MD/CE NIGCOMSAT pays a courtesy visit on the DG of NTA
- Posted in News
The visit of NIGCOMSAT management team to the Nigerian Television Authority on Wednesday 30th November, 2016 was not only to familiarise itself with the new Director General, Yakubu Ibn Mohammed, but to also reiterate the need for both organizations to work together for the promotion of Nigerian indigenous products.
NIGCOMSAT Boss, Abimbola Alale, who led the delegation, extended an invitation to her NTA counterpart, to visit the Abuja Ground Control Station as well as the Direct-To-Home platform built and set-up by NIGCOMSAT so that both organizations can work out areas of collaboration. She said, "Working together with a fellow indigenous company will provide some kind of cushion effect to the challenges we have as a country. We need solve the problem of capital flight in this era of recession and maximise the full benefits of the Nigerian communication infrastructure before the digital switch over, which should take place in 2017. " While allaying fears that operators are worried about NigComSat-1R services being a lone satellite, she informed the host organization that plans are underway to acquire additional satellites, that is, NigComSat-2 and 3. She also reiterated that having a big organization like the NTA, as a customer will ensure the completion of talks with other satellite operators for a back-up satellite to ensure continuity throughout the lifespan of the satellite.
On his part, the DG of the NTA, welcomed the idea of collaboration with NIGCOMSAT. He said NIGCOMSAT and the NTA should be partners on progress and for a while his organization has been unable to take advantage of this. "With this recession, it has caused Nigerians to look inwards and think outside the box. For us at the NTA, we are not only thinking of survival but how to utilise home grown technology, that is also government-owned for the digital migration" he said. He further stated that NTA hopes to subsequently migrate its services from the foreign-owned Eutelsat, which it has been utilising for a long time to NigComSat-1R in order to patronize its service and also support a sister organization grow.
Alhaji Mohammed also added that the fear of NigComSat-1R redundancy is being put to rest by the assurances of the NIGCOMSAT Chief Executive. He also proposed that both organizations could enter into barter agreement. "I have the basic knowledge of satellite operation, but we will need a team of experts to look into the proposed partnership, look at what both of us can offer," he added. He also accepted the invitation for members of the NTA Management team to visit and see facilities at the ground control station of NIGCOMSAT in Abuja.
