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Contact UsWeb: www.ftthcouncilafrica.comFax: +27 (0) 86 579 2606Postal: Postnet Suite #477, Private Bag X1007, Lyttelton, 0140Membership Enquiries: [email protected] Enquiries: [email protected] Enquiries: [email protected] Enquiries: [email protected]
The FTTH Council Africa believes that the development and deployment of fibre based broadband networks
will enhance the quality of life for South African citizens and Africa as a whole, and provide African
countries with an infrastructure that will allow its companies to increase their effectiveness and competitiveness within the global marketplace.
CONTENTS
ABOUT THE FTTH COUNCIL AFRICAAbout the FTTH Council Africa 3Our Members and Partners 3FTTH Council Africa Organigram 4FTTH Council Board Members 5Fibre Council Global Alliance 6
INDUSTRY UPDATEThe role of government 7Market Intelligence 8Africa FTTH Bandwidth Map 9
PUBLIC SECTORRural Broadband 10Future Proof Mobile backhaul 10Requirement for open dialogue 11The Future of Telecomms 12Should local authorities have broadband strategies? 13e-HEALTH Telemedicine/Telehealth 14e-education 15
FIBRE TO THE BUSINESSTelecoms as a utility 16Fibre – the cloud enabler 17Big Data Is A Big Deal 18Fibre Friendly Facility 19The future of telecommunication is bright (and green) 19
FIBRE TO THE HOMEThe benefits of fibre 20What is a next generation optical broadband network? 20What can fibre do for a community? 21The Age Of Social Media 22The Fantastic Four is here… 23
FTTH COUNCIL AFRICA CONFERENCE 2015Join us in Kigali, Rwanda! 24
FTTH COUNCIL AFRICA ANNUAL REPORT 2015
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Richard Came, President, and Juanita Clark, Chief Executive Officer of the FTTH Council Africa.The last financial year did not come without its own set of challenges. The FTTH Council Africa conference 2014 yet again proved that the need for open dialogue regarding the challenges that face the industry. Our flagship event, it aims to bring together industry participants and provide a platform for dialogue and problem solving. Further it aims to allow the industry to network and showcase their products. We would like to thank you, our members, for your ongoing support.
2015 will see the conference move to Africa, more specifically to Kigali, Rwanda. It is important to share the message of fibre with the rest of the continent. This year we will co-locate with Transform Africa, an event that attracts governments, regulators and operators from across Africa. We hope to meet many delegates and participants from Central Africa provide East, West and central Africa with support. This is going to become the single biggest networking event for fibre stakeholders on the continent – do not miss it.
We have also had several opportunities to travel and spread the word on the Fibre Council. Attending these events is critical as it provides a platform to take our message to the rest of the continent. As usual, Juanita attended the FTTH Council Europe conference in Warsaw where she represented the Africa chapter. In April we attended the IAD event in Gambia where Juanita Ethiopia was a speaker. She was Chair of a two day con-ference in Tanzania, and she also attended the Zimbabwe Conference where she hosted two workshops on FTTX. Thank you to our members of the Board who also put their hands up to represent us in spite of their own busy schedules.
Locally, we finally saw the rise of the empowered community, taking control and bringing FTTH to suburbia. 2014 will always be the year that we will look back on as the rise of FTTH in South Africa. We are now seeing major FTTH networks being deployed across sub Saharan Africa and countries like Zimbabwe and Kenya could soon be taking the lead. This opens a world of endless opportunities but also brings with it. Now is the time to get the models right to ensure we build sustainable future proof networks. This can only be achieved through open dialogue and ongoing education at all levels of government.
On an international scale the FTTH Council Global Alliance is becoming stronger as it is looking for ways to work closer together on global projects.
Our participation in government affairs is growing, as is our collaboration with other industry associations that provide complementary technologies. We are also seeing some strong activities coming from our Advisory Committees and we look forward to the positive impact these ongoing discussions will have on the industry.
This association is only possible because of you our members. We thank you for your continued support. We aim to grow the work of the FTTH Council Africa with you by our side. As always, your inputs are important. Stay in contact.
To those that embrace the future… buckle up.. it is going to be an awesome ride!~ Richard and Juanita
Dr Siyabonga Cwele, The Honourable Minister of DTPS; Juanita Clarke, CEO of the FTTH Council Africa; and Dr Andile Ngcaba
We are now seeing major FTTH networks being deployed across sub Saharan Africa and countries like Zimbabwe and Kenya could
soon be taking the lead.
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About the FTTH Council AfricaThe FTTH Council Africa is focussed on the fibre industry and all stakeholders affected by the industry in-cluding:
◊ National and local governments
◊ Private companies
◊ Regulating bodies
◊ Industry organisations
Established in 2010, the FTTH Council Africa is an independent, not for profit organisation and active member of the Fibre Council Global Alliance (FCGA) alongside the FTTH Council Europe, Asia Pacific, North America, Middle East and North Africa.
The FTTH Council Africa believes that the development and deployment of fibre based broadband networks will enhance the quality of life for South African citizens and Africa as a whole, and provide African countries with an infrastructure that will allow its companies to increase their effectiveness and competitiveness within the global marketplace.
The council’s charter is to educate African governments, policy makers and political leaders on why and how high speed fibre connectivity can be delivered to citizens within the coming years. Through consultation with all major stakeholders and understanding their strategies and concerns, we endeavour to be the voice of the industry and to help create a better future for all involved. In turn we support government with issues such as
policy and regulation, best practice and minimum standards through an independent voice. Member engagement is encouraged on all levels and participants are kept informed on industry trends and success stories. We offer members an opportunity to network and collaborate and discuss best practise frameworks that is in the best interest of all.
Furthermore, we encourage dialogue between government and private sector from a platform that is independent and product agnostic. We do not subscribe to any set of products, and will often engage with our international counterparts for advice on policy and regulation issues, using international best practise as the basis for our approach.
Our mission is to see the adoption of fibre deployments by all broadband stakehold-ers, thereby enhancing the lives of all people living on the continent of Africa.
Our membersMembers of the FTTH Council Africa commit to a Code of Conduct. The shift to develop a Code of Conduct was propelled by our members to show good faith towards public sector in executing their duties.
Whilst our members agree that “doing the right thing is its own reward”, it is acknowledged that ‘talk is cheap’. By putting their signatures to paper, members commit to delivering the highest standard of work and respect for public assets. Members agree to co-operation, technical excellence, respect for others, and safety.
The FTTH Council Africa believes that it needs to ensure that its own house is in order, and in signing a Code of Conduct it aims to prove just that. Members are held accountable for the work they do in the field, are encouraged to follow best practices, and a formal complaints process can be followed against any member failing to do so, and if found guilty could result in possible termination of membership.
When it comes to doing business with a member of the FTTH Council Africa, you can be sure of what they stand for. For a member list, please visit the website: www.ftthcouncilafrica.com
PartnersResearchBMI-T
Mapping◊ SARevealed
◊ i-Mentors
Training◊ Triple Play Fibre Optic Solutions
◊ The Fibre Lab
Industry Bodies◊ FOA-Africa
◊ ISPA
◊ Eco Specifier
Press PartnersEE Publishers
The council’s charter is to educate Africa governments, policy
makers and political leaders on why and how high speed fibre connectivity can be delivered to citizens within the coming years.
