Leadership (Abuja)
Prince Charles Dickson
21 November 2008
The Nigerian Telecom sector may find it difficult suppressing a wink at the news that Nigerian Communications Satellite or NIGCOMSAT-1, launched 18 months ago has been lost in orbit.
In the light of the unfolding drama, they may indeed have good reason. The satellite under reference is Nigeria's greatest space technology asset to date.
As a typical Nigerian project, its main challenge had been in implementation, management and integrity. This predictable dimension had introduced developments where managers had been unable to advance satisfactory explanations. It deepened the mystery.
NIGCOMSAT-1 is a hybrid communications satellite, which means that it offers a variety of communications frequencies that can be used for different purposes. These are usually not found on a single satellite. These features make the NIGCOMSAT-1 a very interesting and unique satellite.
It features two L-Band Transponders, eight Ka Band Transponders, four C-Band Transponders and 14 KU- Band Transponders. The Satellite is in geo-synchronous orbit, meaning it hovers over a specific location about 40,000 miles above earth. To serve its purpose, it was positioned above the eastern shore of Somalia, from which it was able to beam signals over Western Europe, Africa and parts of Asia.
NIGCOMSAT-1 was built and launched in China by China Great Wall Industries Corporation (CGWIC). Significantly, it is the first of its kind ever undertaken by that company. Till today, the terms of the transaction and contract for the project remain a mystery as the story is constantly changing. What began as a $200 million project has been reported variously as $300 million, $400 million and is now generally fixed between $450 million or N40 billion.
Only recently, the USA lifted sanctions on China Great Wall Industry Corporation. They were imposed against China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC) pursuant to Executive Order 13382 through a de-listing by the U.S. Treasury Department. It was placed on the Specially Designated Nationals list prohibiting CGWIC from engaging in business in the United States or with U.S. persons.
The most startling aspect of the entire project is that the so-called Nigerian Communications Satellite does not have any terrestrial connection to Nigeria. Unsubstantiated reports claim that the satellite has a Ground Control Centre in Abuja Nigeria and Gateway's in Northern Nigeria, South Africa, Germany and China. In reality, the only Ground Station that appears to have regular contact with the satellite is that based in Kashi, China, often touted by NIGCOMSAT management as a back-up centre. Findings reveal that it is indeed the main and only Ground Control Centre. The satellite is controlled solely and entirely from China.
Another weakness in the implementation of the NIGCOMSAT-1 Project is the absence of a Teleport in Nigeria. Claims of having or using Teleports in Germany, China etc are moot as they defeat the purpose of having a Nigerian Satellite in the first place.
Over the past year the NIGCOMSAT management has been embroiled in an unsavoury confrontation with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) over the question of whether NIGCOMSAT Ltd should be granted licence to provide GSM or CDMA telephony services. This decision is most certainly as a result of a knee-jerk reaction to the reluctance of the incumbent mobile telephony operators to use NIGCOMSAT as their connectivity provider in Nigeria.
Interestingly, one plausible reason why the carriers rejected the NIGCOMSAT option is that NIGCOMSAT C-Band Transponders operate on an abnormal frequency referred to as the Extended C-Band. C-Band is the preferred frequency for Voice Data applications due to its greater bandwidth and its resilience to adverse weather conditions like heavy rain.
The resolve of the industry regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission to insist on due process and diligence was grossly under- estimated. The NCC was perplexed that NIGCOMSAT, which had hardly taken off as a Satellite Operator and already facing challenges to deliver on its mandate, would instantly transmute into a Mobile Operator.
Contrary to its declared objectives at inception, NIGCOMSAT-1 has made no impact thus far on the Nigerian communications landscape in terms of increasing available resources or reducing prices or access barriers. There are presently no ISPs in Nigeria that have deployed services using the NIGCOMSAT-1 Transponders, although many have paid money in advance and are still waiting for the NIGCOMSAT Teleport.
NIGCOMSAT is so incapable of providing Internet related services to anybody that today it relies on a Lagos-based Internet Service Provider to provide it with access to the Internet and another Abuja-based ISP provides the backup. This is the Internet it uses to connect China to find out how things are going with its Satellite.
It is therefore alarming that a company that claims to be the pivot of Nigeria's technological aspirations, last updated in 2006.
A source inside the Chinese Consulate described the whole thing as a sham, blaming greedy Nigerians for the whole satellite project.
In a telephone chat with Mr. Ahmed Rufai, NIGCOMSAT's managing director, he said insurance would pay for a replacement and Nigerians should still be proud of the country's satellite programme. But how this "white elephant in space" was "insured" or by whom has yet to be told.
"It may not be far from the truth to say that for the past 18 months Nigerians have only been taken for a ride", a source at NCC source stated, "because we cannot even point to any person that was benefiting from the so-called NIGCOMSAT thing." She added.
The House of Representatives and opposition Action Congress (AC) are among the many Nigerians that have called for a full investigation even as there is a call for monies to be released for NigComSat-1R, after the colossal failure of NigComSat 1.
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