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Nigeria: Ericsson to Build 21st Century's Residential Fiber-Optic Network

Prince Osuagwu

31 December 2008

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World renowned telecom equipment and backbone builders, Ericsson, has signed a contract with Nigerian telecom company 21st Century Technologies to supply, build and integrate a nationwide residential fiber-optic broadband network.

The contract includes the latest GPON Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH) technology and will enable advanced high-speed broadband services.The project represents a major breakthrough in the West African region, a market largely dominated by mobile communications.

The Fiber-To-The-Home network will provide high-quality broadband connectivity and support services such as IPTV, high-speed internet access, and voice-over-IP. Deployment to the first 10,000 homes will start in January, 2009.

Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH) is a mass-market broadband technology. It enables the simultaneous transportation of several services, such as very fast internet, telephony and television, via one optic fiber. With FTTH, the access network is able to deliver speeds of up to 100 Mbps and even 1 Gbps. This creates an access network with nearly unrestricted possibilities.

This technology supports a complete open business model in which consumers can choose any service supplier. In 2007, Ericsson's offering in the areas of fixed broadband access and converged networks was significantly strengthened by the acquisition on Entrisphere, adding a market-leading GPON platform as a complement to our fiber P2P solutions.

Ericsson is the world's leading provider of technology and services to telecom operators. The market leader in 2G and 3G mobile technologies, Ericsson supplies communications services and manages networks that serve more than 195 million subscribers. The company's portfolio comprises mobile and fixed network infrastructure, and broadband and multimedia solutions for operators, enterprises and developers. The Sony Ericsson joint venture provides consumers with feature-rich personal mobile devices.

Expressing excitement at the development, Managing Director of 21st Century Technologies, Mr Wale Ajisebutu, said "we are delighted to work with Ericsson to deploy and integrate one of the world's most sophisticated network architectures for fiber optics. With the combination of Ericsson's GPON (Gigabit-capable Passive Optical Network) and IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) technology, we can deliver an enriched multimedia experience to our customers."

Also reacting, Ericsson's Head of sub-Saharan Africa, Mr Jan Embro, said that "this contract reflects Ericsson's strong position in Nigeria, builds on our partnership with 21st Century Technologies and highlights our capabilities in multimedia services. It is the first project of its kind in the West African region and will be the forerunner of related services not only in the region, but in Africa as a whole."

Under the agreement Ericsson will provide an end-to-end Deep-Fiber Access network with EDA 1500 for GPON access and fiber cables, including Ribbonet and Micronet air-blown fiber systems. The contract also includes Redback SmartEdge 1200 routers and Ericsson's IMS solution for the core network, enabling seamless access to a wide range of multimedia services. Ericsson will also be responsible for network design, deployment and systems integration services.

Ericsson's Deep-Fiber Access network solution is a key enabler for deploying new broadband services and is part of Ericsson's Full Service Broadband offering. Ericsson has delivered EDA broadband access nodes to more than 100 customers worldwide. Ericsson is the market leader in IMS with more than 60 commercial contracts, of which more than half carry live traffic.

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