Press Release

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Main One Cable unveils new IP services; hosts Financial Services Sector Event

Press Release - Thursday, September 8, 2011

LAGOS, Nigeria, September 8, 2011:   Main One Cable Company, Nigeria’s premier and leading provider of broadband Internet services to large telecommunication and service providers has unveiled two new IP services targeted at meeting the growing broadband capacity needs of its customers.

The new products, Global IP Transit, targeted at large service providers and operators and Global IP Internet Access, targeted at partners, institutions and organizations enables customers to be connected to a Tier One provider and ensures that they receive optimum routes for traffic wherever the destination may be globally.  In addition, with the IP-NGN platform, traffic can be switched locally, thereby expediting Internet transactions, and latency is significantly improved for customers connected to Main One; recent tests show a significant difference of in latency of about 100 milliseconds compared to traffic routed outside Nigeria.

Speaking during the Sector Event organized for CTOs, CIOs and IT Directors from the Financial Services sector on Thursday at the  Radisson Blu Anchorage Hotel in Victoria Island, the Chief Executive Officer of Main One Cable, Ms. Funke Opeke, said “this event underscores our continuous effort to lead the availability of uninterrupted high quality broadband capacity. We are therefore pleased to unveil our new IP services which will guarantee increased business opportunities and efficiency for our partners and customers”.

Ms. Opeke added that since Main One commenced operations, it has placed the development of innovative products and services at the forefront of its business. She also said that product development and appropriate pricing remain at the heart of its push to increase broadband penetration in Nigeria and enable both small and medium businesses to leverage the opportunities which Main One’s unmatched broadband capacity offers.

In his comment, the Head of Marketing and Strategy, Main One Cable, Adebayo Oyewole described the new services as a unique opportunity to spur business growth by organizations with specific bandwidth needs. According to Mr. Oyewole, “The two new services introduced today represent significant milestones in our quest to help our partners grow and deliver superior results.  There is no reason why Nigeria cannot leapfrog and take advantage of technology that already exists in the country today”.   This point was further underscored by Mr. Said Rechchad, GM, Cisco Nigeria, who as the keynote speaker highlighted how lessons learned from the adoption of broadband technology by leading global banks can be leveraged to address the disparate needs of the 70% unbanked citizens in the country.  Cisco was Main One’s technology partner and deployed its CRS-3 routing system, one of the first of its kind in West Africa.

In his testimonial about the cable company, the Deputy General Manager, and Head, IT Hardware, Guaranty Trust Bank, Mr. Aaron Mosugu, lauded Main One Cable’s excellent service, and commented that GTB’s subscription to the cable had enabled its local and regional business operations.  He noted that Main One had tremendously improved access between the bank and its customers, and reiterated the bank’s increased commitment to retain its partnership with the cable company.

Another stakeholder in the financial services sector, Mr. Charles Umunnakwe, the Group Head, System Engineering, Diamond Bank expressed optimism on the quality of broadband the company is offering. While expressing his organization’s willingness to explore partnering with the company, he noted that Main One’s huge bandwidth would enable businesses do practically anything in enhancing operational effectiveness. In his words “We were previously stuck with practically a single provider, but now, Main One is giving us a lot of opportunities to diversify and increase our business portfolio.”

It will be recalled that since the Main One Cable network went live in July 2010, it has continued to break ground with its open access, wholesale broadband connectivity. Main One currently has a growing list of major telecom and Internet service providers in Nigeria including MTN, Etisalat, Starcomms, Swift Networks, Mobitel, Netcom, IPNX, Visafone, e-Tranzact, GT Bank, and Exxon Mobil.

Key Facts:

In July 2010, Main One switched on its 1,920 Gbps, 7,000 kilometers long, submarine fiber optic cable system linking West Africa to Europe. The cable, which has landing stations in Nigeria and Ghana and branching units in Morocco, Canary Islands, Senegal and Ivory Coast, delivers unprecedented broadband capacity to West Africa, more than ten times what was available.

About Main One Cable Company:

Main One is wholly African and is the first privately owned submarine network cable in West Africa with initial landing stations in Nigeria, Ghana and Portugal. Main One delivered its cable system on time and within budget, a rare occurrence with projects of this magnitude and complexity. For more details visit: http://mainonecable.com/index.php