With Nigeria's nascent data services growing across the country and voice usage declining, the head of Nokia Seimens in Africa said that the country is well-positioned to moving to Long Term Evolution (LTE). In comments to Business Day, Dimitri Diliani, the head of Nokia Seimens Network in Africa said that LTE is the “next generation” for GSM mobile networks and called on Nigerian telecom operators to look at this solution for boosting profits and users. “LTE just started last year … but people have started signing up and launching commercially. There are commercial LTE networks out there and next year will probably be when we start seeing peaks and more LTE discussion than in the past,” he began. “Clearly, Nigeria is ready for LTE and the need is here,” he said, referring to recent reports that users have crossed the 100 million mark for mobile phones. Telecom industry experts say that broadband customers are the key to the future success of Nigeria's telecom sector and LTE networks could serve as a boosting off point for the industry, Diliani said. “The demand for data service is growing and operators recognize that existing wireless technologies will not be the ultimate solution to Internet access in Nigeria,” he continued. “We were the first network vendor to demonstrate LTE over the air in December 2006. In 2009, we were the only vendor shipping LTE-ready equipment. We have a strong record in IP network innovation and have developed our entire portfolio, from the core network to operational support systems and services to align with the requirements of LTE.” But analysts are worried that pushing too quickly for new technologies, as the government begins and investigation into telecom practices, could hurt the overall development of the sector. “We have to be patient if we are going to move smoothly from one area to another without hurting customer service and investment,” said David Mgabe, an IT expert in Lagos. BM
