africacom bigger and better - Telecoms.com · at the fifth AfricaCom awards presentation at the...

THE OFFICIAL SHOW DAILY | WEDnESDAY 14th nOvEmbEr 2012

RuRal pRofitability DeliveRing mobile connectivity to RuRal communities actually DeliveRs attRactive RetuRns on investment. p14

satellite backhaul can cut costs When extenDing fibRe is not feasible foR Remote aReas. p18

cReating neW Revenue stReams conveRgeD billing can cReate lucRative oppoRtunities. p10

africacom bigger and better

beyond connectivity: plan ahead for service partnershipsService providers in the African region have a golden opportunity: a chance to capitalise on next generation services, while opera-tors in developed markets have tried and largely failed to develop consumer services beyond con-nectivity.

This was the message from Mark Newman, chief research office at Informa Telecoms & Media, speaking to an overflowing auditorium as the event opened its doors on the pre-show day.

If the crowds gathered at the opening keynotes of the Africa Industry Outlook stream were any indication, insight into pairing

with specialist content and service players to maximise access rev-enues was right on the money.

Newman said that carriers need to accept that they are not going to

capture large revenue streams be-yond basic services like voice, data and SMS—these areas are where the big money is, and high expecta-tions of concepts like carrier billing will only deliver a five to 15 per cent revenue share at the outside.

The point is that revenue share is not a significant opportunity, but neither does a business have to be all about access.

“If you get into discussions early enough, you can build a 3G net-work so that it benefits both you and your partners,” said Newman. “It will not be network services that are the future, it is Over The Top services.”

But in order to fulfil this vision, operators need to see the strong opportunity to partner with OTT players, giving dedicated access to popular services like WhatsApp and Facebook.

This type of partnership model is especially attractive in Africa due to the strong brand strength and distribution channel owned by the carrier—the very thing that gives carriers leverage against OTT play-ers hungry for more reach.

“OTT providers should be seen as partners and customers, not competitors,” said Newman. “These guys need you as much as, if not more, than you need them.”

YeSterdaY the CTICC Cape Town threw open its doors for the 15th annual AfricaCom show, welcoming many of the region’s, indeed the world’s, most innova-tive brands to network, discuss and share ideas.

In line with the developing maturity of the region, this year’s event is the biggest yet, with a total of 8,000 pre-registered visi-tors, up 25 per cent on last year, counting representatives from over 2,000 companies, up 26 per cent on last year.

With so much content, the show this year has been extended to run over three days, with 200 speakers, seven streams, and three co-located events focused on some of the key sectors with potential for rapid development.

AfricaCast returns for a second year and continues to be the premier event in Sub Saharan Africa for broadcasters. This year

the event counts the support of SABC, ABN, Endemol and Viacom among others.

AfricApps is a brand new addition to AfricaCom run for developers by developers. It is bringing together the growing community of Sub-Sahara’s mo-bile app developers to exchange ideas about how to create market leading apps and learn how they can bring to market the next Angry Birds.

While ICT is undoubtedly a major engine for growth in Africa’s business community, Enterprise ICT Africa makes its appearance this year, and is designed to deliver to enterprise CIOs and IT Directors the most up-to-date information on how to improve their companies’ ICT strategies. Kick starting the event will be a strong focus on cloud computing and data centres.

Ian Hemming, chief executive officer for Informa Telecoms & Media, said: “We’re delighted to welcome 8,000 pre-registered attendees from 112 countries to Africa’s largest telecoms show. Digital Africa is becoming a real-ity with the region seeing strong interest in cloud services, mobile data, and the enterprise, and I hope that our show is reflecting the opportunities and innovations that make this continent such an

exciting market for our visitors.”The best and brightest in-

novators in the industry will also be recognised for their efforts at the fifth AfricaCom awards presentation at the Waterfront Lookout on Wednesday night. Top South African comedian Nik Rabinowitz is hosting the event, which promises to reward those responsible for making waves and changing lives in the region’s diverse markets.

know your market It is increasingly evident that the African telecoms market has reached a new phase of maturation. During this week, many of the keynote presenta-tions and conversations attend-ees will have with their peers will focus on the effects of changes in technology, evolving consumer demands and the growing intensity of competi-tion which are driving the need for new business models.

But with maturity comes new threats and never before in Africa have communica-tions service providers felt such pressure to evolve, lest they run the risk of failing to capture revenue from the fresh opportunities that ex-ist. Key areas of focus in the region are cloud computing, data centres, machine-to-machine (M2M) applications and the growing maturity of enterprise and vertical market segments.

Informa telecoms & Media goes into great depth on these topics in a survey re-port printed in brief today on page 26 and in full tomorrow on page 8.

Awards After PartyThe Waterfront Lookout, Granger Bay, Cape Town

14th November 2012 from 10.30pm

Smart casual

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WEDNESDAY 14th NOVEMBER 2012 03AFRICACOM DAILY 2012 I http://africa.comworldseries.com/

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US software giant Microsoft has announced the imme-diate departure of Steven Sinofsky, head of its fl agship Windows and Windows Live operations.

The move comes just a few weeks after the launch of the company’s next generation software platform, Windows 8, which spans both desktop and mobile devices.

Microsoft did not give any reason for Sinofsky’s decision to leave, but it does leave the future direction of the company in a predica-ment. Windows 8 has been met with mixed reviews and it became evident when the platform was announced that the software does no represent just a product announcement but a new strategic direction that will redefi ne the way computers are used.

With Sinosfky gone, Julie Larson-Green will be pro-moted to lead all Windows software and hardware engineering, while Tami Reller who retains her roles as chief fi nancial offi cer and chief marketing offi cer will also assume responsibility for the business of Windows. Both ex-ecutives will report directly to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

Since 1993, Larson-Green has worked on and led some of the most well known prod-ucts for Microsoft, including the user experiences for early versions of Internet Explorer, and helped drive the thinking behind the latest Microsoft Offi ce. For Win-dows 7 and Windows 8 she was responsible for program management, user interface design and research, as well as development of all inter-national releases.

Reller began her career in technology at Great Plains Software in 1984 and was

the company’s chief fi nancial offi cer at the time it was ac-quired by Microsoft in 2001.

It’s not the only major corporate shake up to rock the industry however. Just a couple of weeks ago, Californian vendor and major Microsoft rival Apple announced an executive reshuffl e, which will see the departure of Scott Forstall, one of the original architects of the Mac OS X operating system and head of the team responsible for the software platform at the heart of the iconic iPhone device.

Apple announced that Forstall will be leaving next year and will serve as an advisor to CEO Tim Cook in the interim. The company did not expand on his reasons for leaving, but rumours suggest he was given the push in the wake of the Maps debacle and issues with Siri.

Additionally, John Browett is leaving after only fi ve months as head of retail. A search for a new head of Retail is underway and in the interim, the retail team will report directly to Cook. Again, the rumourmongers suggest that Browett made some serious mistakes in his short tenure and was pushed rather than jumped.

This all smacks of some serious tension at the top of the company’s management tree and leaves Apple without a veteran software lead or a retail chief in the run up to the holiday season.

In other movements, famed designer, Jony Ive, who was responsible for everything from the iMac to the iPhone and iPad design is now going “to provide leadership and direction for Human Interface (HI) across the company in ad-dition to his role as the leader of Industrial Design.”

Microsoft loses Windows chief

Africa gets its game on through EA deal

Mobile money maturing in Africa

MIDDLE Eastern developer and publisher Nazara Technologies has struck a partnership with gaming giant EA to bring high end games to over 770 million mobile users across 49 countries in Africa.

The exclusive business alliance will see Nazara able to distribute EA’s portfolio of mobile games to all telecom operators across the African continent. Games includ-ing Need for Speed: The Run, and FIFA 13 will be made available to consumers on Java and Android platforms through N Play, one of Nazara’s high traffi c mobile gam-ing platforms.

“Our partnership combines EA’s world-class high end mobile games with our estab-lished distribution and partner networks,” said Savio Saldanha, Nazara’s CEO for the Middle East & Africa. “Through Naz-

ara’s distribution strategy, EA’s games will be able to reach users looking for quality yet afford-able games.”

The deal builds on an exist-ing partnership which has seen Nazara already drive EA

content to consumers across the Middle East and India. Nazara also owns Playcaso, an iOs and Android developer/publisher brand, NZLabs, a work-for-hire apps studio and GCity, a social gaming platform.

FINANCIAL services fi rm Fun-damo has conducted research examining the opportunities in mobile money services in Africa, and has reported that it expects to see accelerated growth of such services in the coming years.

The fi rm, a wholly owned subsidiary of payment processor Visa, said that the Nigerian market in particular is set for phenomenal growth. Currently, only 38 per cent of the country’s 160 million people have access to formal fi nancial services while there are more than 93 million mobile phone subscrip-tions in Nigeria, the most in Africa. However, according to the results of its Visa Mobile Money Study, signifi cantly more consumers surveyed in Nigeria said that they would like to use mobile money services to save money for their

family (59 per cent) and pay utility bills (58 per cent).

The fi rm added that consumers in the country have sophisticated fi nancial service needs that go well beyond the established transaction set offered by mobile money servic-es today. To meet this demand, the fi rm has teamed up with First Bank Nigeria to launch FirstMonie, a joint-venture that offers consumers services such as airline tickets, elec-tric bills, insurance payment servies, cash withdrawals and payment for goods at merchant locations.

As mobile money services begin to mature and consumer demand for more sophisticated services in-creases, interoperability between services and the wider economy is critical to ongoing success, Fun-damo argued. Its research found that 28 per cent of respondents

cited a lack of interoperability with other mobile money services as a primary barrier to adop-tion. The fi rm’s parent Visa has developed Visa Mobile Prepaid in response to this to enhance the security, scale and interoperability of mobile money program.

