Abuja, PH to benefit from 4G Internet roll-out

Two Nigerian cities – Abuja and Port Harcourt – will benefit from the
next phase of 4G Long Term Evolution internet roll-out plan that is
slated for August this year.

The facilitating firm for the 4G LTE roll-out programme, Smile
Targets, made this known to Punch correspondent in Lagos.

Its Chief Corporate Services Officer, Lee-Ann Cassie, said the plan to
expand its services was born out of the successful roll-out of its
Internet services in Ibadan in 2013 and in Lagos this year.

Smile Targets was recently awarded 'The Best 4G LTE Internet Service
Provider of the Year', at the Cyber Innovation Awards held in Lagos.

And Cassie pledged that the company would continue to be innovative in
its service provisioning, in order to satisfy its customers.

She said, "Currently we are developing our enterprise solutions to
grow the businesses of our customers and we are planning to expand
services to provide voice over Long Term Evolution technology.

"We are working with reputable Original Equipment Manufacturers for
supply of the equipment that will drive the solution."

She said the recognition given to Smiles Target would spur it to come
up with more solutions that will enhance data communication and
business.

"We are dedicating the award to all our staff, especially our Chief
Executive Officer that has been instrumental to our successes today,
and we will continue to offer true and robust internet services to our
customers at high speed," she said.

Cassie added that the company was collaborating with the Ministry of
Communications Technology and the Nigerian Communications Commission
to tackle high cost of internet access.

She said they were working on ways to reduce the cost of bandwidth by
providing broadband back-haul that will increase access to the
internet at affordable rates.

On broadband fibre cuts during road construction and expansion, Cassie
called for increased awareness campaign to further educate Nigerians
on the need to protect broadband infrastructure in their communities
by putting an end to willful destruction of broadband infrastructure.

She said proper care must also be taken to protect fibre cables during
roads construction and expansion.

"If fibre cables are protected, Nigerians will experience more
affordable broadband services. I want to commend the Federal
Government for the launch of broadband plan, which I think, will go a
long way in addressing broadband challenges in the country," she said.