Commercial satellite communication company Viasat has approached the Nigerian government, via the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), for spectrum frequency to enable it to provide high throughput satellite connectivity and internet connectivity to the Nigeria market.

Specifically, the company is requesting approval to reserve and use Nigeria's 28 GHz KA frequency band through its incorporated Nigerian subsidiary, Viasat Nigeria.

This follows a recent visit by representatives of the company to the NCC's headquarters in Abuja.

The company had previously met with NCC Executive Vice Chairman Professor Umar Danbatta on 4 March 2019 and used the opportunity to push for regulatory support for entry into the commercial satellite communications market in Nigeria.

Viasat intends to conduct a Proof of Concept test in Abuja in 2020 to be followed by service roll out in an undisclosed region. The company plans to then extend the satellite-based broadband service nationwide by 2022.

Augustine Nwalunne, NCC's director of spectrum administration, described Viasat's plans as "a strategic boost to Nigerian government's plan to deepen digital culture".

Viasat said it has invested over US$2.2-billion globally on geostationary satellite services with footprint in the Nigerian space towards bridging extant digital divide in the country.

This goal is being driven by its global ViaSat-3 constellation project comprised of three communications satellites, the first of which is expected to be launched in 2021.

Viasat stated: "We've long aimed to connect the world. The ViaSat-3 constellation – a trio of satellites in development now – will make that global promise a reality. The new satellites will deliver very high download speeds. Each of the ViaSat-3 satellites is expected to offer 1 terabit or more of total network capacity - a substantial jump from ViaSat-1 (140 Gigabit or Gbps per second) and ViaSat-2 (260 Gbps)."