“Start small, think big, scale quickly has always been our advice to service providers. Within 18 months of service launch, consum-ers understand mobile money is easy to use and secure – they trust it and start to use more sophisti-cated services”, said Hannes van Rensburg, CEO at Fundamo. “The next step to drive growth is breaking down the walls between services and countries to foster a rich ecosystem that connect con-sumers in Africa to each other and the global economy.”


africacom daily 2012 i http://africa.comworldseries.com/04 wednesday 14th november 2012

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Airtel moving on upIndIa-headquartered carrier Bharti Airtel, moved up one notch on the global scoreboard this month to become the fourth largest mobile operator in the world in terms of subscribers following strong growth in Africa and Asia.

According to statistics released this month, at the end of the quarter ended June 30, Bharti Airtel had over 250 million mobile subscribers across its operations, representing 13 per cent year on year growth.

Bharti Airtel had become the fifth largest mobile operator in the world following its acquisi-tion of Zain group’s mobile operations across 15 African nations in June 2010. Speaking to the AfricaCom Show Daily last week, Andre Beyers, chief marketing officer for Africa at Airtel, said that when the com-pany bought Zain, it was already a business that was very good at managing operations across very different economies—some-thing that was at the heart of the operator’s approach.

Ahead of the AfricaCom

show in Cape Town this week, Beyers gave the Show Daily some insight into the key topics that will likely be on the agenda this week.

Banking: “Mobile finance is still top of agenda along with others. The low penetration of financial services in the region and the ability of banks to create a profitable model is very dif-ficult when you take it beyond bricks and mortar. But our m-finance product has very good penetration. You need to get the ecosystem right, but there is a massive opportunity in a hugely underbanked environment. Many users will see the benefits in terms of convenience. We have invested ahead of demand and launched m-finance in 14 coun-tries already.”

data: “There is massive penetration of social media in a number of countries and internet access is becoming a right for everyone, not a privi-lege for some. We are breaching the digital divide and internet access through the cellphone is the key factor.

“We’ve launched 11 3G net-works in the last year and there is a known price for data in the various markets. Traditionally data usage has been stifled by high data pricing, which is a product of insufficient coverage or capacity. But we need to get to a level where data is an affordable daily commodity. People should feel comfortable about using it whether it’s a time-based or us-age-based model. The demand is there and the market is maturing very rapidly from pay-as-you-go tariffs to a variety of different mechanisms.

“Of course, interaction with OTT players in absolutely neces-sary and there is evidence of that success in 0.facebook and Google SMS and several others. This is the reality and Facebook is the “app of the century” so being re-sistant is not the right way to go. The walled gardens have come down and we need to invest in creating some of our own plat-forms as well with content such as football and music.”

devices: “We have to make sure there is a good penetration

of data devices on the net-work. We are seeing entry level 3G phones, but smartphones are helpful due to the kind of revenues that we are seeing flow through them when compared to low level handsets or tablets. Moreover, smartphones are increasingly coming down to a more accessible level, we’re even seeing $50 devices.”

Brand: “A locally owned brand is very important to be acknowledged for the long run. As competition steps up, this is one of the instruments you have to get right. We’re focusing a lot on building platforms for football, music and other con-tent as well as developing Airtel Business for more sophisticated

enterprise offerings. The en-terprise focus is quite a recent development as the sector is not as full fledged as in other markets, but cloud, leased line and VSAT are all being offered in the African region and this is the next big competitive area.”

Smart segmentation: “Everybody is looking at how we can increase the accuracy with how a market breaks out. The markets in this region are becoming more sophisticated and that needs to be reflected in terms of getting insights out of it. Gaining an advantage in a market that will mature in the next few years necessitates this kind of analysis so you can build offerings accordingly.”

Operator Connections YoY Growth (millions)* connections

China Mobile 683.08 11 %

Vodafone Group 386.88 5 %

America Movil Group 251.83 7 %

Bharti Airtel 250.04 13 %

Telefonica Group 243.51 7 %

Source: Wirelessintelligence.com


daily_temp.indd 1 26/10/2012 10:12


South Africa-based carrier Vodacom this week tapped up sat-ellite services firm Intelsat under a multi year capacity agreement for backhaul services in the Demo-cratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Vodacom will purchase capac-ity on Intelsat’s satellite 906 at 64° East and Intelsat 25 at 328.5° East to support its deployment of cel-lular backhaul.

The operator is currently im-plementing a 3G network across

the DRC and this agreement expands the Intelsat-based cellular backhaul infrastructure support-ing wireless services in Tanzania, Mozambique and other parts of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Although Vodacom only intro-duced 3G services within the last couple of months, rapid uptake is expected. As of end-September, Vodacom DRC had around 6.7 millions subscribers, putting it in second place behind Bharti Airtel

with 7.8 million. The followers are some way behind, with Oasis Telecom on 2.8 million and CCT on 1.5 million.

Informa Telecoms & Media anticipates that by 2017, around 45 per cent of the operator’s sub-scribers will be using WCDMA.

Vodacom already utilises multi-ple satellites on the Intelsat fleet for international trunking, corporate networking, in-flight broadband and disaster recovery services.

Vodacom DRC engages satellite backhaul

WholeSale network op-erator Liquid Telecom has ex-tended its fibre network to the Democratic Republic of Congo connecting Lubumbashi, the second largest city in the DRC. This provides Lubumbashi with its first international fibre link and will increase capacity and availability as well as reduce the country’s dependence on satellite.The Econet Wireless owned carrier believes that the West Africa Cable System (WACS) is unlikely to arrive in Kinshasa, the capital of the DRC, until at least March 2013. As a result, Liquid Telecom’s fibre connec-tion will also provide the DRC with a first point connection to WACS via Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa.

The company said that it has already signed one of the DRC’s four mobile operators up to its fibre network to backhaul in-ternational traffic from Lubum-bashi, eliminating the satellite double-hops in its network.Nic Rudnick, CEO of Liquid Telecom, said Liquid Telecom will be investing heavily in expanding into new countries to ensure that for the first time all countries and opera-tors in Central and Southern Africa are directly connected. The company claims to have built the largest fibre network in Southern Africa, providing backhaul between most urban areas and last mile connectivity in the main cities of Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho and South Africa.

Liquid fibre for DRC carriers

Sub-Saharan Africa is the fastest-growing mobile market in the world, with an average annual growth rate of 44 per cent since 2000, according to industry body the GSMA.

Mobile connections have leapt to 475 million, compared to just 12.3 million fixed line connec-tions, representing the highest proportion of mobile versus fixed line connections in the world. With necessary spectrum alloca-tions and transparent regula-tion, the mobile industry could fuel the growth of 14.9 million new jobs in sub-Saharan Africa between 2015 and 2020.

"Mobile has already revolu-tionised African society and yet demand still continues to grow by almost 50 per cent a year," said Tom Phillips, chief govern-ment and Regulatory affairs officer, GSMA. "To create an environment that supports and encourages this immense growth, it is imperative that governments work in partnership with mobile operators to enable the industry to thrive throughout the region, ultimately providing affordable options to connect its citizens."

The region has some of the highest levels of mobile internet usage globally. In Zimbabwe and Nigeria, mobile accounts for over half of all web traffic at 58.1 per cent and 57.9 per cent respec-tively, compared to a ten per cent global average. 3G penetration levels are forecast to grow by 46 per cent through 2016 as the use of mobile-specific services develops.

The rapid pace of mobile adoption has delivered huge economic benefits for the region, directly contributing $32bn to the sub-Saharan African economy, or 4.4 per cent of GDP. Approximately 3.5 million full-

time jobs are attributed to the mobile industry, which has also spurred a wave of technology and content innovation. More than 50 'innovation hubs', which develop local skills and content in the field of ICT services, have been created, including the Hive Colab in Uganda, the iHub in Kenya, and Limbe Labs in Cameroon. Safaricom's M-PESA mobile money transfer service in Kenya has achieved greater scale than any other service in the world. Today, there are more than 80 mobile money opera-tions for the unbanked across Africa compared to 36 in Asia, the second most popular region for these services.

But despite investments of $16.5bn over the past five years ($2.8bn in 2011 alone) across the five key markets in the region, mainly directed towards the expansion of network capac-ity, sub-Saharan Africa faces a looming 'capacity and coverage crunch' in terms of available mobile spectrum.

The current amount of spectrum allocated to mobile services in sub-Saharan Africa is amongst the lowest world-wide. Some countries apportion as little as 80MHz, compared

to developed markets where allocation for mobile exceeds 500MHz. With mobile internet traffic forecast to grow 25-fold over the next four years, there will be a considerable increase in network congestion unless governments across the region take urgent steps to release new spectrum in line with the recommendations of the ITU's World Radiocommunica-tion Conference (WRC). This includes capacity in the Digital Dividend (700-800MHz) band and the 2.6GHz band, and also liberalising existing licence agreements to allow the deploy-ment of high-speed UMTS and LTE networks in the 900 and 1800MHz bands.

The GSMA believes the com-bined aggregated effect of the spectrum release of the Digital Dividend, 2.6GHz and the re-farming of 1800MHz would have a positive impact on job creation with the potential for an addition-al 14.9 million jobs to be created between 2015 and 2020 in the key six markets in the region.

Conversely, failure to harmo-nise spectrum allocations in the region could add up to $9.30 in increased handset costs for African consumers.

Affordable internet to boost sub-Saharan Africa

ConSumerS in Sierra Leone are set to see a broader range of mobile money services after satellite television provider DStv announced that it has joined the Splash Mobile Money ecosystem.

As a result of the deal, more than 5,000 DStv customers are now able to make payments immediately from anywhere in the country for their satellite subscriptions directly from their mobile phones. Previously, they had to queue up at a DStv agent location to pay for additional credit and then wait for their account to be updated. The par-ties involved are now exploring opportunities in other markets across Africa, where DStv boasts more than four million subscrib-ers in over 40 countries.

In addition, commercial banks Access Bank and Ecobank Microfinance, have also joined the project, along with the national network of nearly 50 rural banks set up by the United Nations In-ternational Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Ministry of Agriculture.

The ecosystem has been set up by mobile money transfer and payments services provider Splash Mobile Money and MoreMagic Solutions, a wholly owned sub-sidiary of Oberthur Technologies.

