge gap that exists in Nigeria and the entire Africa with the plethora of opportunities it presents. Un-served and underserved regions can enjoy the gains of reliable communication technologies made possible by ComSats, thereby, providing access to reliable telecommunications services to places with difficult terrain as well as all over the country.The Nigerian Communication Satellite stands tall as one of the bedrocks for societal, economic and political emancipation of our country Nigeria.Our objectives and strategic focus among others are:' To use satellite engineering and space technologies as an extraordinary vehicle to driver of National ICT revolution in pursuit of self-reliance and required skills for engineering and technology domestication.' Provision of secured satellite bandwidth and telecommunication services for defense, security outfits and other strategic telecommunications and broadcast needs of the nation.' Complementing existing terrestrial telecommunication infrastructures to promote universal access through affordable, high speed broadband telecommunication services to enhance ICT usage, ICT skills and increase IDI index of its citizens.' Delivery of innovative, cost effective broadband and critical ICT backbone infrastructures with mobility services.' Build a platform to diversify monolithic national revenue.' Evolving co-operation strategies and collaborations through strategic alliances, joint ventures & franchises for speedy realisation of set objectives and goals.' Ability to customise and domesticate foreign technologies strategically to suit our needs by utilising NIGCOMSAT Ltd Research and development department. These includes but not limited to Satellite modems, Antennas, feeds, switches, biometric systems, e-voting systems, RFID based systems, silos etc.' Telecommunication Network Infrastructure and alliance with other network operators.NIGCOMSAT Ltd delivery of its strategic objectives and focus using its assets (Quad-band High Powered Communication Satellite, complementary ground infrastructures including international gateways and over 200 engineers trained on various aspects of space engineering, Space Technologies, software applications, telecommunications, space science, physics etc shall lead to the followings:Knowledge-based economyInformation and knowledge are critical components of poverty alleviation strategies. They are necessary for breaking the chain of poverty, which is vital for the fiscal growth of a nation. NigComSat-1R can provide easy access to huge amounts of information useful to the poor as services can be provided to effectively reach economically underprivileged people with information that is relevant and useful to them. The deprived can take advantage of increased income, better healthcare, improved education and training, access to job opportunities, enterprise development opportunities, increased agricultural development, and so on.With the deployment of various services such as e-education, e-commerce, e-banking, the projected revenue potential for satellite based services is huge. Business transactions can be done on a real-time or near real-time basis between partners such as suppliers and customers locally and on a global scale. Provision of communication links among businesses for cross-border talks will enhance business and consequently increase revenue. Small and medium enterprises can be bolstered and new ones spring up. These SMEs can gain from the services that are made possible through the pervasive nature of satellite technology thus increasing the growth of the economy of the country as true drivers of economy.Capacity building in software and hardware developmentToday the highest level of skill Nigerian engineers can attain in the technology sector, whether hardware or software, is to obtain a vendor certification such as CCNP, MCSE, ORACLE DBA etc. These certifications are aimed at engineers who will install, configure and manage equipments and software from the various vendors. It is obvious that while this is important, there is no much room for creativity and innovation here.The telecoms services industry has helped to promote the current skills level in Nigeria. But the next level will require something much more challenging than just service deployment. And that is where NigComSat Ltd comes in.One of the fallout of space technology in a developing country like Nigeria is to create local demand for high skills in software and hardware development. This will cause Nigerian students and engineers to rise up to the challenge. The quest for space technology also challenges the industry'from the metallurgy to the electronics, instrumentation and software industries to come up with products required by the emergent space industry.The high quality, precision and predictable work/project schedules required by Space will also affect the working culture and the craftsmanship of our engineering profession.Employment generationSmall and medium scale industries that will come up to produce the new kind of products and services required by the space industry will lead to direct employment generation.In addition, the new level of skilled that will be attained by the engineering workforce will serve as a magnet to attract a new kind of foreign investment'that which requires a high skilled workforce; investments in the design, manufacturing and product development sectors. So we will begin to see semiconductor foundries, PCB plants, Software development houses and R&D centres.This new environment will also make Nigeria an attraction for experts and professionals from all over the world both Nigerians and others. This will create a ripple effect: high skilled workforce attracting more investment and more investment attractinghigher skilled workforce.Data traffic such as email, short message services, web hosting, GPRS controlled devices, inter-switching between financial institutions for easier online payment et al. These technological innovations will fastly digitalise homes and offices and they will become a common place in Nigeria.Voice traffic such as IP Telephony, GSM Telecommunication, 3G communication and even National Voice Carriers (Telco's) like NITEL will be seeing new possibilities in Voice Traffic origination and termination. Convergence of Networks between the traditional NITEL Phone lines and the more modern VoIP telephony services will become a reality in Nigeria and Africa as a whole. Voice calls can be trunked seamlessly between Africa and Europe using the ubiquitous transponder onboard Nigcomsat-1.Video traffic as found in multimedia applications and traditional broadcasting shall use satellite transponders to disseminate news and events even to the remotest parts of the country that doesn't have a nearby TV station thereby converging the entire country to a mere digital village. Imagine the possibilities! Inaccessible terrain will be a thing of the past in Nigeria. Nigcomsat-1R satellite will be pioneering these developments for the country and entire Africa as a continent using powerful transponders to support broadcast in Africa reaching the most difficult terrains.Nigcomsat-1R satellite will make it possible to pioneer other