We are not enjoying any form of monopoly

Gerald Ilukwe, CEO of Galaxy Backbone Plc, told IT Edge in Abuja that it is a misleading to accuse the company as a publicly owned company enjoing unfair advantage against private sector technology companies delivering connectivity solutions.



How would you access the performance of Galaxy Backbone in the past few years?

You have to be aware that Galaxy Backbone is not a project that has a starting and stopping point. It’s a growing concern that was established to on a continuous bases offer certain range of services to government, communities and to also serve as a connectivity backbone. The services are continuous. Galaxy is essentially a technology company.

For the past one-year we have been rendering services to our customers segment, which is the government, and as I speak to you we are providing connectivity to our 1000 locations in Nigeria and we will continue to expand the scope geographically.

What has changed in these locations you have covered?

For example in the Federal Secretariat, a certain office there used to get low connectivity through VSAT and as soon as we started, we quadrupled that connectivity. In essence, the connectivity here in Abuja has increased in four folds. I got a call two weeks ago from a government agency and they said they have received our services and now are able to have access to the net; they said they were now we are able to connect to their offices from anywhere and I said call me back in one month if you are still happy with the quality of service. In essence there are people who never had any form of service who now have service.

We buy direct from the satellite operator and redistribute to these clients at an optimal rate.

Do you give your services to government agencies for profit?

We primarily have service contract with the government, whereby the government accepts a proposal from us which primarily covers the provision of connectivity in the public sector.

Other ISPs have said that you have government backing and funding, is this true?

I cannot confirm if that is what other ISPs have said. They are not accurate because if you look at the 2009 budget, you will not see anything there for Galaxy. I don’t have salaries paid by the government. I pay my staff and the rest of my team off our operating revenue, so we are operating and running as a business. We get nothing from the government. The most significant nature about our relationship with government is that of customer service provider, which is operational day to day. We are not enjoying any form of monopoly.

What about security and military agencies? Have they welcomed the idea of Galaxy?

Yes, we have worked with the Air Force. I had a very interesting discussion with someone from the military. What he said is this: beyond our offices and formations, we also have barracks and they are part of the Nigerian community, they shouldn’t be excluded from enjoying such access. I can’t really talk on the military and security issues because it compromises military and security, but I can assure you that we do have a stable progressive services provision relationship.

“We are providing connectivity to our 1000 locations in Nigeria and we will continue to expand the scope geographically.”

 

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