Splash operates across all mobile networks in Sierra Leone and aims to bank the unbanked and bring more convenience to the

banked population and established businesses. It uses MoreMagic’s platform, which allows stakehold-ers to interconnect within a mobile commerce ecosystem to enable a secure service that is available to all mobile customers across Sierra Leone, irrespective of their service provider.

“The continued expansion of the Splash ecosystem means a richer experience for our customers” said Daniel Osei-Antwi, managing direc-tor at Splash Mobile Money. “The flexibility of MoreMagic’s platform has not only allowed us to scale, but has also enabled us to expand our portfolio of services by introducing new stakeholders to our ecosystem. Many of these new partners and clients have large regional footprints that present a compelling opportu-nity for growth beyond Sierra Leone in the near future.”

Satellite TV service makes a splash


daily_temp.indd 1 02/11/2012 16:37


feature | plessey

The word ‘backbone’, when used in telecommunications, refers to a thicker line that carries data gathered from smaller lines that

interconnect with it. However, the non-telco expression of ‘having backbone’, means hav-ing strength and determination, being able to hold your ground in challenging situations, and sticking to a task no matter how difficult. When it comes to telco infrastructure in Africa, it’s essential to have the latter kind of backbone in order to get the former.

The telecommunications boom in Africa means that literally hundreds of existing and start-up operators and service providers want optical fibre cable in the ground and base stations erected – now. There are markets to capture and extraor-dinary profits to be made, if you can get your content and services to users before the next guy.

But infrastructure is just one of those things. It takes time. Because there are mundane things to be done, like the dig-ging of ditches, sometimes by sophisti-cated machines, but most often by people wielding picks and shovels as they perch precariously on mountainsides or roadside embankments.

There are roads to be slit, without slicing through water and electricity mains. There are site surveys to be done and property and access rights as well as municipal per-mits to be negotiated.

There are concrete and steel girders to be carried up, for instance, Mount Kilimanjaro, so that a provider’s base station can serve two countries at the same time.

“One of our most interesting projects was carried out in the Western Cape’s famous fynbos biome, which also just happened to cover some of South Africa’s oldest historical sites,” says Howard Earley, COO of Plessey, Africa’s leading turnkey telecommunications infrastructure solution provider. “So while we were working against the clock and the budget, to bring the project in on time and on cost, we were also having to dig trenches without damaging lanes of ancient oaks or disturbing the foundations of 350-year old buildings. We did it, because that is what we do – and have been doing for more than fifty years. But it took some pretty nifty project management and all the intellectual and emotional backbone we had.”

CommerCial resilienCeThe Western Cape project connected South Africa to the West African Cable System and was, therefore, crucial to increasing the country’s bandwidth and enhancing the stability and reliability of that bandwidth. So, it created a special kind of project pressure in terms of serving a national interest. A different type of pressure arises when consortia of telcos are formed around infrastructure in order for the telcos to achieve econo-mies of scale and, also, speed to network availability.

“South Africa’s National Long Distance cable, which runs from the country’s central commercial region to a subma-rine cable landing site on the east coast, has three competing owners, all of whom wanted delivery on different infrastructure specifications at the same time,” Earley says. “That’s a management challenge both for the consortium members and for us as the infrastructure providers.

“Many suppliers have buckled under the strain. But, we’re one of the oldest infrastructure providers on the continent precisely because we have a reputation for staying with a project until it’s finished. And, if that means cleaning up a river while we’re laying a cable across it, or improving the civil engineering on a bridge because we’re ducting there, or helping a commu-nity finish building a house for one of their needy residents, then that’s what we do.

“In-house we have an unusual com-bination of environmental, engineering, financial, business, telecoms, property management, procurement, supply chain management, project management, health and safety, and what, for most businesses, would be unlikely skills such as tower climbing and off-road driving. So, we are able to have both a holistic and a discipline-specific view of any infrastructure issue and, therefore, are able to solve it quickly and cost-effectively.

“At the same time, we can use that range and depth of skills into making ancillary contributions to the development of the continent – simply by looking around us to see how what we already do well can be extended a little to provide additional social and sustainability benefits to the communities we touch.”

Holding THe babyIn Africa, the question of having to have cor-porate backbone in order to get telco back-bone is a little more searching than in most regions, in part because of extraordinarily diverse geographic terrain as well as equally diverse regulatory conditions, and in part because of political and regional conflict.

And these issues not only affect infra-structure build, they directly impact infra-structure run and manage as well.

“What operators and service providers are looking for is an infrastructure partner that can build their infrastructure and then deliver managed services for the infrastructure’s full life cycle – in the same consistent, world class way, wherever the infrastructure partner touches their business in Africa and regardless of region-specific issues,” Earley says.

“That’s possible only if the infrastructure solutions provider has the finances and hu-man and management resources to be able to roll out fully trained and equipped teams as well as state-of-the-art facilities, such as Network Operations Centres, pretty much on demand – in any country.

“And that’s only possible if the infra-structure solutions provider has in-country offices, relationships with local and global vendors, established local sub-contractors who take ownership of service level agree-ments, and a willingness to interact with local communities so as to provide ad hoc labour-based jobs wherever possible.

“In addition, where the solutions pro-vider doesn’t have such relationships or offices, then it must have a standardised mechanism in place that enables it to very quickly replicate in a new territory the ca-pabilities it has proven elsewhere in Africa.

“Again, we’ve been doing all of that for more than half a decade. So, our commer-cial strength and our experience are our backbone. And we’re still successfully moving into new territories, to support clients as they roll-out their own strategies, saving them time and money and assuring them of the sustainability of their infrastructure.”

QualiTy build ConverTs To easy mainTenanCeAs Earley points out, long-term sustain-ability of infrastructure actually converts infrastructure into a pro-active contributor to a telco’s or service provider’s bottom line.

“Effective, appropriate infrastructure management is a continuum, from infra-structure design to equipment and property purchase negotiations – all the way through to the ability of a repair technician to safely climb a tower. Complex as it sounds, it’s ac-tually the shortest route to market-leading content and service delivery.

“Also, the way you build your infra-structure has a direct impact on the amount of maintenance and management needed once you light it up. Everything from your choice of a base transceiver sta-tion site, for instance, to the quality of the civil works, power provision, and security play a role in how robust and sustainable your infrastructure will be.

“Unglamorous as it sounds, the qual-ity of the project management of your infrastructure build is key to your ability to cost-effectively run and manage it – or have it run and managed for you.

“Everyone recognises the need for capac-ity building in Africa. However, it takes spe-cialised skills to make your infrastructure build relevant not just to your immediate but to your evolving content and service delivery strategies.

“Site audits, site evaluation, contractor se-lection and contract administration, health, safety, and environmental assessments, and quality control can’t be left to novices. That doesn’t mean, however, that your project manager shouldn’t also transfer knowledge to local contractors and labourers and build relevant, experienced capacity - and eco-nomic backbone - in that way.”

Telecommunications infrastructure in Africa is about staying power

Howard Earley

What operators and service providers are looking for is an infrastructure partner that can build their infrastructure and deliver managed services for the infrastructure’s full life cycle – in the same consistent, World class Way, Wherever the infrastructure partner touches their business in africa regardless of region-specific issues.

00_AfricaCom12_DayOne_Plessey.indd 8 02/11/2012 11:36


feature | redknee

The growth of mobile technol-ogy and new startups within the African markets will provide lucrative revenue streams for

communication service providers (CSPs). Unfortunately, the complexity of legacy billing systems are preventing CSPs from being able to quickly capitalize on these opportunities or provide an advanced retail experience that will be pivotal to ensuring the success of these strategies. So what options do CSPs have in an environ-ment where the need to accelerate time to revenue is at an all-time high, but with a contrasting low appetite to invest in large scale infrastructure deployments?

At Redknee, we believe that deploying a secondary converged end-to-end billing and customer management solutions are quickly becoming an alternative solution for CSPs that are looking to leapfrog their legacy challenges and successfully launch new business streams to the relatively untapped African markets.

Today, Tier 1 and 2 operators are managing multiple legacy billing systems operating in silos by customer type – prepaid or postpaid – or by service type – such as fixed, mobile or ISP. CRM systems are also in the same situation where they have been pieced together over time and are not well integrated into the BSS layer, simply providing a skeleton interface. The result is a complex system whereby as each new service or device is introduced, a separate customer record with its own user interface has to be specially created and integrated. Issues abound – customer service representatives do not have an overarching view of subscriber activity and these separate specialized systems are expensive to maintain and operate, costing millions in customization, and require costly training and teams of specialists to manage. Systems that are not pre-integrat-ed are also often plagued with provision-ing errors and billing mistakes, driving more people to the customer care center and increasing retention and customer care costs. Infrastructure based on mul-tiple point systems also face integration issues on the technical side, which result in lengthy and costly deployment cycles pre-venting CSPs from capturing new markets in a timely manner.

For CSPs launching new, partner or sub-brands, implementing an end-to-end, pre-integrated billing and customer care

system is an ideal strategy. This strat-egy allows CSPs to target a new market without the legacy integration headaches; have flexibility as they grow their business, while minimizing the investment risk with low initial setup costs; and deliver a next generation experience. In addition, CSPs benefit from today’s flexible and agile bill-ing and customer care solutions. Solutions that support data monetization strategies, such as the ability to launch tiered pricing plans, flexible billing options, or have integrated Business Intelligence and Ana-lytics in order to personalize the customer experience and customer care facility. Strategies such as these will be vital to the success of launching a new, partner or sub-brand business line to the market.

We recently announced a new deal that saw a Tier 1 communication service pro-vider based in North America implement this strategy. By augmenting the existing infrastructure with a real-time converged billing and customer care solution, the service provider has reported that it can launch new services faster to the market, reduce capital expenditure, provide per-sonalized and empowered customer care; all while benefiting from a low risk, com-mercial model. Dario Talmesio, Principal Analyst with Informa Telecoms & Media, was impressed when he learnt more about the service provider’s strategy and imple-mentation:

“The ability to truly differentiate through innovative pricing models and customer care represents one of the most successful ways for service provid-ers to gain traction in the market. In order to achieve this, next generation billing solutions that support a lean cost base will become a key asset for ser-vice providers that want to launch into the market quickly or reenergize their multi-brand strategies. Across the globe, this Tier-1 service provider’s strategy to launch solutions for third party and multi-brand services places it at the top of the board in terms of innovation and market leadership.”

