communications africa 6 2013

Afrique

Issue 6 2013Édition 6 2013

Digitaldevelopments

The convergence of continental connectivity at AfricaCom

InternetAdding value to mobile messaging

FinanceInnovative mobile banking solutions

InfrastructureSatellites and small cells

for remote connectivity

Europe m15 - Kenya KSH300 - Nigeria N400 - South Africa R20 - UK £10 - USA $16.50

Le large bande et l'accès à des services abordables

Africa

FEATURES: ● Internet ● Mobile ● InfrastructureREGULAR REPORTS: ● Bulletin - Agenda ● Equipment - Équipement

www.communicationsafrica.com

CAF 6 2013 Cover_Layout 1 15/10/2013 16:38

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S01 CAF 6 2013 Start_Layout 1 16/10/2013 16:29

Communications Africa Issue 6 2013 3

Afrique

Issue 6 2013Édition 6 2013

Digitaldevelopments

The convergence of continental connectivity at AfricaCom

InternetAdding value to mobile messaging

FinanceInnovative mobile banking solutions

InfrastructureSatellites and small cells

for remote connectivity

Europe m15 - Kenya KSH300 - Nigeria N400 - South Africa R20 - UK £10 - USA $16.50

Le large bande et l'accès à des services abordables

Africa

FEATURES: ● Internet ● Mobile ● InfrastructureREGULAR REPORTS: ● Bulletin - Agenda ● Equipment - Équipement


A note from the EditorTHIS ISSUE of CommunicationsAfrica/Afrique celebrates digitalinclusion - which is the key theme at thecontinent’s key pan-African connectivityevent, AfricaCom. Be there toexperience the latest developmentsamongst operators and providers ofsolutions and services. This issuefeatures, also, news and views withrespect to deployments for broadbandnetwork infrastructure, spectrummanagement, and mobile commerce.

Main Cover Image: OrangeInset: CiscoContents Image: Bluwan

Une note du rédacteurCETTE PUBLICATION célèbrel'inclusion numérique - qui est lethème central lors de l'événementde connectivité panafricaine clé ducontinent, AfricaCom. Vous devezêtre là pour connaître les derniersdéveloppements entre lesopérateurs et les fournisseurs desolutions et de services. Il ya,également, certains articles en cequi concerne le déploiement del'infrastructure à large bande duréseau, la gestion du spectre, et lecommerce mobile.

Bulletin 4

Events 8

Agenda 12

Equipment 44

ARTICLES

AfricaCom 18Africa’s ever-emerging digital ecosystem gains prominence alongside current and future standards and technologies atthe continent’s key connectivity event in Cape Town, South Africa

Internet 24What is ‘fibre through the air’, and how can it serve African communications service providers? Also, considerations withrespect to the emergence of online communities and revenue optimisation

Biometrics 30Notes on Nigeria’s SIM card programme, which aims to reduce criminality though enhanced identification processes

Network 32Pre-appraising the possible means to address Africa’s post-mobile data boom

Spectrum 34Policy and technical developments intended to manage better the prospective issues associated with frequency management

Finance 35The increasing convergence of devices and payments systems through innovations in technological deployment

Enterprise 38Best practices for corporate connectivity with mobile communications networks

Satellite 40The use of small cells to extend the capabilities of existing infrastructure

M2M 29Le M2M et le développement des réseaux mobiles haut débit

TIC 39Autour des plans nationaux pour le large bande et l'accès à des services abordables

CONTENTS

Managing Editor: Andrew Croft - [email protected]

Editorial and Design team: Bob Adams, Prashant AP, Hiriyti Bairu, Lizzie Carroll, David Clancy, Ranganath GS, Kasturi Gupta, Rhonita Patnaik, Genaro Santos, Zsa Tebbit, Nicky Valsamakis and Ben Watts

Publisher: Nick Fordham

Advertising Sales Director: Pallavi Pandey

Magazine Sales Manager: Steve Thomas - Tel: +44 (0) 20 7834 7676, Fax: +44 (0) 20 7973 0076, Email: [email protected]