ancillary services such as:E-education:Whereby it is possible for a teacher to stay in a more centralised location to teach students in any part of Nigeria and the students will be able to either interact with the teachers' real time. Teachers will be able to teach students remotely and Nigerian students can as well be exposed to take lectures from any part of the world and have the capability of joining any virtual classroom in any part of the world.Tele-medicine:Nigerians will be capable of staying in any remote part of the country where the service is offered to seek medical assistance from any medical expert located in any part of the country or even outside the country, medical assistance can be gotten through this means and it will equally help teams of medical experts to do cross consultation among themselves without having to travel out of their locality. This service can improve on the health status of Nigerians and save a lot of lives through timely medical delivery.Rufai delivered this paper at the Convergence Conference in Lagos recentlyThe service is already in Nigeria to stay, the satellite is going to provide more robust and resilient capacity to our banking industries making them to offer more seamless services making it easier, faster and more efficient for Nigerians to handle banking transactions. Also, online banking services are going to become a common place in Nigeria. The launching of the satellite will provide the much needed capacity to ensure a highly reliable online banking system and saves the country millions of dollars being transferred out of the country as fees for leasing these huge capacity from other International operators and we can proudly say that we are self sufficient in that aspect in our country.E-Governance:Governance will become easy, it will be easier to link up every Government office under a wide area network so every office can talk with one another and be able to share information seamlessly and even have the capacity to have video conferencing where each party can communicate like they are all sitting in one room while they sit back in their respective offices. This is going to improve the efficiency of governance, promote transparency and accountability and make it easier for the common man to access information about the government of the day so easily without leaving the comfort of his home or office.Corporate Intranet/extranet and virtual private network:Capable of full integration of the corporate HQ, Regional Offices and remote offices seamlessly thereby achieving a truly global village concept. Corporate email servers, Dynamic web sites, real-time messaging systems, etc are all integrated into the corporate network using Nigcomsat-1 transponder to achieve a seamless Satellite Network integration.Maritime broadband communication:The footprint of Nigcomsat-1 satellite covers the continental shelf of the Atlantic and the shorelines, this is a great potential for the oil and gas industry to tap greatly into this opportunity for their Platforms located not too deep into the sea and onshore facilities to achieve a truly maritime broadband communication while still in the seas and still connect to the HQ and communicate with the rest of the world even when separated from the world.Logging Operation Data Transfer:After the Logging data is set to its technique and format and the proprietary or field tapes and customer or field edit tapes are produced, it is pertinent that these logging operation data be sent via the satellite from the offshore location to either the HQ or Regional Office for further processing or the Logging services to take necessary steps. Nigcomsat-1 satellite provides the ever-present transponder systems capable of delivering the high integrity data over the satellite media to the final destination.Office to field, field to office and field-to-field Coordination:Without a satellite transponder from Nigcomsat-1 satellite to handle this coordination, you can only imagine how impossible it is to coordinate this or can you send a DHL to the sea' Even at that, it is a Herculean task. By using a transponder from Nigcomsat this nightmare is turned to a mere pack of cards. This coordination can only be achieved using the Satellite Services of Nigcomsat Ltd.Drilling surveillance, geo-magnetic and seismic data visualisation:The triple play service support onboard Nigcomsat -1 satellite makes for an encrypted and secure transmission and reception of data, video and voice. The oil and gas sector can greatly tap into this opportunity to ensure a real-time online drilling surveillance and for geo-magnetic and seismic data visualisation remotely from the Regional or HQ Offices.Tele-Health and Call Home Programme:Opportunity exist to deploy a Tele-health program for offshore staff working out there in the sea or onshore personnel working in the desert, a video conferencing solution can be deployed and connected to the hospital where a qualified medical personnel in a central location can attend to so many offshore and difficult terrain onshore staff and a VoIP phone facility can be integrated as well to ensure the staff can easily reach families and loved ones and at same time cut the cost of providing such services via other means.A new security IP surveillance system:A completely IP-based surveillance system will be introduced to the Banking sector with central monitoring facilities capable of monitoring all the Vaults at strategic branches. This will go a long way at improving the security situation in the Banking Institution; this is possible due to huge bandwidth derivable from utilizing the services of Nigcomsat ' 1 satellite. This can be leveraged to a countrywide surveillance system.Enterprise Solution:Nigcomsat Ltd stand to offer the Enterprise solution Sector an opportunity of acquiring huge bandwidth resources in Bulk purchase format by inviting them to be Virtual Network Operators (VNOs) with Nigcomsat Ltd. This will enable them to start offering multi-faceted services to their respective catchments' areas; this will see a new way of offering Satellite Broadband Service to the populace in a way and manner never witnessed before in the Region. Last mile solution are going to be sprouting out using the fixed VSAT Networks, WiFi Solution, WiMAX Solution delivering contents to the enterprise and SOHO clients alike. Triple play services will become a common place in the region and we will begin to see the convergence of these services in just one box and the enterprise sector will be playing a very important role in delivering these services via the Nigcomsat-1 satellite transponders.Finally Nigcomsat-1R remains the cornerstone for universal access and bedrock for ICT development, backbone of social, political and economic re-engineering in Nigeria and Africa in general; we are working assiduously to provide the most aggressively priced satellite services for the continent and partnering with all stakeholders to bequeath the country with richly packaged ICT related services to ensure that Nigeria's ICT Development Index (IDI) ranking among comity of nations by the year 2020 is within the first 20.
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