The African market is a prime market to take advantage of this strategy because of the growth the market is currently experiencing. The growing adoption of cheaper smartphones across Africa and new entrants in the communica-tions market will continue to accelerate as CSPs seek to achieve the benefits of greater time to market, flexibility and lower risk, and cost. Competition will increasingly become more aggressive and the ability to differentiate will become all important. As CSPs consider how to launch and monetize new revenue streams, it will become imperative that they find viable solutions for the indus-try’s competitive operating environment and fast-changing dynamic.

Strategies to Effectively Launch New Revenue Streams

By Issa Chini, Vice President of Sales Middle East and Africa, Redknee

“At Redknee, we believe that deploying a secondary converged end-to-end billing and customer management solutions are quickly becoming an alternative solution for CSPs that are looking to leapfrog their legacy challenges and successfully launch new business streams.”Issa Chini, Vice President of Sales Middle East and Africa, Redknee

New revenue streams require new pricing models and enhanced customer care capabilities

10_AfricaCom12_DayOne_Redknee.indd 10 02/11/2012 15:58

daily_temp.indd 1 31/10/2012 16:57


feature | rad data communications

Two related, if not complemen-tary trends characterize African telecoms today.

The first is the rapid deploy-ment of fiber infrastructure. With the linking of Africa’s coastal, urban and commercial hubs to the undersea fiber cables, carriers are taking advantage of all that new fiber to roll out advanced Metro Ethernet networks, over which they can offer their enterprise customers the latest SLA-assured Ethernet services. Furthermore, fiber connectivity is now reaching much further into the interior, encouraged by government sponsored initiatives to bring modern communica-tions solutions to larger segments of the population.

The second trend is legacy service migration. In most cases this means mov-ing up from lower speed links to high speed DSL copper circuits as well as fiber, and supporting both TDM and newer Ethernet services. However, in this use case, the transport layer is still based on SDH and solutions must be found to hand off between the Ethernet traffic and SDH backbones.

“RAD Data Communications is unique-ly positioned to partner with African carriers because it is a one-stop vendor of future-proof access solutions that address both of these trends,” states RAD Sales Director Noam Dor.

A ConsisTenT CusTomer experi-enCe regArdless of The ACCess TeChnology RAD’s EtherAccess® family enables carriers and service providers to meet customer expectations for SLA account-ability and verifiable performance for Carrier Ethernet services by ensuring a consistent customer experience regard-less of the available access technology, be it TDM, PDH, bonded PDH, SDH, fiber, SHDSL/SHDSL.bis, or wireless. Ether-Access is, therefore, a complete Car-

rier Ethernet ecosystem, with the same “look and feel” in terms of service and network management.

The latest addition to RAD’s EtherAc-cess portfolio is the new ETX-5300A Ethernet Service Aggregation Platform.

At Africa Com, RAD will unveil the ETX-5300A to the African market. Con-forming to emerging MEF CE 2.0 specifi-cations, the ETX-5300A can be deployed by carriers to deliver SLA-based business Ethernet services. Built to deliver high performance at an affordable cost, it grooms Ethernet and TDM traffic from the access network to the provider’s edge, enabling operators to substantially reduce their operational expenses per Gigabit Ethernet link.

The ETX-5300A was cited as this year’s Best Carrier Ethernet Aggregation Product EMEA at the Carrier Ethernet World Con-gress in Barcelona. This, in fact, the third such Carrier Ethernet Award that RAD has won over the past twelve months, further solidify-ing its undisputed reputation as the global leader in Carrier Ethernet access solutions.

Given its wide experience and technologi-cal expertise, RAD was able to tailor-make the ETX-5300A as a central-site solution for pre-aggregation in larger networks as well as a service hub in smaller operations or pri-vate networks. By aggregating up to 80 GbE or 16 10GbE access links into redundant 10 GbE ports, the device frees up expensive capacity at the provider’s edge and signifi-cantly reduces CapEx and OpEx by cutting the price per link by half, or more, when working opposite RAD’s other ETX Carrier Ethernet demarcation devices. Moreover, the ETX-5300A is packaged in a small-form factor box that uses less than half the power consumption than any competitive product in the market but delivers full functionality and high-port capacity.

All this is particularly good news for the African market, which has one of the world’s highest operator-to-subscriber ratios. Fierce competition forces carriers to meet intense

cost pressures and adjust their business models to fit the pro-file of their potential customers. As they shift their focus from building their market presence to improving profitability, the carri-ers’ need for innova-tive broadband access solutions that enable significant CapEx and OpEx savings is greater than ever.

CosT effeCTive migrATion To nexT gen neTworksGiven its technological leadership in Carrier Ethernet access, RAD’s product portfolio also incorporates its AXCESS+ product family. Harnessing RAD’s TDM expertise, together with its technologi-cal leadership in Carrier Ethernet access, AXCESS+ enables seamless, cost-effective migration to Next Generation Ethernet/IP/MPLS networks and services with flexibility, efficiency and carrier-class reliability.

AXCESS+ includes a wide range of devices, including:• Megaplex™multiservicemultiplexers

and access nodes • Optimux®fibermultiplexers• ASMiSHDSL.bisEthernetmodemsand

extenders • Airmux®broadbandwirelessradios• IPmux™TDMpseudowiregateways

All are enhanced with central site platforms for grooming, aggregation, cross connectivity, or transparent delivery functionality.

Choose A migrATion pATh ThAT BesT suiTs your needs“RAD lowers total cost of ownership by streamlining implementation and better utiliz-ing existing infrastructure,” Dor concludes.

“EtherAccess and AXCESS+ both allow network operators to extend their planning horizons and choose the migration path that best suits their needs by upgrading network elements as needed while avoiding forced investments in complete overhauls.”

rAd’s gloBAl presenCeRAD’s installed base exceeds 12,000,000 units and encompasses more than 150 carriers and operators in 165 around the world, including 50 in Africa.

With a presence in Africa that dates back over two decades, RAD’s products have been deployed by virtually all of the continent’s major carriers, service providers and mobile operators, as well as the private sector, banks, oil exploration and petroleum companies, public power and water utilities, transporta-tion systems, universities, and governmental and military networks.

RAD Data Communications is a member of the $1.2 billion RAD Group of com-panies, a world leader in networking and internetworking product solutions.

RAD Contact:Ilan Seidner, Director of Marketing CommunicationsTel: +972-3-6458107Fax: +972-3-6498250E-mail: [email protected]

Ethernet Services and NGN Migration Should Be Profitable, Not Painful

RAD’s ETX-5300A Ethernet Service Aggregation Platform

00_AfricaCom12_features_DayOne_RAD.indd 12 02/11/2012 12:38

Your dedicated links at the best price

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YELLOWSAT, a Paris-based company, o� er worldwide top quality satellite telecommunica-tion services at the lowest market prices available, sold either as full applications (Internet, video-surveillance, video-conference, backhaul, fi ber backup, etc.) or as dedicated bandwidth capabi-lities.

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YELLOWSAT propose low prices to their customers internationally thanks to their proprietary and patented innovations, mainly via inclined orbit, with exactly the same performances as via fi xed orbit satellites.

daily_temp.indd 1 05/11/2012 13:49


feature | aLtOBrIDGe

There is a common belief within the mobile community that network expansion beyond urban conurba-tions is a commercially ruinous

distraction best kept within the bounds of Universal Service Obligations.

Perceptions of high truck-roll costs, lack of backhaul infrastructure, the absence of cost-effective power, low consumer uptake and fearfully low ARPUs, all fuel the fire to a widely held conclusion that the business case for rural connectivity simply doesn’t stack up.

But it’s time to think again. Delivering mobile connectivity to unconnected rural African communities should be embraced and not shirked or seen as a USO-only im-perative, because there is now widespread evidence that, given the opportunity, rural communities actually deliver highly attrac-tive returns on investment.

A RuRAl SoluTion To A RuRAl PRoblemMindset has been a significant barrier to rural network expansion globally. Too many rural expansion initiatives have failed commercially simply because standard, high-CAPEX, high-OPEX urban network solutions have been deployed to deliver rural connectivity. And the result? The combination of high capital costs and uncontrollable operating costs conspire to deliver a ruinous business case, despite the healthy ARPUs generated by grateful con-sumers, enjoying the benefits of first-time mobile connectivity.

The problem is that urban network solutions have been specifically designed and engineered to deliver urban con-nectivity. These solutions cannot be easily transposed, either physically or commer-cially, into rural environments. In CAPEX terms alone, for instance, the total site costs to deploy a typical urban solution, e.g., micro base-station, 30+ metre tower, air-conditioning and housing units, etc., in an ultra-rural location, will often exceed US$250,000.

Yet many innovative operators have already embraced the strategic imperative to extend their coverage footprint to the edge of their networks. Using tower-less, passively cooled, outdoor, solar powered base stations and low-cost VSAT backhaul terminals, they have discovered a CAPEX model that deliv-

ers 2G or 3G connectivity to communities of up to 2,000 rural subscribers for less than US$50,000 per site, including all installation and commissioning costs.

The only WAy iS uPMeanwhile, at an OPEX level, backhaul is a significant factor. In rural communities, where fiber is non-existent and microwave is too costly to deploy, satellite is the only prac-tical and realistic backhaul option. However, satellite backhaul is inherently expensive if bandwidth is not optimised. For exam-ple, the backhaul cost for a non-satellite optimised, 2TRX base station will typically exceed US$1,000 per month and, therefore, make any business case unpalatable.

However, this picture changes dramati-cally when a bandwidth optimised, satellite backhauled base station is deployed instead. In this scenario, with only 4kbps bandwidth required per active call and with all local calls switch locally, backhaul costs drop dramatically to ~US$250 per month. This metric alone is the difference between com-mercially viable and commercially ruinous network expansion into rural communities.