Country Representative Telephone Fax EmailChina Ying Matthieson (86)10 8472 1899 (86) 10 8472 1900 [email protected] Tanmay Mishra (91) 80 656 84483 (91) 80 40600791 [email protected] Bola Olowo (234) 8034349299 [email protected] Sergei Salov (7495) 540 7564 (7495) 540 7565 [email protected] Africa Annabel Marx (27) 218519017 (27) 46 624 5931 [email protected] Saida Hamad (974) 55745780 [email protected] UAE Camilla Capece (971) 4 448 9260 (971) 4 448 9261 [email protected] Michael Tomashefsky (1) 203 226 2882 (1) 203 226 7447 [email protected]

Head Office: Middle East Regional Office:Alain Charles Publishing Ltd Alain Charles Middle East FZ-LLCUniversity House Office 215, Loft 2A11-13 Lower Grosvenor Place PO Box 502207London SW1W 0EX, United Kingdom Dubai Media City, UAETelephone: +44 20 7834 7676 Telephone: +971 4 448 9260Fax: +44 20 7973 0076 Fax: +971 4 448 9261

Production: Nathanielle Kumar, Donatella Moranelli, Nick Salt and Sophia White Email: [email protected]

Subscriptions: [email protected]: Derek FordhamPrinted by: Wyndeham Grange Ltd Communications Africa/Afrique is bi-monthly magazine ISSN: 0962 3841

Audit Bureau ofCirculations -

Business Magazines



Communications Africa Issue 6 20134

BULLETIN

African countries agree on frequency for digital TVTHE INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATION Union (ITU) reportedrecently that frequency coordination negotiations have succeededin setting up the mechanism to deploy digital television in 47 Sub-Saharan African countries; the consolidation of national plans toimplement the digital switchover in the African region is inconformity with the deadlines of June 2015 (for UHF) and June2020 (for VHF in 33 countries) set in 2006 by ITU’s RegionalRadiocommunication Conference (RRC-06).

MTN’s new data superhighwayMTN HAS INTRODUCED a global multiprotocol label switchingvirtual private network (Global MPLS VPN) connecting key networkpoints-of-presence in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Djibouti,Tanzania and the United Kingdom; ”Our enterprise customers willexperience a seamless managed network service, leveraging offMTN’s undersea cable investments and our 24 operations acrossAfrica and the Middle East. MTN’s data superhighway will connectkey locations to deliver global scale, high-quality network andworld-class support,” says Pieter Verkade, MTN Group chiefcommercial officer.

Seacom supports innovation centres in KenyaPAN-AFRICAN ICT ENTERPRISE Seacom has given 100mbps of Internet connectivity to four innovation centres in Kenya - iHub,m:Lab, naiLab and 88mph - to enhance their capacity to generatelocal content for a global audience benefit from super fast Internetspeeds to launch their applications on the Internet; “With this100mbps of internet connectivity, Kenya’s technologyentrepreneurs and innovators will now for example, be able towork on online graphical design projects that would haveotherwise been difficult to test before deploying, a process calledrendering,” said Seacom’s sales account manager, MichaelOtieno.

Microsoft’s new mobile marketsTHE 3.79BN EURO acquisition of Nokia by Microsoft will see lead togains for the American firm in emerging markets says Ajay Bhalla,Professor of Global Innovation at Cass Business School; “Not onlywill Microsoft get access to Nokia’s impressive intellectual assetsfor small change, it will also get access to Nokia’s well-establishedinfrastructure and competencies in emerging markets – where itcontinues to retain an impressive market share.”

How the BBC now serves African business hubsTHE BBC HAS opened a new pan-Africa Business Unit inJohannesburg, South Africa, to contribute business news fromAfrica to a wide range of BBC outlets - including World Serviceradio, BBC World News’ daily World Business Report, BBC onlineand on-demand services, and domestic services in the UK; director of BBC Global News, Peter Horrocks, said, “With a weeklyaudience of 96mn people around the continent and a network of150 reporters and producers in 46 countries, the BBC is uniquelypositioned to tell the African story.”