ABOUT THE FTTH COUNCIL AFRICA
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ADVISORY COMMITTEES
TECHNICAL POLICY & REGULATORY OPERATORS
CIVILS & PLANNING
WORLD OF APPLICATIONS
BEE (South Africa only)
MEMBERS
BOARD OF DIRECTORS, LED BY PRESIDENTCONTRACTED TEAM, LED
BY CEO◊ Administration
◊ Web/Social Media
◊ Bookkeeping
◊ Press Office
◊ Events/Projects
◊ Research
◊ Conference supported by conference team
FTTH Council Africa Organigram
Advisory Committees In an attempt to accommodate the needs of a rapidly growing industry body, the FTTH Council Africa board of Directors took a closer look at how to better serve the needs of its members.
Advisory Committees function to support the industry with topical content. They are responsible for discussion specific viewpoints of the organisation and deliver supporting documents on relevant topics as required from time to time.
◊ TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE (Tech Committee)
◊ POLICY & REGULATORY ADVISORY COMMITTEE (P&R Committee)
◊ OPERATORS ADVISORY COMMITTEE (Ops Committee)
◊ CIVILS & PLANNING ADVISORY COMMITTEE (C&P Committee)
◊ WORLD OF APPLICATIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE (Apps Committee)
◊ PUBLIC SECTOR SMART CITIES COMMITTEE (Smart Committee)
◊ BEE Committee (South Africa only)
Each Committee is managed by a Chair, with support from a Vice Chair, elected by the members of the committee.
Member companies may participate in any committee they deem fit.
For more information, please visit our website www.ftthcouncilafrica.com
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ABOUT THE FTTH COUNCIL AFRICA
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FTTH Council Board MembersRichard Came - President Richard Came is an ICT entrepreneur who has been active in the South African and international market since the 1980’s. Some of his more notable ventures include co-founding Dimension Data, Dark Fibre Africa and the Protocol and the Archway Venture Partner venture capital funds. He is the chairman of the Trade-bridge Group which supplies value added transaction switching solutions and is an active investor in a number of other IT and telecommunications companies.
Juanita Clark - CEOWith almost 20 years’ experience in the telecommunications industry, Juanita Clark is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of the FTTH Council Africa. Juanita is also co-founder of the Fibre Optic Association Africa, a society for fibre optic professionals with a core focus on skills development.
Pieter Steenekamp - Treasurer Pieter Steenekamp, founder and CEO of ClearlineIS, has more than 21 years’ experience in working with large telecommunication providers and global enter-prise organisations. Prior to establishing ClearlineIS, Pieter acted as the General Manager for Dimension Data’s Middle East and Africa Advanced Infrastructure line of business. Pieter began his education in Electronic Engineering and has since obtained a post-graduate qualification in Business and Financial Manage-ment.
Tshego Ditshego - Board MemberTshego Ditshego is the Executive: Brand and Communication for Dark Fibre Afri-ca (DFA). Tshego has 20 years sales and marketing experience across a spectrum of industries including petroleum, retail, financial services and ICT. His qualifica-tions comprises of a National Diploma in Marketing from CPUT, Management Advancement Programme (MAP) from Wits and Executive Development Pro-gramme from Unisa. Previously, Tshego held senior positions at Standard Bank, Gallo Record Company, Smart Source Learning Solutions and Vodacom.
Johan Kleynhans - Board Member Johan Kleynhans joined MCT Telecommunications, a full-turnkey fibre optic net-work provider, in 2010 where serves as their CEO. Johan obtained his B.Eng (Electronics) Pr.Eng with Honours from the University of Pretoria in 1990 and continued with post graduate studies in Bio Medical Engineering and Telecom-munications. Johan has a strong engineering and telecommunications back-ground, gained from many years spent within the CSIR and Siemens.
Zellah Fuphe - Board MemberZellah Fuphe is the Executive for Strategic Relations in the Middle East and Africa (”MEA”) region for Dimension Data MEA. In addition, Zellah serves on the boards of Plessey, AECI and Engen. She has served as a non-executive director on the a number of boards, including African Investment Holdings and UNISA School of Business Leadership. Zellah holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences from the University of Cape Town.
Brandon Doyle - Board Member As CEO & Founding Partner, Brandon has run Convergence Partners since in-ception. Prior to that he spent 5 years with Nedbank where he was head of Investment Banking and an Executive Committee member at Nedbank Capital. Prior to joining Nedbank, Brandon was head of Corporate Finance and Project Equity Finance at FBC Fidelity for 3 years where he was involved in a number of milestone BEE transactions.
Alfie Martin - Board MemberAlfie Martin has been involved in the Fibre-to-the-Premises Industry since 2004 and is responsible for the design and implementation of an increasing number of Passive Optical Networks in Southern Africa and surrounding islands. Consid-ered to be one of the pioneers of Fibre-to-the-Premises networks in South Afri-ca, Alfie was responsible for the design and implementation of the country’s first pre-standards Triple-Play network in 2005.
Fibre Council Global AllianceThe FTTH Council Global Alliance (FCGA) is the platform for co-operation of the five global FTTH Councils. All the Councils share a common goal: the accelera-tion and adoption of fibre based services.
All act as powerful and independent organisations in their specific markets. This regional focus gives the FTTH Councils a special strength to adapt their activities, technologies and services to the particular market situation of their region.
The FTTH Council Global Alliance ensures that those regional efforts are com-bined with the power of global co-operation. Within the FCGA the FTTH Coun-cils exchange studies, information and the latest market developments. Joint projects, like The Light Age magazine, and The Gimme Fibre! allow global activ-ities and intercontinental networking.
The FCGA meet annually for a 2 day session to discuss topics and global co-op-eration.
The 2015 FCGA meeting will take place in Instanbul, Turkey.
FCGA 2012 Brussels
FCGA 2013 Singapore
FCGA 2015 Las Vegas
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The role of governmentOver the last year fibre deployments across the continent has continued to grow steadily, in spite of many obstacles still experienced by operators. Some countries have been pro-active in supporting the deployment of fibre networks, resulting in a widening gap.On the whole, fibre deployments have steadily grown and this is good news, albeit not at the rate that we see deployments around the world. So what is the major obstacles to rapid deployment of infra-structure?
Ask any CEO what they deem the most debilitating part of getting infrastructure in the ground to be, and all might agree that without effective policies and procedures in place the continent will continue to lag behind the rest of the world.
There are significant barriers to deploying fibre op-tic networks and one of the biggest problems remains a lack of education at all lev-els within the public sector value chain. A massive effort in education is required to ensure that all parties in the value chain understand the
benefits of fibre optic infrastructure and why it is im-portant to deliver speedy approvals.
There are many stakeholders involved in the pro-cess. From getting cross border approvals, to envi-ronmental impact assessments, water-use licenses, licenses from provincial, national and local author-ities, and licenses from Roads Agencies, etc. Cur-rently private sector spends much time educating indirect entities on why they require permission to deploy a fibre optic cables, etc on why you need ap-proval to lay a fibre optic cable in a specific area, for instance across a border. Consider the time delays in each one of these applications.
