MainOne Cable upgrades infrastructure to meet growing demands

Main One Cable Company has upgraded its network infrastructure to meet the growing bandwidth demands.

The upgrade is for the lit capacity on its undersea fibre optic cable system with an additional 20 Gigabit Per Second (Gbps) between Lagos, Nigeria and Seixal Portugal, with deployment of an additional bank of 10 Gbps wavelengths ready for implementation on demand.

A press statement endorsed by Ms Jumoke Akande of Main One Cable Company and Courtney McDaniel of TE SubCom and made available to ITRealms Online, indicated that the upgrade was necessary to meet the growing demand for bandwidth on the Main One network.

This upgrade, they said, is the third capacity advancement of the network since Main One’s launch in June 2010.

According to them, with this upgrade, Main One is positioned as the undersea cable system carrier with the highest lit capacity in West Africa, with over 12 times the capacity of the incumbent operator and higher than other existing and planned operators.

The chief executive officer, MainOne, Ms Funke Opeke,  was quoted as saying they are growing the lit capacity on the network to accommodate the ever growing demand for the region’s Internet and international plus cross border transport capacity services.

“This reinforces our position as the leading provider of wholesale Internet and transmission services to meet the expectations of our customers,” she said.

The capacity upgrade, she noted was seamlessly executed by Main One’s Network Planning and Implementation team in conjunction with TE SubCom, Main One’s submarine cable system supplier and Business Unusual Limited, Infrastructure Project Managers.

The Vice President, Sales for TE SubCom, Mr. Michael Rieger, said they were  honored to have originally constructed Main One's world class network and to be a part of its continuing expansion.

“Main One's substantial increase in demand demonstrates their continued customer growth and we are pleased they have chosen us as supplier of this important upgrade,” he said.

ITRealms Online recollects that 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 and seeks to deliver its cable system on time and within budget.

Remmy Nweke
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MainOne is platinum sponsor @ ICT Girls Day'12

Nigeria’s first submarine cable company, Messrs MainOne Cable Company Limited, has planned to host the first ICT Girls Day to be hosted in Nigeria and chaired by Chief Executive Officer of MainOne Cable Company Limited, Ms Funke Opeke,.

Funke Opeke, CEO, MainOne Cable

Aside from chairing the event, MainOne Cable Company has also offered to be the platinum sponsor of the event, which has the objective of sensitizing young girls on the opportunities and relevance of getting into ICT as a profession.

The event, which will hold at the Golden Gate Restaurant, Ikoyi on April 26, is part of an initiative of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and is being hosted in Nigeria by eBusiness Life Communication, publishers of eBusiness Life Magazine.

In a letter to eBusiness Life, Ms. Funke Opeke, acknowledged the importance of having women in the profession, noting that the quest is what MainOne would like to partner eBusiness Life on.

“We will be delighted to support and I will be glad to chair,” she stated in the mail.

A press statement endorsed by chief executive officer, eBusiness Life, Mrs. Ufuoma Emuophedaro, said the one-day workshop is going to be a part of a long-running campaign meant to sensitize young girls and all stakeholders involved in moulding their careers path, on the need to take up ICT as a profession.

Ms. Opeke was quoted as urging other companies that have the growth of Nigeria’s ICT industry in mind to join in ensuring that the event is a huge success.

Mrs. Emuophedaro explained that as the chairperson, Ms. Opeke would steer the direction of the event and coordinate the panel of discussants and student competition. She will also address participating students in her capacity as an entrepreneur and professional ICT woman.

In her reaction, Mrs. Emuophedaro, noted that corporate organisations should be interested in the campaign because it is the right thing to do at this time of ICT development.

“This is the right thing to do. If other countries have observed the need to grow this industry through encouraging young girls, then, we should not be left behind. We must make sure that our young girls are given the chance to prove themselves in this all-important field.”

She stated that the ICT Girls’ Day workshop and subsequent campaign will further open up opportunities for girls in ICT sector.