The vast majority of the rural population in Africa live in off-grid communities and it is estimated that 1.3 billion people globally will still be off-grid by 2030. Therefore, reli-able and affordable power is the other criti-cal OPEX factor for commercially achievable rural rollout. High-CAPEX and high-OPEX diesel generators are not an option for a host of reasons: transport difficulties across chal-lenging terrains, the volatility of global fuel prices and the risk of fuel shrinkage both en-route and on-site. As the CTO of one African operator said recently, “our biggest operational cost is the diesel that drives our Radio Base Stations. Our second biggest is the cost of the diesel used to transport the diesel to site”. Therefore, solar power is the only practical and feasible option in such circumstances. Beyond its green credentials, solar power has the virtue of being almost maintenance-free and, over and above pow-ering the remote base station unit, surplus capacity can be used to provide an invalua-ble means of power to off-grid communities.

The loW ARPu myThHowever, costs are costs, no matter how ab-solutely or relatively low they are squeezed. A credible business case requires sufficient

revenues,in the form of subscriber uptake and usage in order to outstrip those costs.

There is a widely held industry belief that unconnected rural communities offer universally low ARPU potential. Furthermore, a rule-of-thumb calcula-tion is often used to project rural ARPUs, namely, that rural communities will, at best, deliver ARPUs that will equate to half of the operator’s national ARPU. It will therefore surprise many that in our experience, in more cases than not, rural ARPUs typically match or exceed opera-tors’ national ARPUs. We have repeatedly seen this phenomenon in rural deploy-ments throughout Africa and Asia where USD$ 5.00 monthly ARPUs are the norm rather than the exception. It is also worth noting that these ARPUs are driven by voice and SMS traffic alone, on tariff plans which are on par with operators’ national / urban tariff plans. Now that cost-effective 3G-over-satellite mobile broadband is available and the cost of 3G handsets is becoming more affordable, rural community ARPUs will only climb further upwards.

This apparent irregularity, where rural community ARPUs match or outperform blended national ARPUs, can be easily explained. Firstly, thriving, liter-ate and tech-savvy communities exist on the edge of every urban network and each one of these communities has its own micro-economy. Where goods and produce were previously traded only in person and in igno-rance of wider market pricing, each newly connected micro-economy now has access to the wider macro-economy’s markets and pricing through mobile con-nectivity.

Secondly, for network opera-tors, there is a unique ‘first-in-wins-all’ phenomenon in rural markets. It is driven by the fact that 1,500 subscriber-size com-munities cannot commercially support more than one opera-tor. As a result, the operator who first delivers connectivity to these communities, not only acquires all available subscrib-

ers, including the prized high-ARPU segment, but it builds a stronghold within that community which deters competitor entry. It also means that, while securing an optimal subscriber base at the lowest possible acquisition cost per subscriber, there is also zero churn within that community.

The FuTuRe iS ‘liTe’African operators are now beginning to see the market potential and the business case for following a rural connectivity strategy using Altobridge lite-site™ infrastruc-ture, i.e., solar-powered, pole-mounted, passively-cooled, outdoor base stations, optimised for maximum satellite band-width efficiency. Under these low-CAPEX and low OPEX conditions, network opera-tors including Orange™ in Niger, Tigo in Ghana, Indosat in Indonesia, Maxis in Malaysia and Asiacell in Iraq, are already seeing a highly compelling business case for rural expansion.

For further details, visit Altobridge at Stand C13, AfricaCom 2012.

The Profitable Reality of Rural

a ruraL sOLutIOn fOr ruraL markets Is the rOute tO prOfItaBLe ruraL expansIOn.

By Mike Fitzgerald, CEO, Altobridge

14_AfricaCom10_DayOne_Altobridge.indd 14 02/11/2012 14:01

EpicNG

www.intelsatepic.com

High Performance.Open Architecture.When you have it all, that’s

At Intelsat we’re used to big things – like supporting more African wireless operators than any other satellite provider.We already own and operate the biggest satellite, teleport and fi ber infrastructure network in the world. But we’ve got even bigger plans:

Intelsat EpicNG – our Next Generation high-performance satellite platform with an innovative combination of C-, Ku- and Ka-bands, wide beams, spot beams, and frequency re-use.

• High Performance: high throughput, effi ciency and reliability

• Open Architecture: scalable, forward and backwards compatibility with your existing hardware, extending the hardware lifecycle

• Greater Control: you defi ne network topology and service elements

• Optimal Coverage: all-continent coverage and a complementary overlay with Intelsat’s unmatched global fl eet

For you, this means lower cost of ownership and increased opportunity to extend your service area.

More control. More choices. That’s Epic.

Meet with Intelsat during AfricaCom 2012 at Stand E08.

Contact us at [email protected] for details.

6629-AfricaCom-Daily.indd 1 10/22/2012 1:58:16 PM


feature | Bluwan

Broadband is vital for establishing economic viability in Africa; it fuels economic growth, em-ployment and socioeconomic

development. The first decade of the new millennium saw Africa focus on mobile infrastructure, recently overtaking Latin America as the second largest mobile mar-ket in the world according to the GSMA. The next phase of Africa’s ICT revolution will undoubtedly be for widespread broad-band access.

ConneCting AfriCAAcross Africa, operators have been hindered by the operational cost of deploying broad-band infrastructure. This is especially true in areas where physical geography repre-sents a significant obstacle; rocky terrain, hills and valleys, changeable atmospheric conditions, and where low density rural areas do not justify a sufficient ROI.

The proliferation of new submarine cables has been fundamental in enabling investments into overland fibre networks. However, providing affordable broadband access to the interior is a challenge. Recent estimates predict that reaching the last mile accounts for 45 - 60 per cent of the cost of broadband (Analysys Mason Report - In-ternet global growth: lessons for the future - September 2012).

Fibre networks are undoubtedly the preferred choice for ubiquitous broad-band access. They have the capacity and speed to deliver a variety of services and applications to large populations and projects by fixed-line operators to expand geographical reach are currently coming to fruition. In the meantime VSAT satellites are playing a part connecting the last mile. Unfortunately satellite cannot match the large scale capacity requirements for pro-viding widespread high-speed, low-laten-cy, broadband access, even with newer Ka band satellite technology.

Wireless – the WAy forWArdThe only technology capable of bridg-ing the last mile that comes close to fibre, considering cost and ease of installation, is wireless. However, there are a confusing plethora of technologies available, all of which have different use cases.

Mobile broadband has seen the most success, but spectrum auctions for 3G, never mind LTE, are some way away across Africa. As such 2G and 3G are still being rolled-out with CDMA /WCDMA

and GPRS technologies being deployed. GPRS has limited throughput, latency and quality of service and although CDMA450 provides long-range high-speed voice and data connectivity, only a handful of devic-es can use the 450MHz frequency (Making ICT More Accessible and Affordable in Rural Areas, September 2011, agropedia). On the whole, GSM technology is much wider spread.

WiMAX has helped increase broad-band traction in Africa; in fact Africa has the biggest number of national WiMAX networks in the world with 117 networks in 43 countries in May 2011, according to the GSMA. WiMAX, however, lacks capacity; a maximum of 35Mbps on a sector can only provide 2Mbps average speeds to about 15 customers simultaneously.

LTE offers higher download speeds, up to 100Mbps, and upload speeds of 50Mbps, making it a viable alternative to fibre. However, LTE deployments are only just beginning, with spectrum availability constraining wider rollout.

Consequently, no single technology solu-tion will prevail. Instead, hybrid wireless access solutions are presenting a compelling solution to extend last mile connectivity. They typically have much lower installa-tion and operating costs, and are quicker to install - meaning operators can redeem profits faster, and they re-use existing infrastructure.

fiBre through the AirBluwan’s FTTA Access solution enables op-erators to very quickly and cost-effectively complement fibre optic high speed broad-band access. The wireless transmission sys-tem provides ultra-high bandwidth delivery and easy deployment, while keeping capital and operational expenses low.

Bluwan’s FTTA is comprised of small outdoor antennas that receive wireless broadband transmissions from a Central Transmission Hub. Each hub provides up to 8 gigabits per second capacity in a 360º, five kilometre radius, deliver-ing average speeds of 2Mbps, and up to 100Mbps peak performance to thousands of customers, over 80km2. This enables operators to offer other revenue generat-ing services delivered through over-the top applications with reliable, high qual-ity levels of service.

In addition, by utilising the 12 GHz (10.7 - 12.7 GHz) spectrum, Bluwan’s FTTA is ideal for rural areas, tropical or humid cli-

mates. This is due to its cell coverage range of more than 5 kilometres. Because FTTA integrates with both newer (LTE, HSUPA) and legacy (WiMAX, 5 GHz) uplink technology, operators can deploy very high speed broadband in low-mid density rural areas, or subtropical zones without increas-ing fibre investments.

next generAtion BroAdBAnd ACross the horn of AfriCASomcable, Somaliland’s largest integrated communications solutions provider, is using Bluwan’s FTTA to deliver high capac-ity broadband access across the Horn of Africa. The system, delivered and integrated by Globecomm Systems, complements Somcable’s multi-million dollar invest-ment to provide next generation last mile connectivity.

Using Bluwan’s FTTA, Somcable will provide high-speed internet, VoIP, IPTV and Video on demand services, enabling a whole new lifestyle experience in Somali-land. With premium broadband service reaching speeds of 100 Mbps, consumers will now be able to download and watch movies and music videos, and enjoy TV over broadband. They will also be able to play games, access educational materials and information and receive medical help and diagnosis, revolutionising their qual-ity of life. Similarly, with hub capacity of up to 8 gigabits per second, business users will benefit from the broadband services

by being able to work from home, use cloud services, and exploit a host of other opportunities, including e-commerce and video conferencing.

ConClusionAfrica’s mobile revolution has already proven that it can embrace ICT on a massive scale. To facilitate the move to ubiquitous broadband access will be no mean feat. However, with new, innova-tive technologies, the goals set out by the Connect Africa Summit may not be too far off.

Wireless access technologies, such as Bluwan’s FTTA Access solution, are prov-ing the effectiveness of enhancing fibre investments. With access to high-availa-bility, high-capacity triple play wireless broadband, people across the continent can realise a wealth of new opportuni-ties, from healthcare and education to enhancing their way of life with banking, e-government and e-commerce services. Overall, economies will continue to grow, making African nations powerful interna-tional players.