The role of the regulator in promoting and edu-cating indirect public sector departments on why speedy approvals need to be produced is gener-ating considerable dialogue amongst regulators in Africa.
Regulation, one of the three key levers of state pow-er, is of critical importance in shaping the welfare
of economies and society and thus has a duty to ensure that barriers to deployment are removed.
In the past, governments across Africa faced a range of challenges as they were surprised by the private sector requests for access to roads, border crossings, bridge attachments and water use licens-es, to name but a few.
They have now emerged from the crisis to some ex-tent, but African regulators across all sectors must create a regulatory framework for the rollout of ter-restrial fibre in order to support an increase in high speed broadband penetration across the continent.
Further, an integrated regulatory framework helps ensure that investors can safely and securely get maximum benefit out of their investment. Econo-mies and societies need effective regulations to support growth, investment, innovation, market openness and uphold the rule of law.
A poor regulatory environment undermines busi-ness competitiveness and parties’ trust in govern-ment.
It remains a case of education at all levels within government. With the increase in data on mobile networks, operators are under tremendous pres-sure to deploy fibre between base stations (FTTT – Fibre to the Tower). If mobile operators are going to continue to feed the data hungry population on the continents, they need to deploy fibre fast and efficiently.
Regulators and Telecomms/ICT Departments need to inform other affected departments within gov-ernment what it is about. The regulators need to educate other institutions – especially since many governments has their own broadband strategies and will ultimately face similar challenges.
*Regulations include the rules and procedures that frame the internal operation of public authorities, in-cluding ministries and government agencies.
Without effective policies and procedures in place the continent
will continue to lag behind the rest of the world.
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INDUSTRY UPDATE
Market IntelligenceParticipation in the global rankings initiative shows a country’s willingness to deploy broad-band and, in doing so, contribute to a country’s economic growth and social upliftment. Economies around the globe are more competitive than ever before. Information and money flow more quickly than ever, mass communications and quick dissemination of information through the Internet is com-monplace. Globally companies are constantly looking for areas where they can invest, but one thing that is becoming more critical than ever is abundant connectivity.
Globalisation is an economic tidal wave that is sweeping over the world. It can’t be stopped, and there will be winners and losers. One way to win the race is by showcasing your ‘always-on, always-available’ capa-bilities. Companies want to know that their global offices can connect to central servers fast and efficiently. Employees need to update reports on servers elsewhere in the world. They need to communicate via video conferencing with their peers in other parts of the world. These interactions and reports in turn are critical to the organisation sustainability.
Poor in-country connectivity is therefore a major barrier to investment.
The Fibre Council Global Rankings is a platform for countries to showcase their connectivity. It is an independ-ent graph of their broadband capabilities, whether this is through private sector initiatives or effective policy and regulation instituted by government, removing obstacles for broadband deployment.
*Entry into the Global Rankings means a country has a minimum of 200 000 end user connections (Fibre to the Building).
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INDUSTRY UPDATE
Africa FTTH Bandwidth MapSource: © Hamilton Research, www.africabandwidthmaps.com
Fibre to the Door: 91,182km of Metro/ FTTH/ FTTB Fibre Network in Africa, and counting…52 African countries are now connected to submarine cables, either directly or by terrestrial cross-border fibre optic networks . 44% of Africans live within a 25-km reach of a fibre node. But which cities and suburbs now have fibre-to-the-home, and how many homes and offices are plugged directly into the world’s fibre optic back-bone?
Africa’s inventory of terrestrial transmission networks has more than doubled in the last five years. As Af-rica’s total inventory of transmission network edges towards 1 million route kilometres, the continent had a total of 586,707-km of operational fibre optic network by December 2014 according to latest re-search by Africa Bandwidth Maps. This comprises of long-haul, metropolitan and FTTH/B (fibre-to-the-home/building) terrestrial fibre optic networks.
Of this inventory of 586,707–km of operational ter-restrial fibre, at least 109,830-km was within cities: metropolitan fibre rings and FTTH/B networks. The metro rings distribute bandwidth from fibre optic nodes to districts and suburbs around each city. The FTTH/B networks provide the last mile access, deliv-ering the bandwidth right to the door.
Terrestrial Fibre Reaches 44% of Africa’s PopulationThis network expansion has brought dozens of new
towns, cities and countries within reach of high ca-pacity national and international fibre backbone networks for the first time. Over the last five years, more than 150 million more Africans live within reach of fibre networks.
By June 2014, 44% of the population of Sub-Saha-ran Africa (410 million) lived within a 25-km range of an operational fibre optic network node. This compared to 41.8% of the population (371 million) in 2013, 40.0% (345 million) in 2012, 36.3% (313 mil-lion) in 2011, and 30.8% (259 million) in 2010.
The number of people within reach of a broadband service provided by fibre depends on the range of the fixed or wireless broadband access network used from the fibre node. In December 2014, 65.1% of the population (606 million people) lived within a 50-km range of an operational fibre optic network node. 44.0% of the population (410 million) lived within a 25-km range, and 22.3% of the population (207 million) lived within a 10-km range of an oper-ational fibre network node.
http://www.africabandwidthmaps.com/ftth/
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INDUSTRY UPDATE
Rural BroadbandThe world is experiencing rapid urbanisation. An estimated 60 million people are moving to cities and urban areas very year – more than one million every week. More than half of the world’s population now work or live in urban areas, a number expected to top 6.4 billion by 2050. Living on a continent where the focus is repeatedly on job creation, busi-nesses and individuals need broadband to advertise and apply for these jobs.
When it comes to finding jobs, or applying for jobs, Broadband Internet access is essential. The FCC recently estimated that 80% of Fortune 500 companies only advertised for positions online. High speed access accelerates business development, and provides new opportunities for innovation, expansion, and e-commerce. Communities that connect their residents create wealth and attract business investments. Access to the internet can also slow down urbanisation trends.
Urbanisation is putting major strain on local governments trying to keep up with development of infrastructure in cities and towns. People flock to cities in the hope of finding jobs and the promise of better living in the cities are attracting more and more peo-ple to the cities. It is true that cities provide opportunities, but it is also filled with competition. All those who come in search of these opportunities may not succeed. Urbanisation results in the unprecedented growth of cities, which in turn leads to unemploy-ment, homelessness, poverty, crime, begging, prostitution, stress, alcoholism, breakdown of family structures, unlawful occupation of land and conflict.
But living in rural settings means:
◊ Barriers to finding employment;
◊ Barriers to education;
◊ Poor accessibility between home and workplace;
◊ High costs of participating in the labour market;
◊ Social exclusion.
But broadband is the solution to these problems:
◊ Online applications from anywhere;
◊ Education – through access to broadband;
◊ Ongoing transport not required;
◊ Self-employment;
◊ Social inclusion and participation.
Governments and city planners will face the effects of increased competition for scarce land and resources brought about by ur-banisation. The need for effective solutions to overcome problems such as environmental pollution, traffic congestion and threats to
public safety has never been more critical.
