Nigeria Welcomes ntel, a Telecommunication Firm Ready to Offer Superior 4G Services

Nigeria’s telecommunication industry has a new descendant, known as ntel. A name that subtly reverberates the memory of NITEL (Nigerian Telecommunication), which was the national carrier until it sank into oblivion years ago. Public anticipation has been sparked as the company advises its likely customers from Lagos and Abuja to place reservations for its novel 0804 number. This service, along with others, is set to make its debut on April 8th.

The new organization’s CEO, Kamar Abass, revealed that the companies ntel acquired include some of the NITEL base stations, and contracts have been formed with IHS and Helios Towers to construct over 600 stations. This move is set to ensure a frictionless rollout in Lagos and Abuja.

Ntel is poised to transform the country’s ever-growing telecommunication landscape, most notably by the deployment of the much-coveted 4G service. In a recent report, we discussed the rather scant availability of 4G/LTE service providers amidst Nigeria’s massive telecom subscriber base—the largest in Africa.

Mr. Abass outlined the company’s ambitious plan to pump over a billion dollars into the Nigerian market over four years, aiming to expand its reach across the nation. This investment is set to finance cutting-edge technology, making its VoLTE (Voice over LTE) promise a reality. “We are launching physical sites in three cities on our 900MHz and 1800MHz bands to make way for Voice over LTE come April 8, 2016,” stated Abass.

A noteworthy revelation shows that Natcoms Investments Limited—the parent company of ntel—already installed about 200Km of metro fibre optic cables in three Nigerian cities, namely Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt.

The spotlight is on ntel’s commitment to VoLTE. For those less ingrained in telecom jargon, LTE stands for Long Term Evolution, and for the sake of this article, we’ll dub it as 4G for fourth-generation networks. A concise explanation obtained from IT Toolbox will demystify the meaning of VoLTE for you. In essence, VoLTE represents a superior iteration of your standard voice data because it’s accorded high priority on the web—leading to an enhanced service quality.

Profiling the differences between VoIP (voice over internet protocol, such as Skype, Viber, and WhatsApp) and VoLTE can be easily done through the diagram above. In it, OTT (Over the Top) refers to services conveyed through IP networks of Telecommunication companies, also known as Telcos.

In comparison to VoIP applications, where your data packets (voice digitized into data) are treated as any other data on the internet, VoLTE provides a priority for your data packets. This priority results in a significantly better call quality, setting new standards for voice calls.

Key benefits of a VoLTE network include:

– Superior call quality: Measured VoLTE calls have displayed quality exceeding both 3G and 4G voice calls and even high-definition Skype calls.
– Even in a congested VoLTE network, call quality has been rated higher than other web applications, such as Skype.
– The time required to initiate a VoLTE call was measured to be twice as fast as a regular 3G call.
– A VoLTE call makes for a more efficient use of both handset and network resources, resulting in longer battery life for the user.

With new providers like ntel emerging in the market, more affordable access to LTE services may finally be within reach, in spite of the recent uptick in Telecom service costs. Overcoming such barriers will play a major role in increasing service penetration rates, allowing for a richer and more connected Nigeria.