Bluwan have developed a positioning paper ex-ploring these issues in more depth, it is available for download at: http://www.bluwan.com/blog/solutions/accessafrica. To understand more about Bluwan and its solutions; visit the company at AfricaCom, stand P34.

Broadband Access for Africa – which horse to back?

By Shayan Sanyal, CCO at Bluwan

Bluwan FTTA in Hargeisa

16_AfricaCom12_DayOne_Bluwan.indd 16 02/11/2012 12:47


feature | VIasat

In a world of 7 billion people, over 5 billion have mobile service, and that number is growing every day. It seems as though regardless of where we go,

we can call anyone, check our email, send a quick text message, or browse the Inter-net for information. Unfortunately, that is really not the case.

In remote villages and communities throughout Africa, and other locations around the globe, there are areas beyond the reach of traditional terrestrial and mobile ser-vices. These communities are so remote that it is not profitable to extend fiber or cellular networks to reach them. Yet it is arguable that these communities could benefit most by having access to services that can be provided by mobile networks, such as voice, Internet, mobile banking, and so much more.

CONNECTING VILLAGES BENEFITS EVERYONE These off-the-grid villages can range from a couple of hundred people up to several thousand and everything in between. These people have limited access to other com-munity services and information beyond their area due to the limited infrastructure. Extending mobile services to these areas can have a tremendous impact, not only for the village, but for the world in general.

For the mobile operator, this creates many new opportunities:

• Theabilitytosellorpromoteproductsand resources beyond the immediate coverage area.

• Increasedrevenuesduetoexpandedgeographical coverage while fostering family connectivity.

• Openinguppotentialeconomicoppor-tunities in an area through additional training, trading opportunities, etc.

•Providingaccesstoglobalbankingandtrading using USSD and SMS mobile applications.

• Bringingawarenesstotheneedsofacommunity and expanding government services such as the Department of Home Affairs.

• Expandingeducationthroughe-learn-ing by increasing the curriculum and the number of schools in an area.

• Improvinghealthcarewitheasieraccess

to services and medical information.Increasing the economic potential of a

village and giving people access to bank-ing, education, and healthcare services has a significant impact on the standard of living for the community in general.

THE PROMISE OF PROFITABLE SERVICES UNFULFILLED Mobile network operators have been presented with options to profitably extending their networks into underserved communities, only to realize that it is not as profitable as they were led to believe. Basestationsdesignedformacro

installations require significant infra-structure investment and are associated with high operating costs. For these macro base stations solar power is un-economical, resulting in high operational expenses supplying fuel to base station diesel generators. As a result, these small communities use only a fraction of the base station capacity, making them too expensive to operate.

Otherbackhaulalternatives,suchasextending traditional cellular networks with fiber,microwave,orSCPCVSATbackhaul,are also not profitable. Therefore, there is little incentive to expand to these commu-nities when potential profits are overshad-owed by the cost of the infrastructure.

VIASAT INTRODUCES A TRUE OPTION FOR PROFITABLY CONNECTING THE UNDERSERVEDWhile traditionally scaled macro site infrastructure has not proved profitable in extending mobile services due to scalability limitations, recently developed technolo-gies have led to the development of a new mobile infrastructure option.

Microcell site infrastructure, using solar power and satellite connectivity, is a low-cost, sustainable replacement technology. Unlike higher-powered stations, these sites can operate using a small number of solar panels versus either diesel generator or large solar arrays required to power these sites. While satellite bandwidth might give you pause to envision a high cost, even this issue has been addressed by making the bandwidth usage as efficient as possible. The costs of services over satellite are comparable to terrestrial services resulting in the lowest per-minute call costs translating into additional profits for network operators while providing essential services for remote communities.

When comparing GSM/3G backhaul tech-

nologies, the SLQ-GSM platform developed byViaSatisapproximately72%lesscostlythanSCPCandapproximately48%lessthantheTDM/TDMAnetworksavailabletoday.We have assumed that all the sites are solar powered, but the use of diesel generators in theSCPCandTDM/TDMAnetworksonlyincreases this difference.

Here are some key reasons why the SLQ-GSM microcell option is attractive for mobile operators:• Flexiblebusinessmodelswithvarious

financial options, including managed services to equipment sales, allowing the most cost-effective ownership based on operator requirements.

• Scalabilitybasedonthesizeofthecom-munity to maximize use while minimizing costs.

• Thenetworkisoptimizedtoalignwiththe network operator’s needs.

• Servicesareimmediatelyavailableoncethe equipment is installed.

• Compactequipmentdesignallowsinstalla-tion in a day or two with nominal training.

FLEXIBLE, COST-EFFECTIVE MICROCELLS ARE HEREViaSatbringstogetheraflexible,low-powermicrocell site, linked by satellite, efficiently delivering vital communication services to underserved communities. This advanced system is a true option for profitably con-necting the underserved.

Innovative cellular satellite backhaul cuts costs by 30%

18_AfricaCom11_DayOne_Visat.indd 18 02/11/2012 11:40

daily_temp.indd 1 26/10/2012 10:22


feature | CommScope

UbiqUitoUs coverageFrom public transport networks to large public structures like stadiums, office buildings and residential blocks, the need for ubiquitous mobile coverage is a pressing issue. Subscribers now consider mobile connectivity an indispensable utility and demand instant access to a range of services. If such services are not available, operators not only miss out on revenue opportunities, but their customers may become frustrated by the lack of connectiv-ity and potentially look elsewhere.

With approximately 75 percent of mobile calls originating or terminating inside buildings, effective in-building wireless coverage is essential. Unfortunately, the priorities for building developers are clearly aesthetics, efficiency and comfort and these same features are often the enemy of wire-less technology, resulting in poor coverage due to the heavy use of thick concrete and steel during construction. This issue will

become paramount as the African market moves to LTE, since - while its higher frequency (2.6GHz) offers more bandwidth - it penetrates structures less effectively. Similarly, for public transport systems the pure velocity of trains, their metalised win-dows or track running through tunnels can dramatically reduce wireless signal penetra-tion, resulting in spotty coverage.

The most effective way to ensure in-building coverage is through a Distrib-uted Antenna System (DAS), where radio frequency (RF) signals are routed through fibre or copper cabling from a single base station to multiple antennas located throughout the building. CommScope installed such a solution in all ten venues

used in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and it proved to be a highly effec-tive and efficient way to eliminate wireless ‘dead zones’ and meet capacity demands. In public transport systems, the lack of connectivity can be overcome by fitting in-train repeaters, which transmit and receive wireless signals to passenger’s handheld devices recovering the high penetration loss caused by the carriage’s metalised structure to the signal coming from outside.

Instead of waiting for capacity and cover-age issues to present themselves at the most inconvenient and costly time, building owners, developers and transport managers must choose to safeguard their investment and provide the infrastructure necessary to solve the wireless problems of tomorrow, today. By engaging early, CommScope can significantly reduce the time and expense of deploying and managing a wireless DAS, thus simplifying and streamlining the user experience and ensuring minimal network disruption and maximum revenue.

UbiqUitoUs capacityWhile in-building coverage is a challenge, it is essentially the extension of one which

has faced operators worldwide for decades: the race to make coverage universal. But Af-rican mobile networks are evolving to also require greater capacity. With every passing year networks must support a growing vol-ume of data traffic thanks to increasingly sophisticated mobile devices and the arrival of LTE. Smartphone penetration rates in Africa now stand at around 18 percent and LTE is quickly gaining momentum with 11 million customers predicted by 2015, surg-ing to approximately 40 million by 2017.

The increasing popularity of mobile data services is putting immense pressure on operators to physically expand networks to support more data traffic, either through the construction of new base stations or by adding additional antennas to existing towers, raising their total cost of owner-ship. But a new generation of evolved and highly-integrated “active antennas” may hold the key for operators looking to migrate to new technologies and increase capacity – all while reducing their overall cost of ownership.

Active Antenna Systems (AAS) provide operators with a means to support larger volumes of subscribers (and thus gener-ate more revenue) by providing the ability to sectorise coverage areas vertically. Most sectorisation is currently performed in the horizontal plane of the coverage area, but this opens up another avenue for capac-ity efficiency. Currently, if an operator has a sector at maximum capacity the only option is to deploy additional antennas or build another cell site. With active antenna technology, operators can take that sector, split it again vertically and come close to doubling its capacity – improving the service for subscribers and generating more revenue.

Capacity of existing sites can also be increased by reconfiguring the antenna beam based on predictable customer traf-fic load. Due to this unique capability of remote radio heads to provide adaptive coverage, flexible interference mitigation, and advanced load balancing, network capacity can be effectively doubled without a single new tower being built or antenna added. CapEx can also be slashed by half and OpEx can be significantly re-duced in the long-term due to lower costs for tower leasing.

sUpporting the past and fUtUreCoverage and capacity challenges are key for African operators as they deploy new technologies like LTE and WiMAX, but they also face a long list of legacy technologies that their networks must continue to sup-port well into the future.

Introducing new technology into an existing network requires careful plan-ning and excellent execution in order to protect the current network whilst rapidly deploying new capabilities. Often times, considerations for migrating the RF Path to compliment new and existing technologies are under planned or not considered at all. This can lead to substandard performance, schedule delays and major cost overruns.

Supporting a variety of technologies across multiple frequency bands - while continuing to meet customer expectations for quality, speed and coverage - creates sig-nificant challenges due to a more crowded RF path. As more carriers look to migrate to higher capacity LTE technologies, AAS once again has a crucial role to play. Active antennas enable operators to consolidate their physical footprint on the tower while providing greater control, pattern qual-ity, and operational efficiency to ensure that the crowded spectrum does not cause interference.

Going forward, this trend towards mul-tiple bands and new air interface standards will no doubt continue. Likewise, the AAS architecture is designed to evolve as well, advancing from single-band active arrays to active-passive antenna arrays in which the active array deploys new services and legacy standards are managed through the passive array.

conclUsionAfrican operators are now at a critical juncture. It will be those who squeeze the highest level of performance from their networks that will thrive well into the fu-ture. This is especially critical in countries where ARPUs tend to be lower, and the price for making the wrong choice can he high indeed.

