Depending only on fibre optic makes Nigeria’s broadband vulnerable - Eutelsat VP
Simon Gray is the Vice President of Humanitarian Affairs for Eutelsat and also a member of the ITU advisory board for developing disaster communications strategy world-wide. In this interview with
he says Nigeria needs satellite technology to take internet to areas where fibre optic network hasn’t reached.
GSM technology has still not reached some areas in Nigeria. How can the government solve this problem?
Satellite technology has a huge advantage in this aspect. It has huge infrastructure to give you internet broadband. And satellite offers internet at affordable prices. Let me add though that satellite will never replace fibre and it will never replace GSM. But it must be an integral part of the policy, especially to connect the unconnected areas.
It is done in such way that you construct your wifi network around a satellite. The satellite will be there until fibre arrives. You have got to construct your wifi networks anticipating fibre will be there one day.
You connect wifi around those areas. You have your satellite point and your wifi will distribute it out. The satellite will provide service in those areas.
And when fibre finally comes, you leave the satellite tech in place. It therefore means you guys will have resilient network: fibre plus satellite backup. You leave the satellite in place so that whenever the fibre is cut the satellite will be used as backup. And satellite is very easy to replace, in less than one hour, you place a satellite. Fibre is vulnerable; digging of ground to lay the fibre also costs hundreds of millions of dollars. But satellite is far less than that. It gives you that opportunity to keep connection without spending huge amount of money.
With this resilience of satellite you talked about….
There is a lovely story I heard from DRC and you know the Lord Resistance Army were going into villages to kill men and rape women. And this caused huge disaster in the country. So the government said this is enough, we need to stop this. What they did was they matched a satellite system with GSM system in five villages. And they connected other villages via radio. You know what? None of the five villages got attacked after. That means it provides security, it provides communications and provides business for people. For me that is why it’s important: it provides security and all that.
Here in Nigeria this can also be used against the terrorists.
Have you discussed with Nigerian government on this? the
Our representative has been talking to Nigerian government. And I talked to the SA to the minister of communication briefly today.
Do you have any relationship with NIGCOMSAT?
No, we have not started engaging them. But I am sure our representative will be engaging with them soon.
You have spoken about war torn areas in the DRC and how satellite technology came to their rescue…
Yes, I believe Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon can also deploy this to fight the terrorists.
How long have you been in Nigeria?
We have been in Africa for the last 14 years. Connect Africa, our partner, has been in Nigeria for two years, and we have been working with them.
What report have you got about Nigeria so far?
Yeah, fantastic! There business opportunity here. We have got about 20. is
Do you work with governments?
huge
How will you ensure that the satellite infrastructure you provide for humanitarian activities will not be ‘hijack’ by the terrorists?
You have to embark on education programme. Not just dumping satellite and expecting everything to be okay. No! You have to have an ambassador in place to keep an eye on them against radicalisation. But I think in essence communication is good for humanity regardless of what you think people will do with it. Education is very important, though.
Nigeria is switching over from analogue to digital broadcasting. What do you think is the best approach we can use to achieve a better switch over?
We have helped in digitalisation of most countries in Europe and we have been involved in the rollout of digital switch in other places as well.
If your country is adopting terrestrial network, it is a huge mistake. Terrestrial takes long time to build, and many operators prefer satellite. But since your country has adopted the terrestrial, it could get a satellite backup.
How many employees do you have in Nigeria? How is an overview of Eutelsat humanitarian activities like?
We donated 20 systems during the Ebola outbreak in some parts of Africa. We also constructed the first NGO training centre in Africa, and we donated equipment there. We also donated 20 terminals for the refugees in some parts of Africa, and we are providing six month free bandwidth to IDPs across Africa.
And every year we provide money and terminals and free bandwidth to Telecom Frontiers, working for the UN. We work with governments through the UN. We also work with NGOs.