Danmon Systems builds radio station in South SudanA RADIO STATION has been completed for Jonglei State Radio inBor, capital of Jonglei State, South Sudan, by Danmon SystemsGroup - using equipment for four studios, which was prefabricatedand tested at Danmon’s headquarters prior to being shipped tosite; Danmon System Group’s media sales director KarstenGrunnet, reports that “three of the studios are equipped withStuder OnAir 1500 digital mixing consoles", with Marantz PMD-661flash recorders “provided for use by the main station staff”, and

12 radio-reporter kits including Yellowtec iXmmicrophone/recorders with Beyerdynamic capsules” - adding that“the Yellowtecs can be connected to Comrex Access IP audiocodecs which allow digital files captured on location to benetworked back to the studios in Bor”.

France-IX and Seacom to interconnect African firmsSEACOM HAS ENTERED into a partnership with Internet exchangepoint operator France-IX to provide peering services to Seacom’sAfrican customers, to help the pan-African service provider toachieve the goal of extending African operators and serviceproviders’ networks to reach international peers and content at aninterconnection point in Marseille, France; “We expect to welcomemore and more networks coming from abroad in the followingyears and we rely on Seacom to reinforce the presence of Africanoperators on our infrastructure,” said Solène Souquet, marketingmanager at France-IX.

AMOS-4 moves into positionBUILT BY ISRAEL Aerospace Industries (IAI) for Spacecom, AMOS-4, was successfully launched at the end of August 2013 fromBaikonur, Kazakhstan, aboard a ZENIT - 3SLB launcher, beforemoving to 67.250 East for in-orbit testing and then its designatedpermanent service location at 650 East; Spacecom president andCEO David Pollack said, "AMOS-4 continues Spacecom's traditionof providing top quality satellite solutions primarily for emergingmarkets and is another milestone for the company."

Intelsat and SoftBank Mobile test Kenyan serviceTHE SUCCESSFUL TRIAL of a cost-effective, rural 3G mobile phoneservice has been conducted by Intelsat SA and SoftBank MobileCorp in Kenya; “The successful field trial of a cost-effective,managed VSAT-based, rural 3G service delivery solution is anexcellent example of the collaborative innovation that our industryrequires to properly support the demands of its end users,” saidIntelsat vice president of network services product managementSteve Good.

O3b and Kymeta agree to develop flat panel antennaSATELLITE ENTERPRISE O3B Networks and antenna developerKymeta Corporation have partnered to develop flat, thin, light andlow-cost antennas and terminals; “O3b’s network, with fibre-likespeeds, is a natural fit for Kymeta antennas that electronicallyacquire and track non-geostationary satellites,” said BobMcCambridge, president and COO of Kymeta.

(L-R, clockwise from top left): Delivery of one of the Eddystonetransmission systems; the front entrance to the new radio station in Bor;and the studio interiors



S02 CAF 6 2013 Events_Layout 1 16/10/2013 16:33


BULLETIN

SES puts StarTimes on DTH platformCHINESE SYSTEM INTEGRATOR, technology provider and networkoperator StarTimes Communication Network Technology has signed a10-year contract with satellite operator SES, to utilise SES-5 at 5degrees East to expand its media footprint in Africa and deliver direct-to-home (DTH) broadcast services across the continent; StarTimesalready has over 2.6mn digital terrestrial television (DTT) subscribers,and has acquired SES’ 20 per cent shareholding in South African pay-TV operator Top TV.

Equipment and services for AfricaConnectXON HAS BEEN awarded the tender to supply and implement JuniperNetworks and other equipment for IP routing, out of band equipment,traffic flow analysis software and ancillary equipment for the EastAfrican UbuntuNet network, currently funded via the AfricaConnectproject which is managed by DANTE and co-funded by the EuropeanCommission and African national research and education networks(NRENs), to establish a high-speed network connecting Africanresearch and education institutions with one another and to reinforcetheir existing connections to institutions in Europe and the rest of theworld; “It is the aim of the AfricaConnect project to build a researchand education network across southern and eastern Africa to ensuredata communications across the NREN members of the UbuntuNetAlliance and between Africa and Europe,” said Cathrin Stöver, chiefinternational relations communications officer at DANTE andAfricaConnect project manager.

IPX peering agreement to broaden service reachPCCW GLOBAL AND Tata Communications have signed an agreementto interconnect their IPX (IP-Exchange) communities, enabling IPcommunications services such as HD voice and HD video in variousglobal markets; as 4G adoption continues to gather pace, thisagreement expands further the global community of interconnectedmobile network operators (MNOs) who will be able to capitalise onthe latest technology innovations in mobile broadband.