The International Girls’ Day is an initiative launched through ITU Resolution 70 with the idea of creating a global environment that will empower and encourage girls and young women to consider careers in the field of information and communication technologies. The Union declared the 4th (fourth) Thursday of April every year as a day of encouragement to girls and young women to consider careers in ICT and society is reminded to support them in their choice.

As said by her, the pilot projects and campaigns have been launched in a number of countries for about 20 years, with the aim to change girls' and young women's behaviour patterns with regard to their choice of career and to expand their spectrum of career options.

As part of the 2012 event, there will be quiz and debate competitions between female students from selected secondary schools, roundtable discussion, interactive and motivational talk from renowned women ICT professionals, among others.

Further, she said that Ms. Opeke the founder of Main One Cable Company, operators of a submarine cable system linking countries in West and Central Africa with each other and connecting in Europe with other existing cable systems, linking the Americas and Asia.

Ms. Opeke worked in the United States (US) telecommunications industry for over 20 years before joining MTN Nigeria as the Chief Technical Officer, and subsequently advised Transcorp on the privatization of NITEL, and served briefly as Chief Operating Officer of NITEL.

Prior to her return to Nigeria, Ms. Opeke was Executive Director, Performance Assurance, the Wholesale Division of Verizon Communications, New York.

She holds a Bachelor of Science in Electronics and Electrical Engineering from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife in 1981 and a Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University, New York in May 1984. Ms. Opeke is a member of the Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, USA and the Nigerian Society of Engineers with dual citizenship of the United States and Nigeria.

Remmy Nweke



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MainOne gives bonus capacity to partners

MainOne Cable Company, has rewarded its loyal partners with bonus capacity, according to the Head, Marketing & Strategy Group, Mr. Adedayo Odulate.

Odulate also said that the premier provider of broadband Internet services to large telecommunication companies, including the Internet service providers and enterprises began the reward of its partners under the Partner Advantage Programme (PAP) with complimentary capacity for one month.

He said that the Partner Advantage Programme is a loyalty incentive programme targeted at distributors of MainOne’s bandwidth.

Odulate explained that the bonus capacity would provide the Internet service providers with a continous revenue stream by creating an opportunity for them to drive customer acquisition create new market channels and encourage greater loyalty from its existing customer base, while selling high quality broadband solutions from MainOne at no extra costs to the ISPs.

“The programme is also aimed at increasing sales to the partners in order to motivate them to remain on the MainOne network,” he enthused.

The bonus capacity provisioned to KKontech and NG Com, the two beneficiaries of this bonus, he said, for instance, commenced on the January 20, 2012.

Stressing that Kkontech was given a bonus of 15Mbps, while NG Com was given a bonus of 10Mbps.

“The Partner Loyalty Programme is designed towards structuring a framework that will enable Main One reward some of its key customers with extra capacity, improved profit margins and an opportunity to expand their customer base, at no cost to them.  Our offer of this complimentary capacity is theirs to use as they deem fit, and is exclusive only to members of the Partner Advantage Program. This is part of our commitment in ensuring that our Partners get  the best of services we offer to them,” he said.

Reacting, the chief executive officer, NG Com’s Mr. Ekeng E. Ekeng commended Main One, asserting that the extra capacity assisted the company in acquiring new customers.

“With the bonus capacity we received from Main One, we doubled the capacity of our clients. We have received very positive feedback from our clients, and we are confident that many of our clients will retain this bonus capacity after the promotional period is over,” Ekeng declared.

Equally responding, Head, Sales at Kkontech, Mr. Femi Omonehin, said that during the period under review for the bonus capacity from Main One, although they had a challenge with an alternate bandwidth provider.

“However, because of this bonus capacity, we were able to migrate all affected customers over to the MainOne network, and these customers didn’t experience any downtime,” he said.

ITRealms Online recalls that the MainOne’s Partner Advantage Programme, is an initiative of MainOne Cable to reward its partners’ technical competence and business commitment during the Christmas and New Year 2011 period by providing them with complimentary capacity for a one month period.

Remmy Nweke
ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D