One of the biggest potential solutions lie in work from home strat-egies where employees do not have to leave their existing envi-ronment. Yet, while remote working seems logical to most of us, many employers and managers don’t like it. It is these old fash-ioned attitudes from employers that we need to get past to ensure a more productive, happy world.
As a Microsoft paper points out: “Business leaders assume em-ployees who work remotely and take advantage of the policy are not really working. This is because of the loss of control. Employers lose direct oversight and cannot witness productivity first-hand.” They miss the obvious advantages of working from home:
◊ Environmentally friendly (23%)
◊ More time with family (29%)
◊ Less stressful environment (38%)
◊ Quieter atmosphere (43%)
◊ Eliminate long commute (44%)
◊ Less distractions/politics (44%)
◊ Improved productivity (45%)
◊ Avoid traffic (47%)
◊ Save fuel and toll fees (55%)
◊ Work/home balance (60%)Source: Forbes
Working from home results in more positive, happy employees and lower staff turnover; rather, it saves companies millions on office space, fuel allowances, energy consumption, office refresh-ments… the list goes on. If managers set specific, measurable goals and outcomes they have nothing to fear, but they think they are “witnessing productivity” when a worker sits at his/her desk, but they are really just witnessing presence.
The only two issues that hold us back from solving many of the world’s problems are company policy and access to broadband. The case and benefits for work-from-home is there, but as with any technology situated in a rural area, access remains the barrier.
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PUBLIC SECTOR
Future Proof Mobile backhaulThe introduction of the iPhone in 2007 radically and irreversibly changed the game while tablets such as the iPad and Android OS have further contributed to a dramatic reshuffling of the mobile market toward more data-driven traffic. Since then the proliferation of smartphones and tablets with associated requirements for higher speeds have been driving the adoption of 4G / LTE. As consumer data consumption increase, the range of wireless network coverage is reduced, raising investment costs for building infrastructure with access points to cover service areas.
But things are going to get even more demanding for mobile networks when the Internet of Things (IoT) finally takes off and all kind of sensors and tracking devices with Internet connections start to share data. By the end of this decade, analysts predict that 50 billion of these sensors will connect to mobile networks consuming 1000 times as much data as today’s mobile gadgets alone. This will be challenging for mobile networks that will have to backhaul massive amounts of data.
The only way to address this challenge is to deliver more capacity and coverage into the mobile network.
Mobile operators acknowledge this capacity challenge and recognise that deploying optical fibre provides a superior technical solution compared to all other alternatives as it provides unlimited bandwidth, reliability, low latency, and jitter.
Fixed line fibre optic backhaul is a crucial enabler for mobile operators deploying new high-capacity technolo-gies like Long Term Evolution (LTE) and the only true future proof backhaul solution.
Policy and regulation, both at national and local levels, can have a decisive influence on the business case and deployment strategies for rolling out high-speed broadband services.At the political level, the need for high-speed broadband service has clearly been recognised by the vast majority of countries in Africa and most have announced broadband strategies and targets.
But broadband is not a topic that countries can consider in isolation as it requires dependencies on each other.
Landlocked countries can only determine broadband strategies in consultation with neighbouring countries as the speed at which telecommunications can be deployed is often dependent on the regulatory framework of their neighbour.
Also, since we already know and agree that telecommunications can fundamentally change the continent for the better, the natural next step would be to make it as easy as possible to deploy infrastructure and remove cumbersome red tape.
This will also attract investment, reduce telecommunications costs and shorten pro-ject timelines. Having similar guidelines for deployment across sub Saharan Africa will be very attractive to potential investors.
Another area that needs attention is clarifying the role of private and public sectors, and avoiding costly duplication.
Governments and authorities must clearly recognise that intervention of some kind may be necessary to fa-cilitate large-scale deployment of fiber networks in Africa, and the time has come for all sub Saharan African governments to come together and provide a platform that is attractive, but mostly, easy to navigate.
Landlocked countries can only determine broadband strategies in consultation with neighbouring countries as the speed at which
telecommunications can be deployed is often dependent on the regulatory framework of their
neighbour.
Requirement for open dialogue between regulators in SSA
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PUBLIC SECTOR
Choosing the best communications medium of the future. In the not too distant future smart cities and smart communities are going to be amazing and intelligent hubs that will provide citizens with more sustainable, efficient, and supportive services.
The concept of smart communities however, is based on intelligent broadband infrastructure as the foundation on which connected and sustainable communities can be developed. Considering the cost of telecommunications deployment, getting the architecture right is critical.
An increase in the number of undersea data cables linking South Africa to the rest of the world, as well as market liberalisation, has seen a shake-up in local internet access and given rise to several arguments regarding the best telecom-munications medium when planning ubiquitous telecommunications access.
Probably one of the most debated and misunderstood questions in the tele-communications industry, Elize Lubbe, Chair of the Smart Community Advisory Committee takes a look at this questions:
Let’s agree from the onset. The future of telecoms cannot be built within the silo structure that currently dominates our thinking; and we need a fundamen-tal mind shift to include a holistic approach when we think of smart cities and smart communities.
The definition of a “smart community” is simply that: a community in which government, business, and residents understand the potential of information technology, and make a conscious decision to use that technology to transform life and work in their region in significant and positive ways. Many appli-cations that enable smart cities rely on high speed bandwidth.
Whilst our mobile phones are an integral part of our daily life, and the first and last thing we look at daily, smart communities are not built on mobile technology – it is built on high speed fibre. A High speed telecommunications network is the nervous system of smart cities and communities. However, fibre does not function in isolation and mobile tech-nologies enables the ‘always on, always available’ life that we have become accustomed to, designed to meet the communications needs of people on the move and allowing us to complete actions from an-ywhere at any time.
As you can see, the future is not an ‘either/or’ debate and smart communities and cities will require both high speed fibre optic networks, as well as mobile telecommunications to ensure its sustainability.
What about WiFi? Today wifi have become an essential part of modern com-munications and have revolu-tionised the way we can use computers and mobile de-vices, both in the home and office, and when we are out and about. The FTTH Council Africa recognises wifi as an en-abling complementary technology.
WiFi is fundamentally a shared medium (through the air). The total bandwidth available from a single access point or base station must be shared among multiple users and as a consequence yields lower speeds in practice. In busy areas such as a city cen-tre or sport stadium, network capacity can easily be swamped by the sheer number of users unless the operator installs adequate transmitters and effective backhaul.
Wi-Fi has become available everywhere in airports, coffee shops and hotels around the world, helping us to stay connected no matter where we are, offer-ing users the opportunity to drop from their mobile networks for cheaper and faster download capabil-ity. The benefits that Wi-Fi technology has to offer are endless, and with its ease of access, we will see more offices, homes, and businesses getting con-nected around the world in the near future.
An increase in the number of undersea data cables linking
South Africa to the rest of the world, as well as market
liberalisation, has seen a shake-up in local internet
access and given rise to several arguments regarding the best telecommunications medium
when planning ubiquitous telecommunications access.
The Future of Telecomms… Mobile, Wireless or Fixed Line?
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In many countries the financing requirements of current and
prospective infrastructure needs far outstrip resources available.
Should local authorities have broadband strategies?With the risk of massive duplication, Public Private Partnerships (PPP) are the only way to en-sure ubiquitous access for all. “We all know by now that 80% of the cost of a fibre optic network is in the trench.”