Telecom Namibia partners with NewTelco SANATIONAL FIXED AND mobile telecoms operator Telecom Namibia andNewTelco SA are working together on a total of four internationalpoints of presence (PoPs) connected into the WACS undersea cable,delivering significant benefits; these include cheaper Internetconnectivity as Namibia will no longer have to route data trafficthrough South Africa as well as higher speeds of connectivity at lowerprices and better customer service.

Al Taqnyah introduces e-Signatures with Emirates IDE-SERVICES SPECIALIST ALTaqnyah Business Solutionsand paperless solutions firmLetterGen have launched anelectronic signature solutionenabled for Emirates ID,following success achieved bythe Emirates Identity Authorityin the development of theinfrastructure of its identitysmart card, and the inclusion ofregistration and issuing to allcitizens and residents of thestate; “The solution enablesintegration with no or minorfootprint on existing systems,”said Mahdi Alami Hamdan, ALTaqnyah’s technical manager.

Trend Micro partners with Cloud on Demand in SAGLOBAL SECURITY SOFTWARE vendor Trend Micro has appointedCloud On Demand, a South African cloud vendor and hybrid cloudenablement partner, as XSP (cloud) Partner for the SouthernAfrican region; through its technology assets and its software-defined datacentre (SDDC), Cloud on Demand provides a platform,complimentary applications and solutions to help customers andresellers in embracing the cloud by coupling Trend Micro securityofferings into its product portfolio with the intention of providingsecurity that extends from anti-virus to the hypervisor as well asinto the cloud.

Newtec, TDA and ABSU commit to virtual networkSATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST Newtec has signed amultimillion Euro contract with Télédiffusion d’Algérie (TDA) todeploy several of Newtec’s interactive satellite terminals runningon the ASBU Multimedia Exchange Network over Satellite (MENOS),which is operated by the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU)on the Arabsat 5A satellite (at 30.5° East); by deploying the Newtectechnology, hosted on the ASBU platform, TDA will now haveaccess to their own IP-based and fully automated secure virtualnetwork (VN) for contribution and exchange of radio and TV contentat low and high bit rates.

Une solution d’authentification en mode CloudGEMALTO A LANCÉ la solution Protiva Cloud Confirm pour un accèssimple et sécurisé aux services en mode Cloud; cette solution deservice logiciel (SaaS) conviviale et facilement déployable permetune authentification forte multi-facteurs conçue pour être déployéepar les fournisseurs de services Cloud (CSP).

De la force et la flexibilité aux opérateurs de réseauRAJANT CORPORATION ET SCAN RF Projects ont annoncé que «SCAN RF Projects » servira de distributeur pour les solutions «Kinetc Mesh » des réseaux sans fil de « Rajant » auprès de sa listeen croissance de revendeurs et de clients en Afrique; SCAN RFProjects, un distributeur et intégrateur de premier plan deséquipements de réseau sans fils en Afrique, conçoit, livre etentretient les réseaux à bande large brevetés et non–brevetés pourle compte d’une clientèle diverse qui couvre les secteurs desmines, des gouvernements, des entreprises, des municipalités,des fournisseurs d’accès internet, des operateurs d’accès sans filà internet et les secteurs d’activités bancaires et privées.

LetterGen supports the objective toexpand Emirates ID usage in alldealings, whether for the purpose ofobtaining information, access towebsite or electronic signature via an e-identity card reader


TDA and Newtec After the TDA-ASBU MENOS Signing Session (from left toright): Abderrahmane Bessaih, director of business development for Northand West Africa at Newtec; Abdelmalek Houyou, general director atTelediffusion D’Alergie; and Didier Tymen, VP sales EMEIA at Newtec


AMOS-5 IS NOW IN AFRICA

AfricaComNovember 12-14, 2013Cape TownStand # E07

Meet us at

Spacecom, operator of the AMOS-5 satellite located at 17°E, delivers high-power pan-African C-band and Ku-band capacity with access to Europe and the Middle East, enabling services throughout the entire African continent.With AMOS-2 and AMOS-3 co-located at 4˚W and serving Europe & the Middle East, AMOS-4 successfully launched to the 65°E orbital location, serving Asia and Russia,and AMOS-6 with Pan European coverage, scheduled for launch in 2015, Spacecom will further enhance its position as a multi-regional satellite operator.


