China’s leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider Huawei Technologies has announced it would set up a base in Nigeria.
The firm is set to put up three Global Network Operation Centers (GNOC) in Nigeria. The first centre will be set up in Lagos in July. Huawei has already established such centres in India.
According to Huawei, GNOC acts as a large service delivery factory for network operation, and provides functions of assurance, fulfillment, operation support and readiness. GNOC also operates multiple networks of different countries in a centralized location.
As of 2011, Huawei operated more than 50 NOCs and 2 GNOCs and managed more than 56 networks globally.
A GNOC operation team operates multiple networks in a single location and acts as a large delivery factory for network operation. It also provides assurance, fulfillment and operation support and readiness.
The team works as a factory for service delivery: receiving alarms, customer complaints, service request form external operators and changing requests coming in.
According to Pan Fan, CEO, Huawei Nigeria, performed “so well” in its 2011 financial year making it the “second largest ICT solutions provider with $US32.4 Billion revenue last year.
The firm first began its operations in Nigeria in 1999. It has previously partnered with the Nigerian Ministry of Communication to launch a US$200 million CDMA450 wireless technology across the country, and a further US$20 million intended for manufacturing investment.
The firm also introduced an 80-dollar smartphone in East Africa and more than 300,000 pieces have been sold so far in Kenya. They were later rolled out across the continent.
The firm also invested $US10 million to build Huawei’s Nigerian Training Center, at which more than 800 people had undergone training, as of February 2006.
Headquartered in Shenzhen, China, Huawei has operations in over 140 countries.
