Consequently, the partnership would save over 65 per cent of previous charges spent by government to expand its networks in over 3,000 office locations in the public service.
President Goodluck Jonathan said the partnership would enhance more reliable internet connectivity for effective and efficient service delivery in the country.
Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Yayale Ahmed, who represented the president, said “Main One Optic Fibre cable system is capable of transmitting and enabling access to broadband internet at a speed of almost five terabytes per second, which is much faster than what is currently available in Europe and will deliver up to 10 times more capacity than what is currently available here in Nigeria.”
According to him, Galaxy Backbone has become one of the earliest subscribers to Main One Cable service, which is a clear indication that government was transforming and embracing ICT as a necessary tool for development.
He noted that an evolutionary aspect of e-Government was the concept of the connected government which, he said, “is driven by the realisation that the increased connecting power of ICT had enabled a shift in orientation from the vertical to the horizontal, from predominantly intra-agency interactions to increasingly inter-agency, cross-government interactions.”
He stressed that the horizontal connecting power of ICT was emerging as a driver of fundamental changes in the way the business of government operated and the way governments provided services to, and interact with their citizens.
“Connected government is now the dominant theme in e-government, according to a recent United Nations e-government survey.
“Connected government emphasises the benefits of seeking to make the whole more than the sum of the parts by creating connected governance mechanisms aimed at orchestrated, otherwise disjointed e-government themes.
“On the other hand, Main One Optic Fibre cable system is capable of transmitting and enabling access to broadband internet at a speed of almost five terabytes per second.”