In the face of ever-increasing public expectation and demand from society, coupled with budgetary constraints, governments are facing an increasing amount of pressure to deliver new and improved infrastructure projects from transport (roads, railways, bridges); education (schools and universities); healthcare (hospitals, clinics and treatment centres); waste management (collection, disposal, waste
to energy plants); water (collection, treatment, distribution), government accommodation and defence.
In many countries the fi-nancing requirements of current and prospective in-
frastructure needs far outstrip resources available.
Meeting these needs is critical to ensure contin-ued progress, development and economic growth. Budgetary constraints and an acknowledgement of private sector efficiencies and know-how are two of the principal reasons why governments around the world are taking the economic and political decision to accelerate the use of private sector finance and adopt Public Private Partnership models, in order to deliver infrastructure projects which would have been previously built by the public sector using public sector finance.
Benefits of PPP’s are obvious and include:
◊ The operational and project execution risk is trans-ferred totally to the private sector, leaving the public component in a win-win situation;
◊ PPP’s allows government funds to be re-directed to other important socio-economic areas;
◊ Reduces government budgets and deficits;
◊ High quality standards should be obtained and maintained throughout the expected life-cycle of the project.
In addition, PPPs help the public sector develop a more disciplined and commercial approach to infra-structure development whilst allowing them to re-tain strategic control of the overall project and ser-vice as the expertise and experience of the private sector encourages innovation, resulting in shorter delivery times and improvements in the construc-tion and facility management processes. Develop-ing these processes leads to best practice and adds value.
In the US, when Google announced that it planned to build one or more community fi-bre networks, more than 1,100 local govern-ments proposed their communities as suita-ble locations.
These Google projects are a clear indicator that lo-cal authorities in the USA are capitalising on private sector infrastructure rather than trying to build it all themselves.
In Africa, private sector has already deployed thou-sands of kilometers of fibre optic infrastructure and governments could easily leverage this and save money by avoiding duplication. Leveraging exist-ing infrastructure helps to reduce government debt and free up public capital to spend on providing infrastructure to under-serviced areas, resulting in ubiquitous access. Further, the tax payer benefits by avoiding higher taxes to finance duplicate infra-structure investment development. Ultimately PPP projects can deliver better for all involved.
Source: http://www.ipfa.org/about/projectfinance/benefits
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e-HEALTH Telemedicine/TelehealthThere are many forms of telehealth – such as live-interactive video-conferencing, remote monitoring, store-and-forward imaging and provider education. The biggest benefit of telehealth will be on the individuals who have access to it.Telemedicine is defined as the use of telecommunications technology, by med-ical practitioners, to remotely evaluate, diagnose and treat patients. Telehealth can help rural providers deliver better health care by connecting rural provid-ers and their patients to services at distant sites and promoting patient-centred health care.
This capability enables patients to receive care in their communities and avoid long travel times as well as the cost of travel. Telemedicine can bring previously unavail-able levels of care to remote or rural areas of the country and the world.
Giving patients in these areas access to necessary spe-cialists and better overall care is one of the cornerstones of telemedicine.
Given the shortage of some medical specialties in rural areas, telehealth will play an important role in ensuring patients in rural communities can access the care they need today.
Just another benefit of high speed broadband access.
Given the shortage of some medical specialties in rural areas, telehealth will play
an important role in ensuring patients in rural communities can access the care they need.
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e-educationIn the past decade, online education has significantly increased in popularity among students of all ages. This is mainly because taking courses online offers clear benefits over taking cours-es at conventional educational facilities.
Lets take a closer look at some of the benefits of e-education.
1. First off, online education, or e-education offers savings because there are no additional costs for transportation and accommodation. Online education programmes and courses are cheap-er than courses that can be taken in a tradition-al school. Students are given the opportunity to choose from various schools, programmes and courses which are not available in the area where they live in. This is especially beneficial for
those who live in rural areas that only have limited edu-cational facilities.
2. Another benefit of taking online courses is that it offers flexibility to students, because they can attend classes and cours-es whenever and wherev-er there is a computer and access to the internet. They
can easily plan out a schedule that would work for them because of the flexibility offered by on-line learning, not only undergraduate students, but also individuals who already have full-time jobs or other commitments are able to take sup-plementary courses and even earn their degrees online.
3. Online learning allows a more student-centred teaching approach. Because every student has his or her way of learning that works for them, getting an online education may help in ensur-
ing that each lesson or material is completely un-derstood before moving on to the next, which in turn, could result in better learning.
4. Online course materials can be accessed 24 hours a day every day. This means that stu-dents can easily read and review lectures, dis-cussions and other materials relevant to their course. There are some students who find it a bit difficult to understand spoken material in a typical classroom setting because of a number of distractions, boredom or tiredness. Because they can simply access the material online once they are prepared to learn, students are able to take in and understand the material a lot better. In an online setting, a student is marked pres-ent if the student has actually participated in the classroom discussion. This encourages students to interact, increasing the diversity of opinion as everyone, and not just one or two students, is given the opportunity to share their thoughts.
5. There are also plenty of online course offerings and education programmes that offer the op-portunity to students to connect with the most renowned professors and lecturers in the world.
6. Making use of the tools and resources available on the internet to attend classes, research infor-mation and communicate or interact with other students can help in learning the skills an individ-ual needs in order to adapt with the present and future technology that is used in the business world or in the industry he or she is interested to work in.
7. Students who are taking online classes can also socialise, interact and discuss things that are not related to the course through “chat rooms” which are usually offered by most online institutions.
8. Because online instructors usually come from different locations across the globe, students are exposed to knowledge shared by the instructors which cannot be learned in books. The different personal backgrounds of online instructors also allow them to teach students different perspec-tives on how class concepts can be applied in actual business situations (in the case of students taking business courses).
9. Students of online courses are also given the chance to talk with their instructors whenever they want to. Through online chat, email and newsgroup discussions, students and teachers can discuss concerns related to the material without having to wait for office hours.
10. Lastly, more and more schools and universities are starting to offer online education to stu-dents. This gives even more options as far as online education programmes and courses are concerned, allowing students to choose those which they think would best help them in achiev-ing their personal and educational goals.
Online course offerings and education programmes offer the opportunity to students to
connect with the most renowned professors and lecturers in the
world.
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Telecoms as a utilityThe value proposition for property managers: Technology and Telecommunications is as much a part of the modern office space as coffee machines and water coolers.
A visit to your property management company of choice’s website is bound to greet you with sentences such as:
“Our rentals and sales divisions are property experts with a focus on…”
“We provide a range of commercial property skills…”
“We are a specialist property asset management group…”
In the past, this was good enough - back when Property Management had everything to do with property, and nothing to do with telecommunica-tion. But things have changed;
In order for today’s businesses (tenants) to remain competitive, they need access to high speed band-width.
The speed of tenants’ internet service not only impacts how quickly their employees access their email or find important information — it effects the quality of their customers’ experience when they ac-cess applications on their website. In fact, enhancing the customer experience is a major driver of satis-faction and loyalty — both of which are vital to the bottom line.