Coverage and capacity: from the top of the tower to the bottom line

aS the afriCan teleComS market ContinueS down a path towardS next-generation teChnologieS, operatorS muSt introduCe the right teChnologieS to benefit both SubSCriberS and the bottom line. from SeamleSS in-building wireleSS ConneCtivity, to rapidly doubling CapaCity through aCtive antennaS, deploying the right SolutionS will be CritiCal.

By Vick Mamlouk, Vice President – Middle-East and Africa at CommScope, outlines why deploying new technologies that meet both coverage and capacity demands will be the main objective for African mobile operators in the coming year.

Vick Mamlouk

Join our workshops!Give us 30 minutes and we’ll give you a new perspective on your RF path and show you how easy it is to gain a competitive edge with DAS technology

Best practices for implementation of new cell site technologyphilip Sorrells – vp Site Solutions11am – 3pm stand MR8

Overcoming Coverage and Capacity Challenges Associated with In Building and High Density locationsrafael marques – manager, engineering projects, Sub-Saharan africa12pm – 2pm stand MR8

20_AfricaCom11_DayOne_comscope.indd 20 01/11/2012 11:55


feature | yellowsat

YELLOWSAT is a Paris-based high-tech company specialising in providing dedicated broad-band satellite links. They have

developed a proven powerful technology that allows the large users to use a scarcely tapped satellite resource, the inclined-orbit satellite capacities.

Based on that technological break-through, the Company offers its services to companies, telecommunication providers, and government institutions in partner-ship with major satellite communication providers such as SES.

YELLOWSAT has developed a technology to offer inclined-orbit satellite-based telecommunications that are both cheap and reliable.

7 to 10 years after launch, a fixed-orbit geostationary satellite cannot perform all the space stabilisation manoeuvres anymore because of fuel lack. The satellite operator can then decide to change the way it handles the resource, and in consequence the orbit becomes inclined. With half less manoeuvres (and hence fuel consumption), the satellite keeps its geostationary position, but its trajectory exhibits a gradual tilt vs. the equatorial plan, hence the ‘inclined orbit’. The advantage is that the satellite op-erational life is increased significantly, even by 6 to 8 extra years sometimes. However, until today, inclined-orbit satellite trajec-tory could only be tracked in a partial way and thanks to expensive investments with large dish station. Only large links (over 20 Mbs) have been in use. “The operator generally only books 20% of the capacity of their inclined-orbit satellites” states Pierre GRENIER, Co-Founder and CEO of YEL-LOWSAT, “the inclined orbit is mainly an untapped resource, especially for smaller-sized links, from 1 to 20Mbs for instance”.

YELLOWSAT has developed a propri-etary technology that enables the reliable continued use of the satellite in «inclined» mode thanks to a tracking system on the ground. That system is coupled with standard market products to make up for a complete satellite station. Tracking is

achieved thanks to algorithms developed by YELLOWSAT, an approach which has proved to be extremely reliable and autonomously forecasting geostationary satellite trajectories, thus guaranteeing the same quality of service as a fixed orbit satel-lite. “Everybody thought that reaching such results would be impossible, but we proved them wrong!” says Daniel TITS, Co-Found-er and R&D Director at YELLOWSAT. Mr. TITS is a former EUTELSAT R&D and operations executive, with over 30 years of experience.

YELLOWSAT technology also enables any geostationary satellite, whether in fixed or inclined orbit, to be seamlessly and remotely accessed in maximum 4 minutes, and satellite life to be extended.

The system has been thoroughly tested by industry expert public and private organizations. In particular, YELLOWSAT has been granted accreditation by ESA, the European Space Agency.

Thanks to that proprietary technology, YELLOWSAT can offer affordable dedi-cated broadband links of any size to any organization, all over the world, and especially in countries where the fibre net-work infrastructure is not fully developed, as well as backup for existing links.

Showcase: with their SES partner, YELLOWSAT provide Congo Brazza-ville with satellite communications

Since 2011 YELLOWSAT have been pro-viding the Republic of Congo’s Ministry of Infrastructure, Public Works & Recon-struction with their service and system, which beams over the whole zone, and at a bandwidth price much lower than with existing fixed orbit.

“SES are constantly trying to cus-tomise capacity for their customers. By providing inclined capacity over Africa, we are meeting our customers’ requests for affordable solutions», says Simon GATTY-SAUNT, VP Sales, Europe and Central Asia, at SES. «We are delighted to count YELLOWSAT among our customers. Their arrival reinforces our commitment to provide Internet connectivity to end-users

on the African continent, and let us intro-duce our orbital position of 47 °West”.

In partnership with the satellite operator SES, which provides the initial satellite com-munication, YELLOWSAT also provides enterprises, governments and institutions in Africa with Internet connectivity.

Inclined orbit represents the future of African satellite telecom

YELLOWSAT has chosen AfricaCom as their first international trade fair to communicate. YELLOWSAT are provid-ing an update on their activity, confirming that their system is perfectly operational and ready for sale. In 2012, the Company received equity backing from the Magellan Industries-managed funds, also share-holders of the airplane manufacturer LH Aviation. Those financial resources will help YELLOWSAT launch their service internationally and industrially, and meet the market needs.

The Company targets in particular Afri-can countries, which are perfect matches for their inclined-orbit offer. Compared to West European countries, they still suffer from a partial lack of ground infrastructures and thus from a higher bandwidth price. “Com-munication is a universal human need, but inequality in infrastructures still remains” says Pierre GRENIER. For a number of years

satellite has been an alternative to the heavy investment required by fibre use, especially in isolated regions. However the price of satellite bandwidth is still too high for some specific zones to be connected. “From now on, with YELLOWSAT and their partners, the satellite can beam over any area affected by the digital divide in an economically viable way, whether sparsely populated or not. Our goal is to help mind the digital gap in Africa” says Pierre GRENIER.

YELLOWSAT are the ONLY ONE that can help you safely use satellites via in inclined orbit at an affordable price: 50% less cost, 100% performance.

YELLOWSAT full system (dish + monitor-ing, based on standard hardware) is easy to deploy, easy to maintain, and autonomous.

With YELLOWSAT, you can connect the last mile to backup links.

YELLOWSAT’s main partners are SES, INTELSAT, MEASAT, ABSAT, CASTOR NETWORK, and the European Space Agency (ESA).

Please meet us at booth P73, or visit our website at www.yellowsat.com. You can also ask for more specific information at [email protected].

YELLOWSAT, French supplier of inclined-orbit-satellite capacity an exhibitor at AfricaCom

22_AfricaCom12_DayOne_YellowSat.indd 22 02/11/2012 09:57

00_AfricaComDaily_Nov12_SkyVision.indd 1 15/10/2012 13:25

EXPANDING SPACE TO COMMUNICATE

EUTELSAT. SATELLITE TELEVISION AND BROADBAND INTERNET FOR EVERYONE.

With capacity commercialized on 29 satellites that provide coverage over the entire European continent, as well as the Middle East, Africa, India and significantparts of Asia and the Americas, Eutelsat is one of the world’s three leading satellite operators in terms of revenues. From its two orbital hotspots at 16 and 36 degrees East, Eutelsat broadcasts almost 600 TV channels to Sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian Ocean islands. Eutelsat has also launched a new and affordable Internet access service for SOHOs and SME’s in Africa, “IP Easy”. Eutelsat’s next two satellites EUTELSAT 21Band EUTELSAT 70B, to be launched end 2012, both feature coverage of Africa.

VISIT US AT AFRICACOM – STAND B03

WWW.EUTELSAT.COM

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Mep 255 355 AP Eutelsat Corpo+Africa_Mep 255 355AP Eutelsat Corpo Africa 26/10/12 11:37 Page1


feature | comviva

‘Mobile Data’ is one of the most widely discussed topics globally, especially among telecom and Broadband

service providers in African markets. The fact is that the mobile broadband market in Africa is moving from its nascent stage of development to a high growth trajec-tory. Currently, demand for mobile data services exceed supply, and Service provid-ers are struggling to cope up with the rapid evolution from a voice-centric market to one that relies on the provision of 3G and mobile broadband services.

Catalysts for this burgeoning growth include a relative lack of fixed Internet infrastructure, the growing highly avail-able 3G, Wi-Fi and Wi-MAX networks, accelerated adoption of smart phones, tablets, laptops (dongles) and the influx of applications, Video traffic, P2P file sharing traffic, gaming and social net-working sites.

Owing to this explosive data traffic, service providers in Africa are striving to provide high-performance networks to deliver rewarding user experience, faster access to content, encourage long-term customer loyalty, and support market differentiating service offerings. Sustained growth in traffic volumes has the potential to overwhelm network resources, intro-duce higher latency on the network and negatively impact the overall quality of service delivered to subscribers. The sheer rise in data volumes has also been due to the varied mix of traffic transiting through the network, which has altered the current approach that service providers have taken to manage this growth. Wireless networks must scale even further to support delay-sensitive, real-time multi-play services such as interactive gaming, Mobile TV and streaming video which are bandwidth intensive applications.

The profitability of service provider’s data operations depends on how they respond to the explosive growth in mobile data traffic. Simply augmenting the net-work infrastructure is a capital intensive proposition. As competition is fierce and there are limits to consumer data service charges, operators are faced with a trade-

off between the capex-to-revenue ratio and the quality of experience on offer — unless they handle traffic more intelli-gently and smartly.

So far, service providers have depended on niche vendors offering point products addressing individual problems, which make their task extremely complex and difficult to manage. The onus to envision a compre-hensive blueprint at the forefront and then orchestrate the implementation of the com-plete infrastructure to manage the growth, falls on the service provider. Such a complex network requires deeper engagement from the service providers in handling end to end service delivery. It also limits the innova-tion in service offerings, as multiple vendors cannot function in a cohesive manner. This in turn has a direct impact and leads to delay in marketing activities such as launching new plans, bundles, promotions, since there is increased dependency on multiple vendors and requires a long testing cycle.

