Mike Adenuga’s Globacom Signs Network Extension Deal With Israeli Ceragon To Launch 5G

FUNSHO AROGUNDADE

Globacom Limited has entered into an agreement with Israeli network equipment supplier, Ceragon Networks Limited to expand its nationwide broadband coverage across Nigeria.

As part of this multi-million dollar deal, Ceragon, the global innovator and leading solutions provider of 5G wireless transport, will be providing Globacom with a customised solution that covers long-haul rural areas, high-capacity metro as well as the access network – enabling it to not only enhance its existing subscribers’ quality of experience but also to expand its reach to grow its market share further.

The project, initiated in Q4 2021, is due to complete deployment through the first half of 2022.

The Nigerian multinational telecommunications company led by Nigerian billionaire Mike Adenuga is the second-largest telecom services operator in Nigeria, with a 28.09% market share, according to Nigerian Communications Commission, as of December 2021.

Although the two companies did not disclose the financial details of the agreement, experts project that the pricing would be at “arm’s length, based on prevailing market rates”.

Doron Arazi, CEO of Ceragon Networks, commenting on the agreement, revealed that Globacom Limited can be confident that its network will be ready for 5G, as Ceragon’ solutions will provide Globacom with a 10-gigabyte-per-second (Gbps) network capacity over the air, with the ability to upgrade to 20 Gbps, if necessary.

“This capacity will strengthen the network of rural areas over long distances, high-capacity metropolitan networks as well as the access network,” he said.

The network infrastructure extension aligns with Glo’s strategic expansion plans to build Africa’s biggest and best telecommunications network and provide quality telecom services to its customers.

It will also bring a solution to fiber cut issues as Globacom will leverage Ceragon’s IP-50 E-Band solution to provide metro backhauling instead of fiber, and at times as backup.

“We believe that our partnership with Ceragon will help in our desire to build the most robust, advanced telecommunications network. Ceragon’s field-proven solutions and services allow us to quickly and reliably ramp-up our 4G and future 5G network and capacity needs while minimising our overall Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)”, Globacom commented.

With TCO optimization in mind, this solution will offer high capacity of 10Gbps over the air, with an upgrade path to as much as 20Gbps, as needed.

This solution, as well as others provided in this large project, is not only quick to deploy, but significantly reduces CAPEX and enables Globacom with fast-time-to-market.