By Dipo Olowookere
The Director of Information Technology for Airtel Nigeria, Ms Kemi Ariyo, has confirmed that the data centre of the company would commence operations in 2027.
She confirmed this development at a media parley in Lagos on Tuesday, stating that the facility, to be known as NXtra, is a tier-4.
According to her, the data centre, which is to be commercialised, will benefit the country because there will be no need to depend on such facilities in Europe.
Ms Ariyo said this was one of the ways Airtel Nigeria was making efforts to deliver value to its esteemed customers by leveraging technology.
“At Airtel, we value our customers and one of the ways we ensure they enjoy seamless experience is through our use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools.
“These AI tools predict upcoming problems, detect and auto-correct issues,” the IT expert informed journalists at the event.
While re-echoing this view, the Chief Technical Officer (CTO) of Airtel Nigeria, Mr Harmanpreet Singh Dhillon, highlighted the commitment of Airtel to improving its network technology and how the telco remains in the vanguard of satellite internet.
“Airtel believes in the adoption of the latest technologies that align with sustainability standards, and going by this, we have adopted a hybrid solution that combines solar and lithium-ion batteries.
“All you need is a satellite at a site, and you can connect to the rest of the world. We are unique in this aspect as we work with two links, where one serves as a backup to promote reliability and stability,” he stated.
On his part, the Director of Marketing at Airtel Nigeria, Mr Ismail Adeshina, presented the Airtel Unlimited Data and Smart Router, two of the current data packages designed to add value to customer experience.
“We are proud to say that we are the first in the Nigerian telecom industry to bring about the Unlimited Data and the Airtel Smart Router. Due to the increased need for data by our customers, we have debuted the unlimited data bundle.
“We have also introduced the Airtel Smart Router which enables users to easily convert their traditional TV sets into smart TVs,” he said.
Also speaking, the Director of Corporate Communications and CSR, Mr Femi Adeniran, in his introductory remarks, explained that the roundtable was to keep its media partners informed about the company’s activities, recognizing their role as essential partners and supporters of the business.