Telecommunications giant, Globacom, is collaborating with the Benue, Rivers and Bayelsa State governments to provide easy and cheap telephone services in rural areas across the three states.
In Benue State, Globacom will provide telecommunications services in four sites in the selected rural areas, install telephone facilities and deploy requisite technical personnel for effective provision of such telecommunications services. Globacom will also supply alternative power for the sites towards ensuring uninterrupted telecommunications signals and service quality in the identified areas.
Mr. Tunde Amunikoro, Globacom’s head of public sector, said Globacom and the state government jointly chose the pilot sites for the project, with a plan to replicate the process periodically until the whole state is covered. The telecoms giant is optimistic that by the end the tenure of Governor Gabriel Suswan, there will be total Globacom coverage in Benue State.
Benue State government said they chose Globacom because of the company’s extensive coverage of the state, its superior 3G-Plus network and its genuine concern for improving telecommunications for Nigerians, "The Benue State government is convinced that Globacom is the network to partner with", an official of the state said.
Globacom had earlier gone into a similar of partnership with the Rivers and Bayelsa state governments. The River state project was part of the state’s sustainable development program in association with oil companies and multilateral agencies. The programme was co-ordinated by the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency (RSSDA) where base stations sites were jointly installed by Globacom the Rivers State government. The project had since been completed and launched.
In Bayelsa, Glo and the government jointly provided twenty sites in the rural and riverine areas.
Globacom is also in the process of sealing another partnership with the Bauchi State government on coverage for the newly restructured "world class Game Reserve" in Yankari. "Discussion on this has reached an advanced stage," Amunikoro said.
Globacom has been unrelenting in the expansion of its network to all nooks and crannies of the country, thereby bridging the communication gap between the various tiers of the society. This has also helped to reduce rural-urban migration in the country.