Nigeria Signs CDMA450 Contract

China's Huawei Technologies and Nigeria's Ministry of Communications have signed a US$200 million agreement to deploy a nation-wide CDMA450 wireless access technology across Nigeria. China Development Bank will provide Nigeria with a loan of US$200 million for this project. Huawei Technologies has also committed to an additional US$20 million manufacturing investment in Nigeria.

The signing ceremony took place in the Great Hall of People, in Beijing, China and was witnessed by Chinese President Mr. Hu Jintao and visiting Nigeria President Mr. Olusegun Obasanjo.

The CDMA450 wireless access technology is the most appropriate and cost-effective solution to address the telecommunications challenges faced by Nigeria. Similar to China, Nigeria has remote rural areas and vast but sparsely populated regions. CDMA450 provides wireless coverage of up to 60km in radius and one base station covers an area of 7,000 to 10,000 km 2 area. The CDMA450 wireless access technology will provide the necessary coverage and address the current telecommunications digital divide between the rural areas and cities in Nigeria."

Posted to the site on 18th April 2005