Given this fact, today operators are looking at solutions that can seriously address their end-to-end needs to address the growth challenges that are centred on managing, optimizing and monetizing date traffic from a single vendor. They are now looking at an integrated, consistent, unified, robust solution for data pipe management that delivers a hassle free and smooth experi-ence to the subscribers and service providers. Acknowledging that data pipes will need to be controlled and shaped, service providers have increasingly begun to understand the need for data plans that are scaled to suit their market demands.

Adopting effective traffic management techniques and suitable data plans will en-able operators to control their data pipe ef-fectively and offer differentiated service and charging offering. The Manage, Optimize and Monetize (MOM) strategy will address user expectations for an enhanced Internet experience, provide the flexibility to quickly launch new service plans, simplify charging and increase penetration, thereby having an overall impact on the increased ARPU.

To address this MOM strategy, mobile data platforms - can offer a point solution to overcome the prime concerns of the service providers.

• Service Management: Granular, real-time control and alloca-tion of bandwidth resources by defining and enforcing a broad set of policies at subscriber, service, device and protocol levels based on network status to manage and optimize use of existent capacity more effectively. Largely termed in the industry as “PCRF solution”

• Service Optimization: Optimizes diverse traffic streams us-ing tools such as caching, transcoding and adaptation. Largely termed in the industry as “Caching and Optimization solution”

• Service Monetization: Supports differentiated, tiered monetiza-tion models based on multiple param-eters - time of day (peak vs off-peak) destination, quota consumption and application type to monetize the value delivered to subscribers with a variety of new revenue models. Largely termed in the industry as “PCEF solution”With this MOM strategy, more and

more service providers are now convinced with the thought that a single integrated solution such as this is needed to address the upcoming challenge in managing the mobile data boom. The key is to drive bet-ter and consistent user experience through effective and smarter traffic management.

Thus, it is imperative for the solution offerings to optimize operators’ spend on often exorbitant network infrastruc-ture and thereby result in faster ROI. An integrated solution that incorporates the MOM strategy would positively result in reducing the operator capex and opex and at the same time offer flexibility to create differentiators in their competitive markets, in a timely manner. Furthermore, given the exponential growth already being experienced in mobile data and expected momentum in future, the solu-tion offering should be scalable over time, capacity and functional dimensions with minimal disruption to service.

The expansion of 3G, Wi-Max, Wi-Fi networks in Africa will push the mobile broadband market into a new phase of development. This phase will be character-ized by an increase in network capacity, the development of local content and applica-tions, and the increasing adoption of low-cost smartphones, handheld devices such as tablets, laptops.

Service providers must now prepare for the coming surge in data traffic, as there are number of distinct opportuni-ties for them to deliver greater operational efficiency, commercial agility and a better customer experience by choosing the most effective strategy.

Mobile Data – A Smarter Approach to Traffic Management

By Mayank Sharma, Vice President, Africa Region, Comviva

Mayank Sharma, VP, Africa Region

24_AfricaCom12_DayOne_Comviva.indd 24 01/11/2012 12:13

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feature | Informa report

The Informa Telecoms & Media Af-rica Industry Outlook Survey was conducted online in August and September 2012. The Industry

Survey is intended to gauge perceptions of the outlook for the industry in 2013 and beyond and the potential for new revenue opportunities.

Approximately 200 respondents from a wide range of companies completed many of the questions. About 70 per cent of the respondents are based in Africa; with the 30 per cent of respondents from other regions showing the extent of interest in Africa as an investment opportunity. Within Africa, over three-quarters of respondents were based either in southern or west Africa. It should come as little surprise that South Africa was the best represented market, fol-lowed by Nigeria with Ghana also figuring.

Scope of The SurveyThe African telecoms market has reached a new phase of maturation. Changes in technology, evolving consumer demands and the growing intensity of competition all necessitate a shift to new CSP business models and more sophisticated customer segmentation. The danger is real: If com-munications service providers (CSPs) do not evolve, they run the risk of failing to capture revenue from the fresh opportu-nities that exist from cloud computing, machine-to-machine (M2M) applications and the connection of enterprise and vertical markets. In vertical sectors such as healthcare, utilities and the public sector, CSPs can provide solutions to enterprises and consumers that increase process ef-ficiency and reduce transactional costs.

The transformation that is required by CSPs to capture new business opportuni-ties means that they must build on their existing capabilities and combine those with a new strategy to unlock new rev-enue. In order to do this, CSPs need to un-derstand their customers better, and offer them services that match their individual needs and preferences, rather than trying to supply the masses with one-size-fits-all infrastructure products. While designing new business models, the CSP must deploy networks with capabilities such as mobil-ity, messaging, location, presence, profile and call-control, and combine these with internet-style services such as social networking, search, advertising, direct marketing and mapping, thereby enabling richer, more compelling and more person-alised services than the pure-play internet players can offer.

In order to test some of these thoughts with the market, this survey seeks to assess where the industry sees potential growth from Africa.

New reveNue opporTuNiTieSWhen asked to rank the importance of a number of themes in terms of revenue-generation potential in the short and long term, mobile broadband is seen as the biggest opportunity. Service in-novation, customer loyalty and network transformation are also important areas for CSPs.

It is a sign that the operator commu-nity understands the need to transform its business in terms of technology, segmentation and business models. Good news indeed for the vendor community, and especially the increasingly crowded operations and business-support-service market.

It is interesting to note that LTE, the enterprise market and cloud services are all seen as longer-term priorities. While Africa’s communications market still re-mains mainly consumer-facing, we expect to see enterprise revenues become increas-ingly important to the business strategies of CSPs. Enterprise mobility will play an important part in the future strategies aimed especially at the SME market; in the case of the region’s more developed mar-kets, the enterprise has already become a key target segment.

LTe: fiNdiNg The buSiNeSS caSeAccording to respondents, 2013 will be an important year for LTE launches with nearly half answering that LTE will be launched before the end of next year. Interestingly, the number of respondents to this question was relatively low and it is possible that those not answering this question did not have a clear view on launch dates, which would suggest slightly less optimism towards LTE roll-out than suggested.

There is guarded support for the busi-ness case for LTE in Africa. Although only four out of ten agree that there is a strong business case for LTE at the moment, two-thirds see a role for LTE as the technology matures and the demand for data contin-ues to grow.

But simply looking at the accounting costs of a network deployment scenario is not enough: Any investment in LTE needs to analyse the cost of losing an opportu-nity by not being able to meet customers’ demands for bandwidth and service qual-

ity. The potential to optimise overall net-work economics is inherent in 4G because of its all-IP architecture, spectral efficiency and bandwidth flexibility. The business case for LTE will become loud and clear if CSPs can improve management of their data traffic, locate new revenue streams and architect a more open environment for OTT applications.

SaTeLLiTe: SoLviNg The backhauL chaLLeNge?Although the findings indicate that satel-lite is not seen as a big revenue opportu-nity by respondents, there is recognition – according to 63 per cent of them – that satellite is and will continue, in the short term at least, to be important for access to rural markets.

Backhaul is the single biggest infra-structure challenge posed to opera-tors trying to expand into rural areas cost effectively – microwave, multihop microwave and satellite all have their place. While economies of scale and competition have brought equipment costs to reasonable levels, leasing satellite capacity is still expensive for operators to consider in large-scale deployments. Moreover, latency for communications is in the order of 500ms which makes voice potentially a major challenge if both ends of the call are using satellite backhaul (latency=~1sec). Despite this 54 per cent of respondents agree that satellite is and will continue to be important for back-haul in Africa.

MobiLe broadbaNd: eNSuriNg avaiLabiLiTy for aLLBroadband has a significant role to play across African society: It provides small businesses with the opportunity to broaden their customer base and reduce overheads; it can help local farmers and fishermen with information on weather forecasts, sustainable farming tech-niques or pricing; and it can be a vital link in smart electricity grids facilitating locally-generated electricity – including electricity from renewable sources – to be integrated, stored and shared as demand fluctuates. Ubiquitous mobile broadband is a big idea whose time has come.

And yet, according to the respondents, mobile broadband services are expensive and the investment required to launch networks is a constraint to growth.

With mobile operators, as the main providers of internet services in Africa, it is imperative that governments and regu-

lators do all they can to ensure that mobile broadband services are widely available and affordable. Devices and services are still expensive – sometimes prohibitively so – for the poorest in Africa. Terrestrial cabling is under-developed and mobile network coverage is often sparse or non-existent in rural areas.

cLoud: NoT juST a coST reducer, buT aN eMpowerMeNT TooLSeven out of ten of the survey respondents highlighted business applications as the biggest potential cloud-service-revenue generator. Cloud services are not simply about data storage and cost savings; they actually support business agility, especially for the SMEs.

To demonstrate this support for agility, MTN’s Mobile Fleet Management Solution has been designed to meet the needs of South Africa’s third largest sector – logis-tics and transport. The focus of the solu-tion is around business process improve-ment and provides real-time reporting and workflow management, both of which are vital to the mobilised, fast-moving nature of the distribution sector.

coNcLuSioNSThe majority of the survey’s respondents see the mobile or converged operator as the type of company best-placed to take advantage from Africa’s new revenue opportunities. Just as interesting a view is the opposite: Not surprisingly, fixed operators are viewed as being the worst-placed, followed by network equipment manufacturers with one in four of our re-spondents agreeing that the likes of NSN, Ericsson and Huawei need to diversify their business. Informa agrees with this sentiment, and these businesses are now changing their approach to market, albeit at a slower pace in Africa.

What is interesting is the relatively low proportion of respondents that are pre-pared to suggest that OTT players, device manufacturers and system integrators can maximise the revenue opportunities that do exist in Africa.

This report was taken from the Informa T&M Industry Outlook 2013. Now celebrat-ing its 11th anniversary, the theme of this year’s event was The Innovation Challenge – Telecoms and Media Innovation Strategies: Customers, Networks, Services.

www.informatandm.com/industry-out-look-2013/

Africa Industry Outlook 2013 Survey

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