Chief Cornelius Adebayo, Minister of Communications:
[I]"With the introduction of this product [NITEL IP Wholesale] using optical fibre, gone are those days of VSAT as a means of providing Internet services in Nigeria with limitation in speed and reliability."[/I]
Source: Satellite Doom - Sun News Online

I think it's time for companies that provide Internet Gateways based on VSAT technology to jump on the NITEL IP Wholesale bandwagon before it's too late. Nigerians are simply not going to buy your less reliable, high latency, Internet service at a higher price!

For more Information: What would you need to create broadband Internet access in Nigeria?

Certainly good news. Lays the ground work for a decent Internet connection in homes in a few years.

I personally predict that a technology like WiMAX (the successor to Wi-Fi) with its extended ranges would be extremely good in Nigeria, cost effective, and non reliant on land lines (unlike xDSL technologies, cable - DOCSIS - etc.)

The Satellite Doom article tells us that Globacom was able to offer a consortium of banks a price that is 20% of what they are paying to VSAT providers currently charge them to link their branches. Globacom is using its fiber optic backbone to provide this service.

I hope to be able to tell you how much NITEL is charging ISPs to use its IP Wholesale service.

If I may share some light on this being a member of one of the leading ISPs in Sout-South Nigeria, the cost of BW from Nitel, though cheap when talking large scale cannot be used for an ISP just starting up business. Usually when an ISP starts up transmission, they go for the cheapest available BW until their customer base increases, then they gradually expand. But when one gets to the limit where large BW eg 1mbit/1mbit is required then I totally agree price is cheap.

Considering, I have used and tested the fiber-optic connection on a visit in Lagos, I will relay the exact words I heard from the person demonstarting to me "When you see this connection, you will throw away your VSAT." And that is really true as it reduces latency and delay of VSAT by a big margin. For example, when put into comparison, a usual ping to www.google.com via VSAT during peak is roughly between 620ms - 750ms while on the Nitel connection it is between 80ms - 120ms.

medube

This is a welcome development. All those VSAT sellers should better start thinking of something else to sell.

Someone was kind enough to give me the following information a minute ago:
"When I contacted Nitel a few months back for the service, the minimum bandwidth on sale was 1 megabit bit full duplex i.e. 1mbit/1mbit which came to about roughly $7,500 monthly. In the first year of operations, payment is same as VSAT, on a quaterly basis."

For those of us in the ISP business, how does this compare with VSAT?

It's the best thing that has happened to broadband access. Even though we were aware of the limitations of VSAT, there wasn't any alternative till now. I just hope NITEL will be able to manage it the way BT has done in the UK.
cheers.

Expect the cost to be high in the begining, it will cost a lot for Nitel & Globacom to put all the infrastructures in place for broadband which means for now VSAT operators shouldn't worry too much. Nitel & Globacom still have to wire the whole country with copper wires. And it will also cost consumers too because it means new DSL modems, splitters, filters et al. So in the mean time VSAT still have a some shelf life.

@ Hidden_Hunter
I'm guessing that Nitel had opted for ADSL with its NITEL IP Wholesale, that does not exclude wi fi (WiMAX) of course but that will be for various ISPs to decide but definitely cable access is out of the question.

I can tell you for free that 1MB full duplex on SAT-3 is $7,500 per month while 2MB per month is $11,500. As time goes on, the price will be slashed. The higher the bandwidth the lower the price. NITEL has quite a number of copper wires in place which i think will help in the deployment.

Delarontus, I'm guessing that is just the cost of subscription not including deployment cost. Also what about the ISPs are they rolling out the service anytime soon? The competition might help lower the price slightly.

The bandwidth will be delivered at your doorstep. Its up to you to utilise it.

Minister for Communi-cation, Chief Cornelius Adebayo, has said all post offices across the country would be equipped with V-SAT (satellite facility), to provide electronic and internet-related services.

http://odili.net/news/source/2005/jun/17/208.html

What is this? A joke? Isn't this the same minister proclaiming the death of VSAT? Now he is putting them in post offices? Not just that he is neglecting the NITEL service (IP Wholesale) and collaborating with another company to provide a mediocre VSAT service (internet, e-mail etc) for Nipost?

Wow, what an observation!

don't shout eureka yet, personally am tired of nigerian theories, let it translate down to cyber cafes paying less for bandwidth which is now $600 a month for 20 computer - cafe in Port Harcourt without VOIP

@otokx , your post is not clear. Can you elaborate more on it pls.

simply stated let isps take advantage of sat3 and then reduce bandwidth charges to their cyber cafe subscribers who may reduce browsing prices to the general public. cyber cafes in port harcourt pay as much as $600 for a bandwidth that carries 20 computers without doing voice.

i'm thinking PSAT.

What is PSAT?

internet business and technology or something along that line 

VSAT = Very Small Aperture Teminal

Ah, whoever said the VSAT business is doomed really is just on his own.

VSAT companies like Netcom, Accelon, DOPC and MWEB are still making it big. They still support the major banks like Oceanic, BankPHB, Ecobank and even almighty UBA with so many branches.

