Throughout the world, in both the public and private sectors, long-distance data communications are becoming increasingly satellite based.  With the numbers of satellites multiplying dramatically and the explosive growth of Internet communications, the costs continue to drop while the hardware and software become more robust as well as easier to implement and support.  Satellite vendors in the U.S. already service tens of thousands of businesses and households with high-speed satellite Internet connections and this number is expected to grow exponentially in the near future.

In Nigeria in particular, the emphasis on using satellite connectivity stems from the wish to avoid many of the infrastructure and service problems in dealing with NITEL, the Nigerian telecommunications monopoly, as well as frustrations with other key services which remain outside of the universities' sphere of control.  

Across the board, Nigerian institutions of higher education struggle with inadequate telecommunications infrastructure.  In fact, there are some Nigerian universities without a single functioning telephone, while others struggle to keep their few working phone lines alive.  There is a great need for improvement in the Nigerian telecommunications sector and no doubt improvements will be made in the coming years.  Yet it would be foolhardy to assume that fast and reliable service will be available any time soon.

Satellite connectivity has the inherent benefit of allowing the universities to be autonomous and independent: they can choose to install reliable power generation facilities to support their installations; they can determine when, how, and at what capacity they will connect to the Internet; and they can interact with a satellite independent of the larger Nigerian telecommunications infrastructure.   In essence, the universities can choose how much they want to spend to insure the level of reliability they desire independent of any outside agencies.

NITEL is currently developing a two-megabit fiber ring that will eventually include five access points around Nigeria.  (Which is already one-year behind schedule.)   Yet, even as this is potentially made functional in the next year, most universities still face the "final mile" conundrum.  At this point there simply are no reliable copper services between the NITEL access points and the universities. 

This proposed satellite communications system will act as a redundant layer alongside the traditional hardwired systems envisioned by NITEL and others.  In the long run, it would be wise to install both satellite and ground-based connectivity at Nigerian universities to provide for greater redundancy should one system fail.

NITEL's only connection to the Internet is via a satellite.  This satellite connectivity means that Nigeria must pay "rent" to the non-Nigerian satellite owners for every piece of data sent outside of Nigeria.  Currently, there are proposals that call for Nigerian universities to connect to NITEL via satellite and then have NITEL send and receive data to the wider Internet (from whence 98% of the traffic is bound to come in the first few years) via its own satellite.  Such a scheme would have Nigerians paying satellite "rent" twice for each packet of data: once to send the packet to NITEL, and again to send it to the wider Internet. 

In reality, most satellite services offered by NITEL and its contractors are three to four times more costly than their international counterparts -- even though they use the same satellite and ground station equipment.  Those who are currently attached to satellite systems provided by NITEL and its contractors report that they experience ridiculously low bandwidth.

This Nigerian Universities Satellite proposal would call for universities to be connected to the original Internet service provider through a direct connection, halving the satellite "rent" and essentially providing Nigeria with 50% more Internet bandwidth.

Bandwidth is a major concern for Nigerian universities.  Unlike most corporate Internet needs, academic Internet use is bandwidth-intensive.  Research and collaboration via the Internet calls for sifting through thousands of documents and working with large-size media of all kinds. 

The Nigerian university system represents a very large community. The NUC's membership hovers around 270 higher educational institutions.  In universities alone, the potential user-base is now greater than 500,000.

There's little doubt that Nigerian universities will very soon require more bandwidth than is currently offered by NITEL.  Being forced to compete with NITEL's other customers for NITEL's limited bandwidth could leave Nigerian universities in the position of paying a very high price for very little progress.