China is set return Nigeria into space with the re-launch of a replacement satellite for Nigeria communication satellite on December 20, 2011 after three years absence due to a heat flare which destroyed Nigeria’s first communication satellite.
NigComSat-1R will be a major boost to the ICT industry especially the telecommunications and broadcasting sectors as it would help in easily migrating from analogue to digital broadcasting using the Direct-To-Home (DTH) service that is entrenched in NigComSat 1R.
The new satellite called Nigeria Communications Satellite Replacement (Nigcomsat 1R) is a super hybrid geostationary satellite with C, Ku, Ka and L bands and 44 transponder payloads. NigComSat-1R will provide optimal and cost effective voice, data, video, internet and application services solutions.
Its Ka-band employs spot beams that are distributed for trunking and broadcast purposes respectively; Ku-band payload with 14 operational channels; C-band payload with 4 transponders and L-band payload with 2 transponders.? Its features and benefits unveiled to the information and communications technology sector in Lagos is expected to help Nigeria migrate from analogue to digital broadcasting seamlessly.
Engineer Timasaniyu Ahmed-Rufai, managing director, NigComSat Limited, stated that the launch of NigComSat-1R would ensure that Nigerians have access to quality communication without necessarily paying exorbitant fees for the opportunity and redress the long term damage to the Nigerian broadcasting environment created by years of technological dumping and inconsistent approach to signal and content distribution by practitioners.
Vice President, China Great Wall Industry, Mr. He Xing, said the goal of NigComSat-1R was to provide coverage over Africa, the Middle East, Europe and parts of Asia, thus improving communication access which would force down the cost of telecommunications in the country especially in the area of internet and GSM communication.
The Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs.
Omobola Johnson, who was represented by Mr. Ola Ogunneye, special assistant on ICT said that the federal government’s plan to launch Nigeria Communications Replacement Satellite (Nigcomsat 1R) into orbit would bring down the cost of bandwidth used for communications services.
The Director- General, National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Engineer Yomi Bolarinwa, said the hybrid Nigcomsat 1R would help broadcasting and cable television companies bring digital broadcasting to millions of Nigerians.
Speaking on future trends in broadcasting technology, he said a lot of convergence was going on, noting that in the past three years, multi-platform delivery, transition to high definition television (HDTV), files based/tapeless workflows, and internet protocol network content delivery have become the order of the day.