DIGIGONE’S VIDEO COMMUNICATIONSsystem and software platform has beenapproved for use with Thuraya’s IPterminals. A leading mobile satelliteservices operator, Thuraya is actively rollingout the DigiGone satellite communicationssolution across their distribution channelsin all vertical markets.

Optimised for narrowband satellitechannels, DigiGone offers high-qualityencrypted video and audio conferencing,video streaming, Voice over IP (VoIP), IMChat and file transfer using a small fractionof the bandwidth needed for othercommercial video telecommunicationsolutions. The DigiGone system can becustomised, depending on users’ bandwidthspeed requirements and their choice ofaudio and video quality. The bandwidth can

be raised or lowered by the user at any timeduring the call, to meet user requirements forimage resolution.

“DigiGone is an important addition to ourcurrent service offerings and an ideal tool toenable videoconferencing for Thuraya IP, IP+and Maritime Broadband customers,” saidRandy Roberts, vice president of innovationat Thuraya. “This cost-effectivecommunications solution will be madeavailable through our extensive network ofservice partners globally for use across avariety of vertical markets includingmaritime, energy and humanitarian NGOs.”

A strategic solutionDigiGone is especially well-suited formaritime applications and is certified towork with Thuraya’s Maritime Broadbandterminal. The system is currently beingdeployed on commercial ships forapplications such as videoconferencing,security and ship-to-shore crew welfarecalling. The software can be installed onmost PCs, laptops, tablets or smartphones injust a few minutes. DigiGone has formed astrategic relationship with Maritime MedicalAccess (MMA) at The George Washington

University, in the United States of America,to offer a complete subscription-basedtelemedicine solution for ships at sea. TheDigiGone video link enables MMA emergencyphysicians to perform visual inspections ofshipboard crewmembers to improvediagnosis and treatment. In many cases, thiscan avert the necessity of an expensive shipdiversion or at-sea evacuation.

“DigiGone will provide secure video andaudio transmission for videoconferencing toThuraya’s customers with satellite airtimecosts much lower than otherteleconferencing services,” said MichaelDunleavy, president and CEO of DigiGone.“The approval from Thuraya enables us toexpand DigiGone’s global reach.”


AGENDA

8

Innovations approved in video and software


NOVEMBER4-6 MVNO Networking Congress London, UK www.mvnoevent.com

12-14 AfricaCom Cape Town, South Africa www.africa.comworldseries.com

12-14 Enterprise ICT Africa Cape Town, South Africa www.cloudworldseries.com

19-21 Med-IT Casablanca, Morocco www.med-it.com

26 TMT Finance & Investment East Africa Nairobi, Kenya www.tmtfinance.com

26-28 Africa Radio Comms Conference Midrand, South Africa www.idc-online.com

28-29 East Africa IT and Cyber Security Connvention Nairobi, Kenya www.cybersecurityafrica.com

DECEMBER9-13 IEEE Globecom Atlanta, USA www.ieee-globecom.org

JANUARY22-24 NFC Symposium Stockholm, Sweden www.nfcsymposium.com

FEBRUARY24-27 Mobile World Congress Barcelona, Spain www.mobileworldcongress.com

MARCH11-13 CABSAT Dubai, UAE www.cabsat.com

12-13 Banking & Mobile Money West Africa Lagos, Nigeria aitecafrica.com

18-19 Cards & Payments Africa Johannesburg, South Africa www.terrapinn.com

31 Mar-11 Apr World Telecommunication Development Conference Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt www.itu.int

Events 2013

DigiGone’s collaborationtool is used by government

agencies, global shippingcompanies, media outlets,financial institutions and

retail applications

Thuraya’s diverse range ofmobile satellite handsetsand broadband devicesprovide ease of use, value,quality and efficiency


S03 CAF 6 2013 Agenda 1_Layout 1 16/10/2013 16:37

SINCE 2006, THE French-language international TV network TV5Monde has entrusted Ericsson withoperation of its existing broadcast platform for production, playout and post production. By renewing thecontract until the end of 2018 and expanding it to include the integration and operation of its newplatform, TV5Monde is modernising and adapting to the latest digital standards to ensure increasedbroadcast quality.

