The prospect of having affordable and unprecedented high speed internet services by telecom consumers became brighter last week as Nigeria's Second National Operator, Globacom, formally commenced the commercial services on its multi-million dollar international 10, 000 kilometres submarine optic fibre cable, Glo 1.

Historic as the commercial launch was, the landmark event held at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, was witnessed by top captains of the telecommunication industry including former Executive Vice Chairman of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Engr. Ernest Ndukwe, Ghana's Minister of Information and Communications, Mr. Haruna Idrissu as well as the Senate President, David Mark.

Also present at the launch were some State governors, including Babatunde Raji Fashola of Lagos, Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, Olagunsoyi Oyinlola of Osun State represented by his deputy Governor, Erelu Olusola Obada and Gbenga Daniel of Ogun State.

Chairman, Globacom, Dr. Mike Adenuga Jnr, said with the commencement of operation by Glo 1, the nation's business landscape was about to witness an unprecedented change.

While saying Nigerians now have the opportunity of competing with the rest of the world, Adenuga, noted that broadband access and other services would now be affordable in Nigeria.

"Today, Globacom has once again rewritten history. Just as we did at the launch of our network in Nigeria in 2003, when we became the first telecom company to launch Per Second Billing platform, we have become the first to build an international submarine cable with our resources," he noted.

Speaking further, Adenuga said it was a thing of delight that Glo was able to pull through the ambitious project while keeping faith with the promise to avail subscribers of the best technology in the world.

To him, "We have thus provided the solution to search for bandwidth capacity for reliable telecommunication services in Africa."

Senate President, David Mark, commending Adenuga for the laudable project and promised that the Senate would provide right legislation environment for Globacom and other Nigerian businessmen who are ready to make the country proud.

Mark noted that if Globacom had been able to go this far in laying a fibre cable from London to Lagos, despite the country's harsh business environment, much could be done under the right atmosphere.

Adams Oshiomhole described Adenuga as the most outstanding militant businessman who came in a militant way to find solutions to the price war in the telecom industry.

Earlier in his remarks, the Group Chief Operating Officer, Globacom, Mr. Mohamed Jameel, pointed out that all sectors of the nation's economy and the entire African continent would benefit immensely from the window of global opportunity that the submarine cable would offer.

Listing the benefits of the submarine cable, which has 16 landing points in Europe, North and West Africa, Jameel said benefits accruable to the nation include 99.9 per cent up time reliability and high speed data, voice and video connectivity, on-line diagnosis and video conferencing during surgery and research.