Nigeria: Starcomms unveils new $200m CDMA technology

WITH a promise to change the way Nigerians do telecom business, leading CDMA 3G mobile provider, Starcomms Limited has concluded plans to deploy the latest CDMA EVDO Release – A technology with initial roll out schedule for Abuja, Onitsha, (Anambra State) Aba, (Abia State) and Asaba, Delta State.

Maher Qubain, CEO unveiled Starcomms’ latest move aimed at strategically positioning it for greater influence in the ever expanding Nigeria telecom market in Lagos while playing host to a team of visiting QUALCOMM executives to Nigeria. The duo of Pertti Johansson, President, Middle East & Africa Region and Dr. Tom O’Neill, Vice President Africa & Central Asia were in the country to foster closer business relations with Nigeria.

Qubain noted that Kaduna, Abeokuta and Zaria will also be cities where the network will roll out in the coming weeks. It already has foothold in Lagos, Ibadan, Kano, Maiduguri and Port Harcourt which provide its over 500,000 subscribers base. Starcomms, the CEO stated has already made investments worth 150m dollars in the last seven months, with a promise of another $50 million in its expansion project covering 30 cities.

Johansson told Vanguard that their visit to Nigeria was primarily aimed at “strengthening the economies of Africa,” especially with regards to the growing use of technology. “Nigeria’s market is very important to QUALCOMM and to the world knowing that it is the biggest in the African continent,” said Johansson. Qualcomm is the global patent owner of the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology. The latest EVDO Release-A technology is capable of delivering average speeds of 800 Kpbs and will provide the world class high speed broadband experience to the users. “Qualcomm is committed to doing business in Nigeria as one of the fastest growing telecommunication markets in the world,” said O’Neill. He stated that the company spends about $1.5 billion yearly on R& D annually.

The CDMA platform offers 3G wireless services which enables consumers and professionals to experience excellent voice quality as well as a wide array of compelling data services including mobile internet connectivity, mobile email, multimedia services like digital photos and movies, wireless application downloading amongst other features. It’s commercialisation in Nigeria by Starcomms has made a huge impact in transforming the Nigerian telecom landscape as a much more efficient and cost-effective technology that can be conveniently handled by most subscribers.

Qubain, quite seize the opportunity of the Qualcomm chiefs’ presence to announce Starcomms as the first to “introduce this latest CDMA technology to the West Africa sub-Region.” He noted that the team’s visit was a clear endorsement of the performance of CDMA technology in Nigeria and it’s evolution as a major telecommunications destination which will ultimately become a paramount player on the global stage. O’Neil and Johansson are expected to provide further insight during their stay in Nigeria.

Dr O’Neil joined Qualcomm in 1995, and has responsibility for business development activities in Africa and Central Asia, which also includes CIS states. Prior to his current position, he was responsible for development programmes for integrated circuits within Qualcomm CDMA Technologies (QCT). O’Neill, who holds a doctorate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT in semiconductor physics. He was a director with US WEST Advanced Technologies in Boulder, Colorado.

As President of Qualcomm, Middle East and Africa, (MEA) Johansson oversees all business activities in the Middle East and Africa region, provides strategic direction and manages all of Qualcomm’s operations in the region. He was previously President, Qualcomm Europe.

Source: Vanguard