From marketing a business and providing good cus-tomer service to operating your modern day busi-nesses, internet speeds can have a huge impact on businesses of all sizes.
High speed bandwidth has many other benefits for companies like ‘Cloud Computing’ and ‘Software as a Service’, to name only two. But, once again, this relies heavily on access to high speed bandwidth which will, in turn, determine the perceived quality of service. Applications such as these save compa-nies (with easy access to it) enormous amounts of money annually.
Today technology allows businesses to automate certain functions which have historically required
additional employees.
◊ Property management companies have the oppor-tunity to offer tenants the tools they need to con-duct their businesses as effectively as possible.
◊ Fibre helps meet the demands of tenants by provid-ing raging speeds for both uploading and down-loading large data files;
◊ It provides a Unique Selling Point in comparison to historical property offerings;
◊ Fibre is a key Value Proposition & strong Differen-tiator; and
The Tenant saves money in the long run.
Fibre also holds a host of benefits for the Property Management Company, e.g.:
1. Access attracts interna-tional clients and busi-ness with bandwidth intensive needs;
2. Better property security – remote surveilance possible over fibre;
3. Rejuvenation (desirability) of certain areas through technology;
4. Based on European data, Fibre Access should stimulate an increase in property values;
5. More effective management and control of technology resources (power and connectivity)
6. Improved tenant satisfaction thanks to higher bandwidth capabilities.
The Property Management industry is highly com-petitive. Management Companies accept that they have a responsibility to their tenants to provide them with the best.
This is where fibre will become the key differentiator that property management companies have been waiting for.
*List your fibre friendly buildings on our website FREE.
From marketing a business and providing good customer service
to operating your modern day businesses, internet speeds can have a huge impact on
businesses of all sizes.
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Fibre – the cloud enablerThe CRN predicts that by 2015, small businesses will spend almost $100 billion on cloud computing services. But why are companies so eager to migrate to the cloud? Lets take a quick look at the top ten benefits of moving your business to the cloud:
Ê Cost savings!Cloud computing services are typically pay as you go, so there’s no need for capital expenditure at all. And because cloud computing is much faster to de-ploy, businesses have minimal project start-up costs and predictable ongoing operating expenses.
Ë FlexibilityThe second a company needs more bandwidth than usual, a cloud-based service can instantly meet the demand because of the vast capacity of the ser-vice’s remote servers. In fact, this flexibility is so cru-
cial that 65% of respondents to an InformationWeek sur-vey said “the ability to quick-ly meet business demands” was an important reason to move to cloud computing.
Ì Disaster recoveryWhen companies start relying on cloud-based ser-vices, they no longer need complex disaster recovery plans. Cloud computing providers take care of most issues, and they do it faster. Aberdeen Group found that businesses which used the cloud were able to resolve issues in an average of 2.1 hours, nearly four times faster than businesses that didn’t use the cloud (8 hours). The same study found that mid-sized busi-nesses had the best recovery times of all, taking al-most half the time of larger companies to recover.
Í Automatic software updatesIn 2010, UK companies spent 18 working days per month managing on-site security alone. But cloud computing suppliers do the server maintenance – including security updates –themselves, freeing up their customers’ time and resources for other tasks.
Î Increased collaborationCloud computing increases collaboration by allowing all employees – wherever they are – to sync up and work on documents and shared apps simultaneous-ly, and follow colleagues and records to receive crit-ical updates in real time. A survey by Frost & Sullivan found that companies which invested in collaboration technology had a 400% return on investment.
Ï Work from anywhereAs long as employees have internet access, they can work from anywhere. This has a positive impact on
urbanisation as it allows people in rural settings to work from home. Further, this flexibility positively affects knowledge workers’ work-life balance and productivity. One study found that 42% of working adults would give up some of their salary if they could telecommute, and on average they would take a 6% salary cut.
Ð Document controlAccording to one study, “73% of knowledge workers collaborate with people in different time zones and regions at least monthly”. If a company doesn’t use the cloud, workers have to send files back and forth over email, meaning only one person can work on a file at a time and the same document has tonnes of names and formats. Cloud computing keeps all the files in one central location, and everyone works off of one central copy. Employees can even chat to each other whilst making changes together. This whole process makes collaboration stronger, which increas-es efficiency and improves a company’s bottom line.
Ñ SecuritySome 800,000 laptops are lost each year in airports alone. This can have some serious monetary impli-cations, but when everything is stored in the cloud, data can still be accessed no matter what happens to a machine.
Ò CompetitivenessThe cloud grants SMEs access to enterprise-class technology. It also allows smaller businesses to act faster than big, established competitors. A study on disaster recovery eventually concluded that compa-nies that didn’t use the cloud had to rely on tape backup methods and complicated procedures to recover – slow, laborious things which cloud us-ers simply don’t use, allowing David to once again out-manoeuvre Goliath.
Ó Environmentally friendlyBusinesses using cloud computing only use the server space they need, which decreases their car-bon footprint. Using the cloud results in at least 30% less energy consumption and carbon emissions than using on-site servers. And again, SMEs get the most benefit: for small companies, the cut in energy use and carbon emissions is likely to be 90%.
Source: Salesforce
84% of CIOs cut application costs by moving to the cloud - Business
Insider
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Big Data Is A Big DealData analytics brings a lot of benefits to businesses, society, governments as well as individuals.
Companies are always looking for better and more efficient ways of serving and retaining their custom-ers. Society on the other hand, wants to be informed of events and products that they are interested in, and do not want to receive information that is not applicable to them.
Big data analytics attempts to provide companies with meaningful data about an individuals and the goal of the data mining process is to find the patterns that are hidden among the huge sets of data and interpret them to useful knowledge and information so that individuals can be better served.
Big data is being generated by everything around us at all times. Every digital process and social media exchange produces it. Systems, sensors and mobile devices transmit it.
Big data is arriving from multiple sources at an alarming velocity, volume and variety. The big data revolution is that now we can do something with the data. This knowledge discovery is a process that extracts implicit, potentially useful or previously unknown information from the data.
For business this data is a powerful knowledge tool and can provide valuable in-formation about consumer behaviour and how to better serve customers. How-ever, to extract meaningful value from big data, you need optimal processing power, analytics capabilities and skills.
Data analytics allows companies to gain valuable insight into their business and position their products more efficiently. The process of data mining helps companies build models based on historical data to predict who will respond to marketing campaigns. This simply means that businesses have the appro-priate approach to sell profitable products to targeted customers.
The end result is a win-win for all… companies understands their customers better and consumers are served better by being given information that is applicable to them and products they are interested in.
Big data is arriving from multiple sources at an alarming velocity, volume and variety. For business this data is knowledge and can
provide valuable information about consumer behaviour and how to better serve customers.
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Fibre Friendly FacilityThe faster your broadband, the more you can do online, quicker. Pretty obvious stuff really!So how fast is fast?
120Mb broadband makes light work of even the heftiest downloads:
◊ A whole music album (60MB) in 6 seconds
◊ A TV show (350MB) in 30 seconds
◊ A high quality movie (1GB) in 1½ minutes
◊ An HD movie (4GB) in 6 minutes
What can you do with it?When broadband comes to you via fibre optic cable rather than regular copper telephone wires, it gives you more bandwidth, so everyone can do their thing online at the same time.
