February 2009: Lagos, Nigeria's major city and commercial centre is also one of the fastest growing telecommunication markets in Africa. Key to this growth is the development of the communications infrastructure for businesses and individuals to function.

This is exactly what Payless Broadband Network addressed when implementing a wireless network in Lagos. Payless Broadband, a leading wireless Internet service provider, has been licensed by the Nigerian Communications Commission to deploy a range of value-added communication services, including Wi-Fi, Voice over IP, and VPN in a region surrounded by lagoons. It needed a partner committed to open platforms and architectures, enabled compliance with their business imperatives and has the ability to provide tailored and adaptive solutions.

Payless Broadband turns to Singapore's smartBridges' Nexus series of wireless radios for last-mile connectivity. smartBridges provides a suite of end-to-end solutions combining components and support team to customers.

One effect of the new network is the boost it gives to the economy, generating a huge demand for the services. Patrick Chukwudolue, CEO of Payless Broadband, says: "We are the first ISP in Lagos to offer wireless infrastructure of this scale and magnitude overcoming interference as well as non line of sight issue. The scalability and reliability of smartBridges equipment is unmatched."

The network covers locations in Lagos Metropolis including Apapa, Eti Osa, Ikaje, Surulere, Kosofe, Amuwo Odofin and others. Apapa town acts as the backbone to the network. It features the tallest tower, at 76.2m, and houses the backhauls and access points. These towers (see picture) serve as the hub for the surrounding areas and are part of the repeater network.

Strategically located, custom-built towers provide the physical support for the radios. A VSAT station serves as the source of Internet pipe that is used to distribute across each localities in the network.

The highlight is the 20 mbps throughput achieved on a 14.5km link with -57 dBm RSSI (between Apapa and Eti Osa) where the longest link is 19.3km (between Eti Osa to Ikaje) with -64dBm RSSI.

Residential premises are supported through communication with airClient Nexus Pro TOTAL (sB3412). Each CPE is connected to a single household and delivers a bandwidth ranging from 128-256 kbps depending on the service plan.

The second usage of the deployment is first of its kind in Nigeria. Payless Broadband is the first ISP provider in Lagos to offer Wi-Fi services to one of the fast food giant outlets. This will give subscribers the ability to log on to the Internet using wireless broadband, via their Wi-Fi enabled laptop or PDA, as they grab a bite to eat.

airClient TOTAL 241 [sB3415] located at the fast food premises derives the signals from the access point located at the tower in each town and uses a third party indoor wireless access point to distribute it in and around the restaurant. A VPN server at the fast food head quarters at Apapa and a VPN client at each fast food outlet enables this service.

CEO Chukwudolue adds: "Commercial and residential applications are running smoothly. smartBridges has given us the option to inter-operate with third party equipments as well. We are happy with the outcome of this project and are planning similar deployment on a larger scale in the coming months."

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