Chima Onyekwere, is founder/chief executive officer of Linkserve Limited, Nigeria’s first Internet Service established since 1996. Calm, calculated and razor-sharp, Onyekwere is a name and his vision to provide internet connectivity to Nigeria has been widely applauded. A geologist, the Nigerian IT egghead is is also the founder of SAAP-TECH (Nigeria) Limited and Dealers Warehouse Limited. He spoke to hilary okeke

Disappearance of NigComSat
Well, it is unfortunate that it happened. But just like accidents do occur, there is nothing unusual about that. There are some other big operators in the Satellite communication business worldwide, who have also lost one Satellite or the other. Early last year, New Sky lost a Satellite at launch point and that Satellite was supposed to provide service to Africa. The hype that is being created in the NigComSat case is rather unfortunate. The Satellite was launched, it had customers and was functional – it was a success story in itself. Why are we then projecting this unfortunate incident that has occurred? This is a very young company in its budding stage. Let me tell you about CNN – for several years, Ted Turner that founded CNN struggled and met with difficulties and was almost bankrupt. But he eventually succeeded and today, CNN is a success story. We should be very careful the way we bring people down in Nigeria. Someone decides to try something new and we just want to bring him down for our personal glory. I am a Satellite user and one of the largest providers in this market, and I know the challenges involved in doing business in Nigeria. The challenges of doing business in Nigeria are enormous because government has not really taken care of its responsibilities, and we should not quickly dismiss an innovation that had required a lot of boldness. The managing director has done a fantastic job in my own estimation. I think this is time for us to reflect on how to get the Satellite back up, and not discourage the NigComSat crew. New Sky lost a Satellite last year, which was far more expensive than our own and today, they are still in business. Many other operators have lost Satellites in orbit or at take-off point and the cries have not been as loud as it has been here. Capacity of course, is shrinking but opportunities are coming up as well for additional Satellites top be launched and it is only a question of time for those who are persistent – they will definitely succeed.
Dependents of NigComSat
NigComSat will work with third-party providers to see how they can assign their premium customers particularly, first and all the others. They have to move them to alternative Satellites as long as service is provided in a professional and respectable manner, and I am positive they are doing that already.
Possibilities of Replacement of the Satellite
The thing about Satellite communication is that you as an operator, have been allocated space at a particular degree and you can always build another one and put it in the exact place. If they have enough resources and capability, they can actually buy a Satellite and move it to that location, just to provide service centrally. I am sure they are evaluating so many other options.
Telecom Operators, ISPs and Provision of Internet Services
The fact is that there are different kind of solutions and applications in the market and each is serving a particular niche. The EV-DO or 3G alternative is available purely for consumer usage. Sometimes, it is very fast, sometimes slow and sometimes, it is totally unavailable. So, it has its own problems. Considering the capacity to back-haul from one cell site to another; and the capacity to move from one cell site area to another, you find out that the moment increases or reduces, as the case may be. What we at Linkserve deliver however, is a premium brand in broadband, whereby the service delivery is unique, specific; targeted to a user and designed for the user. We are not a mass-oriented business; we have carved a niche in the market. The alternative technologies introduced by telecom operators are no threat to ISPs because if it were, Nigcomsat would not have been in business, likewise SkySat, IntelSat, among others. There are certain areas in this market that EV-DO would not be able to serve. Even as we speak, it is serving only major cities: Lagos, Abuja, Port-Harcourt, and Kano. We have 36 States in the country and about four only, are being served. That is certainly not enough. Even the GSM service has not penetrated everywhere; new players that just launched into the market are getting 2 million subscribers in this same market and that is to tell you the capacity of this market. Some of these subscribers switch from one network to another, as a matter of choice – that is the spirit of competition. We can deliver service at any point in this country, irrespective of the terrain, availability of electricity, telephone lines or cell sites – it does not matter. We can deliver service there, and that is the uniqueness about our solution.
Linkserve and Business Environment
Well, I would say the business environment here is friendly, save for Government (Federal and State) policies, which are often stringent and suitable for business. Most of the major cities in Nigeria are over-populated because they are the only places where you find job opportunities; and everyone is migrating to that area. They eventually become congested and chaotic. Beyond that, in our market today the friendly environment for competitors actually provides an opportunity for emerging operators. Now, NigComSat is down and people who want to build fibre can speed up and build fibre. When launching the next Satellite, they now know to ensure that the fate of the last one would not repeat itself. That is how we learn; that is how we get a lot better. So, there is competition in the market and it has its advantages. You also find that in very competitive markets, the risks are high, and the stakes are equally high.
Linkserve’s Solution
Our solution is very unique and resilient. We have proven it over and over. We launched the Satellite in 2002 and we are growing annually at a geometric rate. The solution is designed in such a manner that irrespective of your location, you can enjoy clean, uninterrupted broadband service. We do not have too many bottlenecks or congestions. The signals travel from wherever you are located straight into the United States and back home. That is why it is very fast and reliable – absolutely no interruption. That is the beauty of what we provide. We can serve where GSM or EV-DO operators have not deployed. It means we can reach the market faster than any other person. Well, it may not be affordable to everybody. It is not a basic service but one for serious users. If you want to get information in real good time, that is what you need. It is not ideal for a small user who just wants to send e-mails and do a little browsing. It is for aggressive, serious users who have need for information, research or for managing their transactions. Remember it is not just about the Internet, it is also a data network; which means our users can connect their operations cum branches to a central location using our network. However, you do not have a need for telephone.
Driving Down Cost of Bandwidth
Well, in the last 28 months, two Satellites have collapsed in our region – maybe a lot of people have forgotten about that. Every now and then, we hear that the Sat-3 gets cut and nobody considers the cost of fixing it. These costs are enormous because you have to bring in a ship and it has to trace where the damage had taken place, and then fix it. We have lost two Satellites – New Sky and NigComSat. This situation will bring a lot of demand on whatever available bandwidth resources in this market today. I wish we did not lose those Satellites, but we lost them and that implies that costs may be driven up. In the absence of these losses, nothing can really be done to reduce the cost of bandwidth; unless our Government intervenes and gives support to local companies, to continue to thrive. Government cannot stand aloof and pretend that this does not affect the common people. We cannot pretend that in a capitalist set-up, Government does not have a role to play in supporting organizations that operate in their territory. America has done it a couple of times recently and it is an eye opener for other countries. But, the dream of affordable broadband for all is realizable here. The reason why capacity is cheaper abroad is that all the fibre has been laid years ago and during the boom, up to 2003, the organizations that laid those cables have sold capacity, and made a lot of money from it. Most fibres you find in the U.S are depreciated and so, it becomes easier for the operator to reduce price, knowing that he is not depending on profit. However, most of the ones we have in Nigeria are brand new and it would take some time for prices to go down, considering that the investors need to recoup their investment. Broadband would eventually become cheaper than it is today.