• Forum
• SITREP
• Military
• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security

• Space

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Public Eye

NigComSat-1

On September 27, 2003, Nigeria joined the league of nations with satellites in space. Nigeria's quest to enter the space race was realised with the launch of its first satellite, NigeriaSat1 and this was subsequently followed by the deployment of a second satellite, NigComSat1. The National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) began the NIGCOMSAT-1, which was launched on May 14, 2007. A strategic alliance with some U.S. firms has resulted in NASRDA initiating a pilot project on telemedicine, tele-education and video conferencing. These national ICT infrastructure programs are coming on the heels of public-private partnerships to build ICT centers in Nigerian universities and polytechnics.

In December 2004 Science and Technology Minister, Professor Turner Isoun, has signed the contract for the design manufacture and launch of the Nigerian Communication Satelite-1 (NIGCOMSAT-1). The contract awarded to China Great Wall Industry Cooperation (CGWIC), was approved in November 2003 by the Federal Executive Council. The expected launch date was December 2006. In April 2006 it was announced that the Federal Government will invest about $450 million in the project to ensure the proper operation of the proposed Nigerian Communication Satellite (NIGCOMSAT-1). The sum was expected to cover the cost of the satellite itself, the ground station, the training of engineers and other related expenses.

The satellite was manufactured by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) and carried 28 transponders to cover the whole of sub-Saharan Africa, addressing its needs for telephony, broadcasting, direct-to-home television, Internet and other services. The satellite is designed with a mission life of 15 years and weighs about 5,100 kilograms. Apart from building a satellite for Nigeria, China is using the same DFH-4 platform to construct a domestic telecommunications satellite, Sinosat-II.

NigComSat had communications capabilities and was anticipated to offer bandwidth to other operators to enable them address issues of access into geographically-dispersed terrains and uneven topography that characterise the nation's landscape. On the issue of broadband access, which has been a major impediment, it is hoped that the launching of the Nigerian Communications Satellite (NIGCOMSAT) would provide the much needed bandwidth at cheaper rate and reduce the cost of Internet access in the country.

NIGCOMSAT-1 Payload 
C-band Payload          4 transponders 
Ku-band Payload        14 transponders 
Ka-band Payload         8 transponders 
L-band Payload          2 transponders 
Antenna subsystem consists of seven antennas 

• Ku-Band will provide services for Telephony, Video, Data transfer, Telemedicine, Teleconferencing and teleeducation;
• Ka-Band will provide services for Telephony, Video, Data transfer;
• C-Band will predominantly be used for television signals and Internet data transmissions.; and
• L-Band will augment GPS signals to about 3-5m and thus play a major role in security and surveillance.

NigComSat-1, Africa's only communication satellite, failed in orbit in November 2008. NigComSat-1 experienced a technical hitch on November 10, 2008 as a result of its South SADA anomaly. NigComSat-1 was put on a safe mode after a power failure which occurred on November 8, 2008 forcing the operators to terminate its mission to avoid colossal damage to other satellites in the orbit.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) issued third generation (3G) licenses to four telecommunications companies on May 24, 2007. The expectation was that the license beneficiaries would pioneer the laying of the foundation for the high speed voice, data and video transmission networks Nigeria needs to improve its presence in the global marketplace.

Plans by NigComSat to enter into last mile services that will enable the satellite service provider offer direct service to subscribers generated diverse reactions across the telecoms industry. The Federal Government realized over US$1.0 billion dollars from the sale of spectrum in the first half of 2007. But critics charged that it was not acceptable for Government to issue free spectrum to NIGCOMSAT, a government agency when the worth of the 3G spectrum was predicated on the number of available frequency bands. If it was the intention of government for Nigcomsat to become a full blown telecommunications operator, the government need not have bothered to privatize Nitel and encourage a group of Nigerian investors to pay hundreds of millions of dollars for a stake in Nitel only for government to turn around and begin a full blown competing telecommunications operator by investing in another telecommunications company. It was apparent under the circumstance that the intention of Nigcomsat, was to provide full telecommunications business through the back door without fairly competing for a license, and without the same license terms and conditions as other operators in the market.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is the independent National Regulatory Authority for the telecommunications industry in Nigeria. The Commission is responsible for creating an enabling environment for competition among operators in the industry as well as ensuring the provision of qualitative and efficient telecommunications services throughout the country. The Board of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) met on 1st August, 2007 and deliberated on various challenges affecting the telecommunications industry in the country. The Nigerian Communications Commission had refused the satellite company's request for licence to offer last mile service. Government's intervention in the face-off that ensued between the two organisations saw NCC granting an International Data Access (IDA) licence to NigComSat.

The NCC Board deliberated on some statements that had come to its attention from the publications placed by the Nigerian Communications Satellite Ltd (NigComSat) in some national dailies and decided that NCC will not wish to join issues with NigComSat or any other government agencies on the pages of the newspapers. It is however important to clarify the Commission's position and put into proper perspective the salient issues in this case. In the said publication, NigComSat had stated that they had applied for the use of certain frequencies and licences to enable them provide fixed, mobile and last mile services.

It is pertinent to note that with the approval of the Federal Executive Council, the adoption and publication of the National Telecoms Policy (NTP), the Nigerian Government firmly resolved to liberalise the telecommunications market and promote competition. One of the policy objectives of the NTP was the restructuring and privatization of NITEL and M-TEL by the divestment of majority shares owned by the government to the private sector. This has been achieved by the sale of a substantial portion of government interest in NITEL and M-TEL to Transcorp.

The Commission is empowered by the Nigerian Communication Act to implement the National Telecommunications Policy and Government's general policies on Communications. The NCC is therefore clearly charged by the policy and the law to issue licences to all operators and service providers in Nigeria. This is why NITEL/M-TEL were licenced by the NCC and the two organizations also paid in full for their GSM frequencies and other licencees just like every other operator even when they were fully owned by government. It is therefore in view of this clear understanding of both the provisions of the Policy and the Law that government did not consider it improper for the NCC to be represented on the Board of NigComSat. It is obvious that Government clearly did not intend NigComSat to be a fixed or mobile telecommunications services provider that will be in competition with other such licencees.

The Nigeria Communications Satellite Company (NIGCOMSAT) adopted all kinds of method for the Government to approve an operating license to provide last mile terrestrial services. Looking at the thrust of the circumstances of the directives to grant terrestrial Frequency to NIGCOMSAT, it is clear that NIGCOMSAT will abandon its primary objective and indeed become an operator providing core end user telecommunications services.