MTN, Glo rush 3G mobile telephony services
By Jonah Iboma
MTN Nigeria and Globacom have announced the availability of commercial Third Generation mobile telephony services to subscribers.
MTN said in a statement on Sunday that it would offer subscribers 3.5G services while Globacom announced in a statement on Monday that it would offer what it called 3G plus services.
The Chief Executive Officer of MTN, Mr. Ahmad Farroukh, said the company’s 3G telephony would run on a High Speed Packet Access platform.
Speaking at a media conference on Monday, Farroukh said HSPA was technically a mid-way between third-generation and fourth-generation mobile telephony. He said it was referred to technically as 3.5G and represented an advanced form of third-generation mobile telephony.
Among the services that the technology will make available are video calling, television and video streaming, downloads on the go, and very high-speed Internet.
He said that 3.5G services are much faster than ordinary 3G services as they offer download speeds of up to 3.6 mega bits per second, which is 10 times faster than ordinary 3G.
Farroukh added that currently, there was no other higher or better recognised 3G service than HSPA. He explained that a formal demonstration of the service would be done on Wednesday, noting that subscribers should look towards a better service in 2008.
The Executive Director, Marketing Communication, Globacom, Mr. Okon Iyanam , said that the 3G Plus services would be available to Glo subscribers in Lagos , Abuja and Port Harcourt in the first instance, while the service would be extended in other major towns and cities in due course.
“In our tradition of being in the forefront of innovative services in the telecommunication industry, our 3G Plus is now live and launch-ready.
All we are awaiting is the approval of our 3G tariff structure by the Nigerian Communications Commission and once the regulatory authority approves the price structure any moment from now, we will immediately do the commercial launch,”Iyanam said.
But with both firms announcing the service as being ready for inauguration, it appears that the rollout appears to be a rushed one.
The Chief Marketing and Customer Service Officer, MTN, Bola Akingbade, however, denied this, stating that the firm had taken its time to ensure offering its subscribers the best of services.
He added that MTN’s engineers were literally working round the clock to give premium service. Akingbade said further that.
The Nigerian Communications Commission had awarded 3G licenses to four firms- Alheri Engineering Limited, Celtel Nigeria Limited, Globacom limited and MTN at a cost of $150m each.
Both Alheri, a subsidiary of the Dangote Group and Celtel are yet to announce dates for service rollout though, they both confirmed working hard on it.
MTN Nigeria and Globacom have announced the availability of commercial Third Generation mobile telephony services to subscribers.
MTN said in a statement on Sunday that it would offer subscribers 3.5G services while Globacom announced in a statement on Monday that it would offer what it called 3G plus services.
The Chief Executive Officer of MTN, Mr. Ahmad Farroukh, said the company’s 3G telephony would run on a High Speed Packet Access platform.
Speaking at a media conference on Monday, Farroukh said HSPA was technically a mid-way between third-generation and fourth-generation mobile telephony. He said it was referred to technically as 3.5G and represented an advanced form of third-generation mobile telephony.
Among the services that the technology will make available are video calling, television and video streaming, downloads on the go, and very high-speed Internet.
He said that 3.5G services are much faster than ordinary 3G services as they offer download speeds of up to 3.6 mega bits per second, which is 10 times faster than ordinary 3G.
Farroukh added that currently, there was no other higher or better recognised 3G service than HSPA. He explained that a formal demonstration of the service would be done on Wednesday, noting that subscribers should look towards a better service in 2008.
The Executive Director, Marketing Communication, Globacom, Mr. Okon Iyanam , said that the 3G Plus services would be available to Glo subscribers in Lagos , Abuja and Port Harcourt in the first instance, while the service would be extended in other major towns and cities in due course.
“In our tradition of being in the forefront of innovative services in the telecommunication industry, our 3G Plus is now live and launch-ready.
All we are awaiting is the approval of our 3G tariff structure by the Nigerian Communications Commission and once the regulatory authority approves the price structure any moment from now, we will immediately do the commercial launch,”Iyanam said.
But with both firms announcing the service as being ready for inauguration, it appears that the rollout appears to be a rushed one.
The Chief Marketing and Customer Service Officer, MTN, Bola Akingbade, however, denied this, stating that the firm had taken its time to ensure offering its subscribers the best of services.
He added that MTN’s engineers were literally working round the clock to give premium service. Akingbade said further that.
The Nigerian Communications Commission had awarded 3G licenses to four firms- Alheri Engineering Limited, Celtel Nigeria Limited, Globacom limited and MTN at a cost of $150m each.
Both Alheri, a subsidiary of the Dangote Group and Celtel are yet to announce dates for service rollout though, they both confirmed working hard on it.
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