Huawei says it is working towards having a stronger radio spectrum, and development of a 4G/Long-Term Evolution network, to meet Nigeria’s growing need for broadband connectivity. It stated this on Tuesday, while also calling for further cooperation among stakeholders to build the Information and Communications Technology ecosystem in Nigeria.
In achieving a stronger management of the radio spectrum, the Managing Director of Huawei Nigeria, Frank Li, said that the company would deepen the links between the Chinese and Nigerian telecommunications sectors, build alliances across the broader Nigerian ICT industry, and support progress towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
He said that Huawei has adopted three strategies to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals with Nigerian stakeholders, saying the first would be by giving the Nigerian people access to better quality communication networks and services.
“Huawei’s Network Operation Center for Africa is located in Nigeria. The fast trouble shooting offered by the centre has already helped Nigeria’s main telecoms operators to improve their service quality,” Li said.
“By 2020, Huawei hopes to support 6.7 billion mobile broadband users, offering access speeds of up to a gigabit per second, and providing one billion connections on the cellular Internet of Things.
“In Nigeria, Huawei has called for stronger management of the radio spectrum, and the development of a 4G/LTE network to meet Nigeria’s growing need for broadband connectivity,” he added.
According to him, the second strategy being adopted by Huawei was in making Nigeria a centre for training high-tech ICT professionals.
“In 2006, Huawei established a regional training centre in Nigeria. It can offer training to 2,000 people every year, and to date has provided technical training to over 12,000 communications engineers.
“In 2013 to 2014, in association with the Ministry of Communications Technology, Huawei offered basic ICT training to 1,000 Nigerian women. After the first phase of the training program, participants gained a better understanding of the technology and were found to have a greater chance of finding employment or starting their own business,” he said.
Li affirmed that next year, Huawei will continue the partnership with the government, and will expand the program to further improve training. “In the period from 2015 to 2020, Huawei plans to build a Huawei Authorised Network Academy in Nigeria. It is hoped that the centre will train at least 5,000 experts in network technology, most of who will go on to support the growth of the ICT sector across Africa.”
“Nigeria will become the incubator for African ICT experts,” Li said, adding that, building sector-wide alliances to develop Nigeria’s ICT industry was the company’s third strategy to bridge digital divide.
“It is Huawei’s goal to bring the most advanced communication technologies, Internet of Things, and cloud analytics to every single person. Huawei will continue to work with the government and with telecoms operators to build more network pipes and boost Nigeria’s broadband connectivity. It will also broaden the work with enterprise customers, to support advances in the finance, power, education, and health industries. As smart devices become more universally adopted, everyone will be connected,” he said.
Further more, Li said that the company has been in talks with the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs and the Embassy of China to achieve very high Internet connectivity and the UN sustainable development goals.
“Huawei will grow the partnerships with Nigerian companies, in particular, by enhancing them to develop their own ICT expertise, and thus build alliances that span the entire sector,” he concluded.
JUMOKE AKIYODE