TV5Monde's media is available globally, distributed as both linear traditional TV (broadcast), and non-linear TV (fixed and mobile Internet websites, Web TV, video on demand, mobile apps, connected TV).Ericsson's new installations will optimise the management of TV5Monde's various broadcast modes.

Marie-Christine Saragosse, CEO, TV5Monde, said, "We rely on Ericsson's expertise to design andimplement complex systems that allow us to broadcast our programmes to 235mn households,representing more than 50mn viewers every week in 200 countries and territories.Outsourcing our operations to Ericsson and handing over the responsibility forquality of service allows us to focus on pursuing our mission of providing thebest French-language programming to viewers around the world."

Valter D'Avino, vice president and head of managed services at Ericsson,says, "We are delighted to continue our partnership with TV5Monde and takea further step in our broadcast services journey. This renewed and expandedcontract is very important to us, since it's the biggest broadcast outsourcingcontract in France."

The expansion of this contract comes just a little over twomonths after Ericsson closed the acquisition of Technicolor'sbroadcast services division and broadened its managedservices offerings for media broadcasters. It also helpsEricsson take another step toward its goal of becoming theleading global provider of managed services forbroadcasters.

Ericsson will integrate TV5Monde's new broadcastplatform and provide services on-site.


AGENDA

12

O3B NETWORKS AND KymetaCorporation have committed tothe development of flat panelsatellite antennas for the O3bnetwork. The flat, thin, lightand low-cost antennas andterminals developed byKymeta in combination withO3b Networks high speed, lowlatency and low cost Internetservices are expected to open awide range of new marketsworldwide.“O3b’s network with fiber-likespeeds is a natural fit forKymeta antennas thatelectronically acquire and tracknon-geostationary satellites.The O3b network architecture isa perfect fit for Kymeta’s uniquetechnology and capabilities.”The two companies will developthe unique satellite trackingantennas and terminals to beoptimised for the fast andaffordable satellite servicesthat O3b will be offering.

PAN-AFRICA ICT ENABLER Seacom hasgiven 100mbps of Internetconnectivity to four innovationcentres in Kenya to enhance theircapacity to generate local content fora global audience. The centres - iHub,m:Lab, naiLab and 88mph - nowbenefit from super fast Internetspeeds to launch their applications onthe Internet.“With this 100mbps of Internetconnectivity, Kenya’s technologyentrepreneurs and innovators willnow for example, be able to work ononline graphical design projects thatwould have otherwise been difficult totest before deploying, a process calledrendering,” said Seacom’s salesaccount manager Michael Otieno -who added that Seacom was keen tobuild this talent in Kenya and acrossthe continent under its corporatesocial investment programmebecause it believes in the applicationdevelopment, design, coding andprogramming talent available inAfrica.“One of the core drivers of Seacom’sCSI strategy is to fast track African ICTskills and enterprise development byleveraging its existing Internet

infrastructure to provide Internetconnectivity in-kind, support touniversities, high schools, ICTinnovation centres, plus ICT learningand training centers throughoutAfrica,” said Joseph Muriithi, SeacomKenya country manager.“ICT is a key development pillar inKenya’s vision 2030. Seacom willsupport the Government in itscommitment to ICT development inthe country by providing acceleratedInternet connectivity to the Internetcommunity at large,” said Muriithi.Muriithi added the consideration thatthe youth consider themselves asglobal citizens and through theinnovation centers, they are now ableto use the Internet as a tool forresearch, testing, deployments andcommunication with the globalcitizen.“Nailab is an innovation space,targeting early stage startups,primarily working with developers andprogrammers who are striving to buildnovel innovations, economicallyviable products, targeting health,education, social and environmentalproblems faced in emerging markets,"Otieno explained.

