Internet: UAE coy launches broadband service in Nigeria

An Abu Dhabi -based satellite company, Al-Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat), has launched its new broadband satellite service in Nigeria, with a pledge to reduce the cost of internet by 10 per cent.

The company said in Abuja last week that it had brought its broadband satellite investment of $1.6bn to Nigeria to crash the cost of internet by 10 per cent and make the service available across Nigeria.

The new technology, according to Yahsat’s Nigerian partner, Coolink, would “make internet available in all spots in the country and to all Nigerians wherever they may be in the country.”

Speaking at the launch and resellers’ forum in Abuja last week, the Regional Director of Yahsat, Mr Kevin Viret, said the broadband which is based on Ka-band satellite technology, would offer download speeds of up to 15Mega bits per second (Mpbs) and upload speeds of up to 3Mbps.

Ka band covers the frequencies of 26.5–40 GHz. GHz stands for GigaHertz. Giga is approximately 1 billion and Hertz stands for cycles per Second.

According to Viret, while traditional satellite technology utilizes broad single beams covering entire continents and regions, YahClick Ka-band spot beams provide coverage over highly targeted areas which eliminate issues with spectrum availability.

He said Yahsat had selected Coolink as its first and preferred service partner in Nigeria to roll out the broadband offering to across Nigeria

According to him, Coolink would in turn sign on local resellers in all the 36 states and Abuja to make the service available in every nook and cranny in the country.

He said the service is already in Lagos, Abuja, PortHarcourt and would be launched in Kano very soon.

Also speaking at the event, the Chief Operating Officer of Coolink,  Mr Shanin Nouri said the YahClick Ka-band broadband service compliments Coolink’s vision of providing the widest possible range of telecommunications products and services to consumers and businesses.

“ While satellite is an obvious choice for areas that lack access to formal telecommunications and ICT services, Coollink’s new range of satellite package will ensure that satellite is a viable alternative to any internet user in Nigeria”, he said, promising that more people in the rural areas would now have internet access. It is much cheaper because the bandwidth and the equipment (smaller antennas) is N15,000 per month.