Say goodbye to buffering, forever!
Here are some of the other things you can do:
◊ Download games and apps faster
◊ Upload photos to Facebook faster
◊ Skype friends and family around the world in high quality
◊ Access your cloud apps faster
◊ Download music and movies faster
◊ Turn your building into a smart building and remotely manage your life!
And if you are still not convinced – get on the internet and see the benefits fibre has for the environment over copper. No more mining! Ever!
Does your building have a fibre connection? List it on our website now!
When broadband comes to you via fibre optic cable rather than regular copper telephone wires, it gives you more bandwidth, so everyone can do their thing online at the same time. Say goodbye to buffering,
forever!
The future of telecommunication is bright (and green)An optical fibre is a hair-thin, highly transparent strand of glass and since glass is made of sand, it limits the need for copper mining.
Also, with no high-voltage electrical transmitters needed, fibre can help save your provider and you money because fibre optics uses light instead of electricity in sending information. Just imagine the benefits for electricity utilities.
The FTTH Council Africa is a partner of ecospecifier*.
*ecospecifier is an award winning knowledge base of environmentally friendly, ‘ecospecifier verified’ and ‘ecospecifier global GreenTag Cer-tified’ life cycle assessed eco and health preferable products, materials and technologies for the built environment. ecospecifier provides information on how to design and deliver buildings, interiors and surrounds using environmentally preferable products.
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What is a next generation optical broadband network?We all agree that without communication it will be impossible for us to conduct business or stay in touch with family and friends. Today we are connected through devices and are con-stantly in touch with others via phones, email and various social media platforms. Telecommunication has become an integral part of our daily lives. Today, the World Wide Web is a trust-ed friend and we spend many hours searching for information and looking for answers to any ques-tions we may have.
We have massive amounts of information are at our fingertips – and this information keeps growing every day.
Every once in a while a phenomenal technological breakthrough comes along that changes the world. In the context of telecommu-nications, that technology is optical fibre.
In the past, our communica-tion networks were built on traditional copper cabling.
As data traffic on networks continue to grow we have to seek alternative technologies to accommo-date this constant demand for higher bandwidth.
Today, many telecommunications companies are using optical fibre to replace the standard copper wire traditionally used to transmit telecommunica-tions.
Whilst copper lines have limited capacity and cre-
ates a bottleneck for technologies that need greater bandwidth, fibre is a highly desirable telecommuni-cations medium since it can carry high speed broad-band services. This is because fibre optics uses light, instead of electricity, to send information.
Optical fibre is a hair-thin, highly transparant strand of glass. The light in a fibre optic cable travels through it by a principle called ‘total internal reflec-tion’.
Because the cladding does not absorb any light from the core, the light wave can travel great dis-tances at the speed of light.
This technology is now being used all over the world to enable better broadband speeds and to transmit large amounts of data at high speeds, from country to country. Fibre optic cables even connect conti-nents – cables are laid on the seabed using special-ised cable laying ships.
While submarine communication cables are used to connect continents to the Internet, terrestrial fibre optic cables are used to extend this connectivity to towns across Africa.
The construction of both submarine cables and their terrestrial extensions is thus considered an impor-tant step to the economic growth and development of African countries.
The benefits of fibreFibre is less expensive over timeWith no high-voltage electrical transmitters needed, fibre can help save your service provider, and you, money.
Fibre is greenerFibre is also more durable than copper and will last longer. The raw materials to make fibre is plentiful (since fibre is glass it is made from sand!) whereas copper supplies are dwindling. Say goodbye to copper mining.
Fibre is thinnerMore fibres can be bundled together in the same space as a copper cable.
Fibre is clearerFibre won’t lose the signal the way copper does. And because light signals don’t interfere with other fibres in the same cable, you get clearer conversations. Fibre optic cables are safe from lightning strikes or electrical interfer-ence.
Fibre weighs lessAn optical cable weighs less than a comparable copper cable and takes up less space.
So, as you can see, fibre has significant benefits and due to much lower attenuation and interference, optical fiber has large advantages over existing copper wire in long-distance and high-demand applications.
In most countries fibre also increases the value of your property, and since fibre is considered an asset it also makes your community a more desirable location.
Fibre allows us to turn our homes into smart-homes and it has the capacity to offer us triple play services.
With a fibre connection you can download a movie in a matter of seconds, manage your home remotely and have video surveillance, via security cameras.
This technology is now being used all over the world to enable better broadband speeds and to transmit large amounts of data at high speeds, from country to
country.
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What can fibre do for a community?Today the telecommunications industry looks very different to what it did a decade ago and there are many telecommunications operators and service providers to choose from, and many companies can offer you a next generation broadband network. These broadband networks offer ultra-high-speed – 1 Gbps and above – to homes, offices and premis-es around your community. That’s at least 100 times faster than what some of our current home internet connections are capable of!
With such a network in place you will be able to enjoy a richer broadband experience with more choices, and everyone appreciates speed in getting things done.
Because files are also getting larger, the need for more information or higher video resolutions in-creases rapidly over time. Low speed internet gives you a poor online experience and limits what you can do. With optical fibre that is a thing of the past.
Online education is one of the fastest growing in-dustries because it saves so much money. No travel-ling or accommodation is required yet students can engage with the best lecturers around the world. This saves parents thousands of rands every year.
Today, most universities offer online education (e-education) and students can study at any uni-versity anywhere in the world. Materials can be ac-cessed 24 hours a day which provides students with flexibility.
And if a student wants to work during the day, he can study at night, from the comfort of his home. Students can still chat to their instructors through online-chat and they can still ask all the questions they need as if they were in a class-room.
High speed broadband allows people to stay con-nected to the global economy no matter where they live. An international study showed that as
much as 45% of households would consider relo-cating to obtain broadband service (and 11% would “definitely” relocate) simply because of the benefits of broadband.
The future possibilities of fibre are endless and for people working from home FTTH is a must-have.
Many people want to work from home, but to remain competitive and productive; you need fast and reliable internet access. There is a difference between ‘work from home’ and ‘remote workers’. Work from home is typically people who have their own business and run it from home.
Remote workers usually work for a company but be-cause they have a good internet connection, they are allowed to work from home. This is a growing trend with companies, even if it is just for a couple of days a week.
In addition, broadband fosters a more attractive en-vironment for new businesses to open or relocate.
As more and more “social added-value” services are offered online (business, social, health, education, and government services) it becomes increasingly important to ensure that your community consid-ers the benefits of FTTH, and because household broadband contributes to the overall health and vitality of the community, it makes connected com-munities highly sought after which results in in-creased property prices.
High speed broadband allows people to stay connected to the
global economy no matter where they live.
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The Age Of Social MediaCorporates are keenly aware of where their web-traffic is coming from and are experimenting with mobile apps, websites and multimedia content in an attempt to position their companies.
But social media is not just a ‘nice to have’. Social Me-dia Examiner recently released its 2013 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, which set out to uncover the “who, what, where, when, and why” of social me-
dia marketing.
More than 3,000 marketers were surveyed, and their responses provide valuable insights into the benefits of social media marketing.