Valter D'Avino, vicepresident and head ofmanaged services atEricsson

Seacom supports Kenyan innovators

ANALYSYS MASON’S RECENTLY published report - ICT services for SMEsworldwide: forecasts and analysis 2013–2018 - provides a five-yearforecast of connections and revenue for ICT services for small andmedium-sized enterprises. The forecast shows that emerging marketswill account for 47.6 per cent of worldwide revenue in 2018, an increasefrom 44.4 per cent in 2013. Total revenue will increase in all markets, butthe CAGR increase in emerging markets (3.8 per cent) will be greater thanin developed regions (1.1 per cent). Total revenue in emerging marketswill increase from US$94.01bn in 2013 to US$113.19bn in 2018, at aCAGR of 3.8 per cent. Mobile voice and data will continue to be extremelyimportant to SMEs in emerging markets, because coverage is far widerthan fixed networks, and the cost is more competitive against fixedalternatives than in developed markets. Adoption of fixed-line services,both voice and broadband, will also contribute significantly to thisgrowth, as operators roll out improved infrastructure and increasecoverage, and as the cost of these services decreases. Cloud serviceswill also contribute to revenue growth in emerging markets. Revenue inthis sector will increase from US$0.37bn in 2013 to US$2.09bn in 2018at a CAGR of 41.3 per cent. This jump in revenue will be driven byincreased adoption of cloud services because of improvements inavailability and reliability of broadband connectivity, and as SMEs inemerging markets become increasingly reliant on IT and data.

Barriers to cloud services adoption differ between developed andemerging markets. In developed markets SMEs are more likely to haveexisting, on-premises services, and are reluctant to replace these. Inemerging markets, the key barriers to cloud adoption are low PCadoption and a lack of awareness of the cloud-based solutionsavailable. Analysys Mason expects higher CAGR increases in emergingmarkets because current levels of adoption are lower than in developedmarkets, and as fixed and mobile broadband services become moreubiquitous, and PC, smartphone and tablet adoption increases.

Satellite antenna dealTV5Monde continues managed services contract with Ericsson

ICT services for small businesses continue to rise




AGENDA

14

IMPERIAL HOLDINGS IS entering the mobile andtelecommunications industries with the recentacquisition of mobile technology firm ForeFrontAfrica (FFA), to form part of the newly-launchedResolve brand and become Resolve Mobile. Thiswill allow the companies to work togetherseamlessly and provide the best possible digitaland mobile strategies to the group, as well asclients and partners."Imperial is excited to enter into the strategicallycritical mobile technology arena alongside ateam with such notable skill and extensiveAfrican experience,” says Cobus Rossouw, chiefintegration officer. “We are now well placed topartner our clients in leveraging the potential ofmobile commerce in their value chains.”Tracy Langdon Surkont and NicholasHaralambous founded ForeFront Africa in 2013 after bothrecently exiting separate ventures and having workedtogether at Vodacom SA. The company was founded afterHaralambous and Surkont spotted a market requirement forskilled mobile talent willing to work in African countries withexperience in those markets. "Tracy and I knew that we were onto something after foundingthe company when we were approached by companiesthroughout Africa and further afield to make use of ourservices," said Haralambous. “Partnering with Imperial

Holdings will bring massive opportunities to our company andassist in growth which we would have battled to achieveotherwise.”Resolve Mobile’s clients include WASPs, mobile networkoperators as well as social networks from around the world. Surkont said that FFA has experience and a grasp of themarket that few others have."We understand that the market is complicated, each countryin Africa needs unique attention and each company bringswith it a different offering and unique requirements."

Imperial goes mobile with tech firm acquisition

FIGURES RELEASED BY TA Telecom,an SMS-based mobile servicescompany, show that access toreliable and real-time news is ofincreasing importance to thecountry. More than an estimated1,575,000 subscribers arecurrently signed up to receivenews content, ranging frombreaking international storyupdates to local newscasts, incomparison to approximately107,000 in January 2011.

TA Telecom’s innovative serviceplatform, Buzz!, is the firstservice delivery platformdesigned specifically for mobileoperators in emerging markets.Recently, subscriptions increasedby almost a fifth between May andJuly 2013, leaping fromapproximately 1,288,000 to morethan 1,570,000. This shows justhow critical access to suchinformation is to users in Africaand the Middle East.

Customers can take any number of routes to contact your business.

Voice, email, chat, fax, text, social media. The problem is, many businesses

have no standardised way to manage them. Delivered as a service in the

cloud, or on-premise, Customer Interaction Center™ is a multichannel

solution designed to process and route all types of communications alike —

consistently. With one platform, you give customers all the contact options

they want, along with a direct route to your business.