Until the issue of NEPA is addressed, we'll continue to pay more for bandwidth.

The same 1mbps that people are offering for $7,000 is being offered in Exeter, Uk for 50 pounds a month, does it make sense? (forget about the fibre optics shizzle)

This is too good to be true. What I just see in all these is that there is still hope for nigerians in the area of IT and Internet Service. This is a sign of a good biz to come our way.

The same 1mbps that people are offering for $7,000 is being offered in Exeter, Uk for 50 pounds a month, does it make sense? (forget about the fibre optics shizzle)

Are you saying that VSAT is cheaper than the fibre optics shizzle for the same bandwidth or just mis-yarning?

so any news on VSAT and NITEL wholesale IP?

what is status of these two?

Personally, I dont trust anything naija government; they do thing only for opportunity to steal money.

CDMA connections have taken over Nigerian market now leaving VSAT users to be thinking.Anyway Vsat connection depends on the area one is located,if you have a good site you can be thinking of recovering your monthly subscription easily but where you dont have enough client then you are doomed to the core.There is this ISP that also offer cheap VSAT internet connection,they are located in United Arab Emirates.Its called DIGITALSKYS with Idirect modem router.

Vsat have really been helpful in developing countries and ll always be used because of d limitations of foc. I think we should appreciate d roles of vsat and wait till the foc is fully functional

Seun, why not for the last time try spacenet technology limited. Then i will accept.if you want to know more, mail me at mexxywinter@yahoo.co.uk or 08080436008.
It's your choice,you are not being forced to.Good news awaits you and your internet connection

VSAT is not going to die for a long time.

The CDMA services are still quite epileptic. This is further compounded by the greed of the PTO who keeps adding to their subscribers without upgrading their facilities at the same pace.

As for NITEL, the date of the first post on this thread tells the whole story. NITEL is yet to get her acts together.

I use VSAT but I don't like it, cause it changes mood with the weather I am quietly praying for optical fiber to become a reality in Nigeria.

Are you saying that VSAT is cheaper than the fibre optics for the same bandwidth

In Africa the answer is yes

VSAT satellite technology is the only method that is available everywhere around the entire region irrespective of infrastructure, geography, and location. Other popular technologies like broadband and fiber optics are limited in coverage, reaching homes and business only in more affluent areas.

you may find more information on: www.gilat.net

Gilat:



In Africa the answer is yes

VSAT satellite technology is the only method that is available everywhere around the entire region irrespective of infrastructure, geography, and location. Other popular technologies like broadband and fiber optics are limited in coverage, reaching homes and business only in more affluent areas.

you may find more information on: www.gilat.net

I beg to differ. I would rather pay a lot more for a fibre optic or adsl broadband in which am sure that am getting my moneys worth than the way current vsat providers in nigeria are ripping people off for connections that dont actually deliver the actual bandwidth. Its either you lock your gateways or the speed is not as advertised.

@ NaijaEcash,

You are probably using a Ku-band VSAT. Not all VSATs change faces! Get a C-band if you can.

Bandwidth is costed by ISPs or SPs regardless of the connectivity medium. If the ISP can not "throw" a cable to your village then you must get a V-SAT equipment (if they can provide for it).

@ All,

Don't blame the communications minister, He can easily sell DoPC's VSAT to Netcom should a better deal come up tomorrow. VSATs are mobile, you can even ship one to your village for christmas. Mobile VSATs can sit atop buses and are used at Trade fairs, Exhibitions. Don't bad mouth VSATs if you have little knowledge of them.

@ Samir,

I don't know why all this fuss about VSAT or no VSAT.

It's like keeping a PitBull in your couch and locking the poodle outside!

VSAT is basically for remote locations and places where you don't have fibre/ADSL. It is also for mobile connectivity. VSATs should NOT be used in cities where there is access to broadband connectivity (people here only think INTERNET, common wake up, connectivity does not necessarily imply internet!)

Glo/Nitel won't trunk an optical cable to downtown Mutum Biu or Takum! For rural connectivity, especially mobile telephony, your best bet is VSAT, as rightly said, Gilat are leaders in that regard. I concur.

The high latency you experience with VSAT is obviously due to the distance of the satellite from the earth and the fact that signals have to go up and then down (double latency). As a result you can run a ping test and never get below 500ms in a whole year . Nevertheless, demand for VSAT connectivity increases year in year out. Don't sit here and complain, google is your friend. Trade your VSAT in to these VSAT companies (i'm sure they'll jump at it because it's always a scarce commodity) then go buy your DSL. Shikena.

ps: Christino is a Certified "Network" Specialist (embryo expert)


In addition,

Wimax/wi-fi do not work independently, they are just means of extending network connectivity, i mean they cannot provide start up connectivity. You cannot compare them with V-SAT. In remote areas, VSAT gets the signals and pass it on to Wimax to enlarge the coverage area and not the other way round, Wimax cannot sit in a remote area and get signals from a distant location. You get the maths and the "catch"?

Christino, Thanks, U've said it all.