Their survey found:
◊ 89% of respondents said that social media market-ing has generated more business exposure
◊ 64% saw lead generation increase by using social media 6 hours or less per day
◊ 69% of marketers use social media to gather mar-ketplace intelligence
◊ 62% of marketers using social media for 2+ years reported a rise in search engine rankings
◊ 62% of businesses with 10 employees or less re-ported that social media has reduced marketing expenses
◊ 89% of marketers say that social media generates more business exposure
Can your company afford not to use this powerful tool?
But this is for business, what about other applica-tions? In general: If you want to know the future of technology and its impact on society, study how younger generations interact with one another to-day.
Raising the digital nativesSocial media allows the youth of today to grow up in a world without borders. They live in an always on, always available world.
◊ 93% of ages 12-17 go online
◊ 69% have their own computer
◊ 63% of internet users go online every day
◊ 27% use their phone to get online
◊ 24% with a game console use it to go online
◊ 73% are on a social network and have an average of 201 Facebook friends
◊ 37% send messages to friends every day
◊ 8% use Twitter
The digital natives share information, connect with new friends, exchange ideas, look for jobs, do pro-jects, do homework, play games, study, and shop online.
They are the first generation of children and teens growing up with social media as an integral part of their life. It is changing how they interact with peers, parents and how they use technology.
For parents this remains a problem and parents are always looking for ways to limit the amount of time their teens spend engaging with others. For the youth however this is simply their life and they do not understand why parents behave the way they do. Parents cannot really change this global phe-nomenon, but it remains the responsibility of the parent to educate on the potential dangers that comes with social media and being connected with people around the globe.
The important thing to remember always is that so-cial media is a wonderful tool that has erased bor-ders, however, as with many things in life it is open to abuse by humans.
The good news is that society is becoming more aware of the signs and are arming themselves against possible online abuse.
This, combined with effective legislation, will hope-fully result in safe online experiences. Social media was after all developed with good intent in the first place.
89% of respondents said that social media marketing has generated more business
exposure.
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The Fantastic Four is here…In telecommunications, quadruple play or quad play is a term combining the triple play service of broadband Internet access, television and telephone with wireless service provisions. This service set is also sometimes humorously referred to as “The Fantastic Four”.
When one talks about future homes it is always tempting to mention “The Jetsons” however with the proliferation of FTTH our homes will change dramatically over the next few years.
The current drivers of FTTH is just ‘great internet ex-perience’ and sadly in some cases, simply ‘internet access’. But FTTH opens a world of unlimited possi-bilities for home owners that choose to bring fibre into their homes.
One of the benefits is that consumers can watch what they want, when they want. Nowhere is this trend of consumer self-empowerment more evident than in the FTTH industry. As a result many oper-ators are reinventing themselves as entertainment providers, a trend expected to accelerate into com-ing years.
This changing landscape affect the role of the tra-ditional operator and it begs the question: Will they simply be providers of ‘dumb’ pipes or will they take a more active role in the changing landscape?
The ability to offer new services is a key contribu-tor for uptake, and for service providers who want to stay ahead in a highly competitive environment it means finding content that is popular and offers good entertainment. P
redictions are that in a few year’s time, operators may consider providing turn key ‘smart homes’ and the applications for smart homes.
A typical home has many systems in it. These can include whole house music, intercom, distributed video, networking, security, lighting control, heating and cooling systems, cam-eras, pool and spa control, gate control, etc.
A home automation system ties all of these systems to-gether so you can interface with them from one point of contact and since doing this relies on communications between devices and hu-mans and operators realise the longer term opportuni-ties which includes providing turn key Smart Homes.
Today we see what we could call the start of the smart home revolution.
All of the technology for this to happen is already there; it’s more about making consumers aware of those possibilities and as soon as they experience all the potential of a smart home, adoption will sky-rocket.
This changing landscape affect the role of the traditional operator
and it begs the question: Will they simply be providers of
‘dumb’ pipes or will they take a more active role in the changing
landscape?
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Dear Friends and Colleagues.Broadband is a significant technological develop-ment, providing users with fast, always-on access to new services, applications and content. Over the past decade broadband connectivity in Africa has significantly increased due to demand. Today gov-ernments across Africa recognise that broadband is more than just an infrastructure. It is a mission critical technology that can fundamentally restructure an economy.
The benefit of broadband on the economy has been discussed in detail and its potential and transforma-tive effect has been widely recognised. African gov-ernments agree that broadband enables economic inclusion and encourages greater international com-petition in sectors and jobs that were previously un-contested. However, in order to harness the power that broadband yield depends on whether ministries and regulators recognise the opportunity and en-sure that supportive conditions are in place through regulatory and policy reforms as well as strategic
investments and public-private partnerships. In an attempt to realising these benefits we require honest and intensive dialogue between all stakeholders. The topic of broadband therefore deserves intensive fo-cus and extensive dialogue. The answers lie with us, so do the solutions.
This year we will co-locate with Transform Africa 2015. This conference aims to pool together Inter-national participants to set a new agenda for Africa to leapfrog development challenges through the use and uptake of Broadband and related services. The FTTH Council Africa is excited to bring the message of fibre optic infrastructure and its potential to the table for high level discussion amongst the many vis-iting Ministers from across Africa.
It is my pleasure to invite you to join us the Land of a Thousand Hills. Come along and contribute to mak-ing this beautiful continent a connected one. I look forward to seeing you in Rwanda.
~ Richard Came, President: FTTH Council Africa
KIGALI CONVENTION CENTREThis year we are very proud to announce that the 2015 FTTH Council Africa Conference will take place at the Kigali Conference Centre in Rwanda.
The Kigali Convention Centre is conveniently located in the capital city of Rwanda, also called the Land of a Thousand Hills. The story of Rwanda is a remarkable tale of renewal and rapid economic development.
Looking around the capital, it is hard to imagine that only 20 years ago, the country was torn apart by one of the worst conflicts of the last century. As the scars of its terrible past gradually heal, Rwanda is emerging as a first-rate ecotourism destination.
Today visitors remark on Kigali’s impeccably clean streets, rapid technological growth, as well as the ease of doing business. Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda, is a friendly city scattered over several hills. English and French are the official languages although other languages are spoken in the country.
In an African context, Rwanda is a small landlocked country, located in Central/Eastern Africa and home to the famous mountain gorilla which attracts thousands of visitors to the Rwandan jungles every year in the hope of meeting a Silverback.
Agriculture is everywhere to be seen and due to its mountainous terrain the Rwandans have developed a unique method of farming on the steep hill sides.
The name Land of a Thousand Hills was given to Rwanda because of its many steep mountains and deep valleys that cover most of the country. Lake Kivu in the northwest, at an altitude of 4,829 ft (1,472 m), is the highest lake in Africa. To the north of it are the Virunga Mountains, which include the volcano Karisimbi (14,187 ft; 4,324 m), Rwanda’s highest point.
KIGALI INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION CENTRE RWANDA
27–28 OCTOBER
COUNCIL
FTTH CONFERENCE 2015FIBRE TO THE HOME
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FTTH COUNCIL AFRICA CONFERENCE 2015
Web: www.ftthcouncilafrica.com