NCC Seeks Increased Internet Access

[Richard Akindele]

1. You do not need to quote somebody's post in total like you do. It just takes up space for no reason.

[quote]To summarize:
Wired infrastructure all over the country like you've suggested is too expensive for a country like Nigeria. No country has doen it yet not even the USA. http://www.photius.com/wfb1999/nigeria/ ... onomy.html [/quote]
I doubt you even read what I write. I suggest you start reading, so I don't sound like a broken record. Read what I write.

Show me where I suggested that the whole country be wired. I've greed with you that wireless is the way to go in [b]off the beaten path [/b]regions of the country. But in urban areas, we definitely need to adopt fibre optics.

The facts are simple.

1. Wireless is insecure and can be easily snooped into. No serious confidential business can be conducted over wireless. Business such as online banking, e-transactions in general. It's insecure because air is the medium by which it's carried. That makes you data available to everyone. As opposed to wired where much more effort is required to get at it.

2. Cost of Fibre may seem high at first, but fibre tech is actually cheaper in the long run. Why? Because fibre can carry all sorts of data (video, audio, data, etc) all on the same wire. Besides, is it really less expensive to place satellites in orbit for wireless tech?

3. Wireless tech degrades in bad weather, and interference.

4. Wireless is susceptible to congestion. Even though the Internet bandwidth may be enough, standards limit radio bandwidth.

I know you're caught in the drumbeat of fibre being expensive, rather than pay attention to the points I'm making. But the fact is, your whole premise is false. My point is corroborated by this old thread: viewtopic.php?t=429&highlight=fibre

If it's that costly as you claim, how come it's being developed in Abuja, with plans to extend it across the country in urban areas?


[quote]Wireless works and works as well as wired infrastructure. [/quote]

Works, yes. Secure, no.

Optical technologies are an essential actor owing to their tremendous capability to transmit and process a high density of information.


[quote]The USA got its one millionth telephone line in 1967. Nigeria got its twenty millionth telephone line in 2006 from a standing start of 450k in 2000. It would have been impossible to achieve this with wired technology. [/quote]

Unfortunately, when I call people in Nigeria on those [b]twenty millionth telephone[/b]s, I always come off with a bad experience because of the horrible sound quality, and constant breaks. Is that what you call a phone line?

Furthermore, can Nigerians order Internet service on that same phone line? Can they order cable tv service on that same phone line?

We don't need low-grade lifestyle in Nigeria. Nigeria has the money. Let's start to spend it on what matters, rather than dumping it in Swiss banks. Kabish!

[quote]The countries primary earner is Oil. We make approximately $15b to $25b a year from oil. If we were to spend it on fibre at the cost of $15k per 1km, that would provide 1m kilometres of fibre. Question is when literacy rates are 50%-55% and computer literacy is less; it's hard to justify wiring the whole country with fibre. Just wont happen.[/quote]

Again, pay attention. You keep harping on [b]whole country[/b]. I'm not advocating that the whole country be finished in one fell sweep. The project could be tiered over a decade, and yearly funds allocated for this important project.

Why do you feel everything Nigeria does should be completed withing 12 months? We need to distance ourselves from quantity and move toward a quality society.

Besides, there are ways you could get things built without having to award contracts to foreign for-profit companies.

I'm a CISCO Engineer, and can categorically tell you that, if our electronics engineers are trained on how to do this stuff, they can wire our cities at a very lost cost. That's why you need the government, not private sector.

The price you quoted above, $15k per 1km, what kind of fibre cable is it for? There are different kinds of fibre, namely: glass, single mode, multimode, plastic fibre.

[b]Singlemode fibre [/b]offers the greatest bandwidth, significantly cheaper in price, and offers significantly lower attenuation, making it the preferred choice for long haul telecommunications.

Singlemode fibre sells for as little as $40 for 30 Meters, i.e. about [b]$1,300 [/b] per km. Not the $15,000 you quoted.

Furthermore, instead of blowing $80,000 on a single CISCO Router, build a $700 computer, install several gigabit NIC cards in it, then install FREESCO for free. Right there you've just created an $80,000 equipment for a paltry $800.

I'm aware that some people are not in the business of listening to facts. They'd rather argue things they know little about. And any attempt to set them straight often deteriorates into a mud-slinging match like you attempted to do in some of your posts. Don't be a greaseball, listen and argue intelligently.