Nigeria: Government approves satellite broadband project concession
December 5th 2022
With the digital transformation accelerating in the country, the Nigerian government has set itself the goal of democratizing the use of broadband in the country. Broadband penetration in Nigeria is 45% according to the latest statistics from the Nigerian Communications Commission.
The Nigerian government has given its agreement for the concession of a research and development project for broadband Internet by satellite. This was revealed by Manji Yarling, Acting Head of Media and Publicity at the Infrastructure Concessions Regulatory Commission (ICRC), on Wednesday, November 30.
The contract covers a period of 15 years and will be carried out using the design, finance, build, operate and transfer (DFBOT) PPP (public private partnership) model. The preferred bidder for the project is the Gilat-Eleo consortium.
This project comes as the Nigerian government plans to acquire two new telecom satellites – NigComSat-2 and NigComSat-3 – by 2025 to replace the NigComSat 1-R satellite which will reach the end of its 15-year lifespan. in 2026. Abuja therefore wants to bet on space technology to help telecom operators deploy broadband across Nigeria, especially in hard-to-reach rural areas.
In particular, the project is expected to improve broadband penetration in Nigeria and strengthen security in the country. It is also expected to create more than 10,000 direct and indirect jobs and generate more than 28 billion naira (63 million USD) during the concession period. “ It will also help transfer technology to Nigerians in the field of communication equipment design and manufacturing ,” Ms. Yarling added.
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