Emma Okonji
Globacom has assured Nigerians of last-mile connectivity that will lead to further reduction in the cost of broadband bandwidth, following the planned rollout of its Glo2 submarine cable outside of Lagos.
This, would take connectivity to offshore oil communities in the south-south region.
The Group Chief Technical Officer at Globacom, Mr. Sanjib Roy, who made the disclosure at a recent media parley in Lagos, said the planned Glo2 rollout, would boost telecommunication service delivery in the country by providing economic and social empowerment for communities in oil producing regions, as well as provide high speed internet connectivity in the region that would support 5G rollout.
Globacom had in May last year, told Nigerians that it was working with Huawei Technologies to build and roll out its Glo2 submarine cable in the next 18 months.
In keeping to its promise, Roy said work on the Glo2 rollout plan has reached advanced stage and would soon be rolled out to boost connectivity, especially in hinterlands for last-mile connectivity.
Nigeria has five submarine cables from Europe to the shores of Lagos, including Glo1, but none of the submarine cables have been extended to the hinterlands to address last-mile connectivity, a situation that has led to high cost of broadband bandwidth and slow speed internet connectivity, which Glo2 seeks to address.
According to Roy, the planned rollout of Glo2 would be an extension of Glo1 submarine cable from Lagos to Akwa-Ibom, connecting major oil fields and providing high speed internet to the South-south region.
Announcing its additional investment plan for 2019, the Senior Manager, Marketing Communications at Globacom, Mr. Shola Mogaji, said Globacom would be investing in Glo Healthcare, Glo Entertainment Portal, Glo Artificial Intelligence Services, Glo Mobile Money, Glo Drive and Glo Connect Services, among others, designed to enhance customer experience in 2019.
According to Morgaji, the Glo Healthcare is a digital health assistant programme designed to help Nigerians access best global healthcare directly on their mobile phone. It can connect ad much as 300 specialised doctors worldwide, get information on common medical conditions at the click of a button, provides access to information on common health challenges and health advice on public health, and it can track key health parameters like blood pressure (BP), sugar level, among others. It provides
the entire info in audio translation in English, Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba languages.
Mogaji, described the Glo Entertainment Portal as a single point of access for all digital content through Glo Café which supplies premium content of top international labels, with over two million local and foreign songs now available on Glo Café, as well as over 12,000 Hollywood, Nollywood, Bollywood movies on Glo movie café. It also provides access to more than 10,000 games from top gaming developers across the globe.
“The Glo Artificial Intelligence Service called Glo TITI, is highly interactive and engaging and assists customers to get information about data plans, prepaid plans, postpaid plans, and Value Added Service (VAS),” he added.
He said Globacom would also be investing in mobile money in 2019 to boost agent network for quick mobilisation of funds for utility payments, “for safe and secure transfers to reduce physical cash management.”
