NIGCOMSAT commences service in N1.8bn Belarus satellite deal

The Nigerian Communications Satellite (NIGCOMSAT) says it has commenced the provision of In-Orbit Test (IOT) service for the Belaruse National System of Satellite Communications and Broadcasting called Belintersat. The Managing Director of NIGCOMSAT, Ms. Abimbola Alale disclosed this at the weekend while welcoming the Belaruse officials led by Mr. Andrei Yanovich and the China Great […]

The Nigerian Communications Satellite (NIGCOMSAT) says it has commenced the provision of In-Orbit Test (IOT) service for the Belaruse National System of Satellite Communications and Broadcasting called Belintersat.
The Managing Director of NIGCOMSAT, Ms. Abimbola Alale disclosed this at the weekend while welcoming the Belaruse officials led by Mr. Andrei Yanovich and the China Great Wall Corporation (CGWC).
Ms Alale said with the commencement of service from Abuja in the $400,000 deal had broken the jinx that Nigeria could not provide high technology to European countries.
NIGCOMSAT is to manage the Belarus satellite for 15 years, according to officials.
According to the NIGCOMSAT MD, the Belintersat has the KU and C bands which covers parts of Africa from Europe, adding that with their antenna in Nigeria, NIGCOMSAT will be able to monitor their payloads which  is part of the service that it is rendering to them.
She said: “Within the next 15 years, we shall be monitoring their payload and at the same sending the information on real time to Belaruse as they have ground station there.
“NIGCOMSAT started this business before them, we have the experience as we have been here in the last 10 years. In the next two weeks, we shall also start the Carrier Spectrum Monitoring (CSM), which also involves monitoring the traffic on the payload without sending any command since they have clients that are based in the African continent.”
She said the partnership would help Belaruse carry its services to Africa market.
Alale also disclosed that NIGCOMSAT is prepared for the take-off of NIGCOMSAT 2 and 3.
“We have been preparing for this in the last 4 years; our due process certification is ready and handy”, she said.  She however said the delivery of the project will be based on the commitment of government through its counterpart funding which is between 10 to 15 per cent of the project cost, adding that once this is done, it will become easy for the ministry to seek foreign investors for the take-off of the project.
In a remark, Yanovich said the Memorandum of Understanding through the provision of IOT satellite will assist Belaruse in building capacity in the satellite communication.
 He added that his country is ready to further explore the marketing opportunities in Africa through collaborating with NIGCOMSAT to deliver services where they have enough band with.