BETTER THANAN ALTERNATIVE ROUTEIN A TRAFFIC JAM

CONTACT CENTER • UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS •BUSINESS PROCESS AUTOMATION

Cloud-based or On-premise

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More Eypgtians getnews by mobile


Founders of ForeFront Africa (from left) Tracy Langdon Surkont andNicholas Haralambous



AGENDA

15

ONE OF THE fastest growingsectors in Africa, thecontribution of communciationsto Uganda's national economyhas increased significantlylately realising an estimated1.7 trillion shillings(US$700mn) in financial year2010/11 against 1.4 trillionshillings (US$500mn) in theprevious year, translating into3.4 per cent GDP.The country collected 20bnshillings from the six majortelecom companies in taxesand the sector posted a 20-plusyear-on-year growth rate, whichwas three times the nationalGDP growth of 6.3 per cent.According to UgandaCommunications Commission(UCC) executive director,Godfrey Mutabazi, there are atleast 17mn mobile subscribersin the country, amounting toalmost half of Uganda's 35mnpeople, compared to the fixedline market with slightly over300,000 customers. "This is a significantdevelopment. There are 12mnfixed and mobile voicetelephony customers in 2010and 9.6mn in 2009. Increasingaccess and usage of theInternet is another trend in thegrowth of thetelecommunication sector andcurrently there is an estimated

five million Internet users inUganda compared to 6,500 in2002.""To date, at least 90 per cent ofgeographical coverage hasbeen achieved while at least 95per cent of Ugandans haveaccess to telecommunicationservices using a whole range ofnew technology. Uganda is oneof the few countries that hasachieved 100 per cent GSMcoverage at sub-county level,"the head of the regulatory bodysaid. Broadcasting services inUganda have also undergonedramatic changes in the lasttwo decades following therapid spread of digitaltechnologies and presentlythere are about 270 FMlicensed radio frequencieswhere 192 are operational while55 TV frequencies have beenlicensed and 35 areoperational.

"The arrival of undersea cableservices in Uganda has alsoreduced Internet costs whilewe used to rely on satelliteinfrastructure forcommunication. Also the fullliberalisation of thecommunication sector in 2006has opened up andencouraged competition," henoted. The establishment ofthe Universal Service Fund in2003 spread and smoothenedcommunications in ruralareas. The success ofprogramme in Uganda meansthat it has become a referencepoint for ruralcommunications.Despite the positive growth,the communication sector stillfaces a number of challengesincluding developingappropriate licensing to reapbenefits of convergence,promoting fair competitionamong new entrants, smaller

players and operators withsignificant market share andreforming the approach tomanagement of scarceresources like spectrum to bein tandem with social,technological and economicstatus and trends.Other challenges he mentionsare the fast-tracking thedeployment of broadband inthe country to facilitate thereaping of benefits in the eraof the Internet and theaffordability of communicationservices and penetration ofterminals."The Commission espouses aregulatory interventioninformed by the need toregulate. We are workingtowards the realisation of afacilitative rather thaninhibitive regulation,” GodfreyMutabazi said.

Geoffrey Muleme

Uganda's communication sector registers faster growth


"The arrival of undersea cable services in Uganda has alsoreduced Internet costs while we used to rely on satellite

infrastructure for communication.Also the full liberalisation ofthe communication sector in 2006 has opened up andencouraged competition." - Godfrey Mutabazi, Uganda

Communications Commission executive director


Communications Africa Issue 6 201316 www.communicationsafrica.com

LES NÉGOCIATIONS SUR la coordination des fréquences ont abouti à lamise en place du mécanisme qui permettra de déployer la télévisionnumérique dans 47 pays d'Afrique subsaharienne.

L'harmonisation des plans nationaux pour la mise en œuvre dupassage au numérique en Afrique respecte les délais – à savoir juin 2015pour les ondes décimétriques et juin 2020 pour les ondes métriquesdans 33 pays – fixés en 2006 par la Conférence régionale desradiocommunications de l'UIT (CRR-06), qui a adopté le Plan GE06 relatifà la télévision.

L'Afrique devient ainsi la première région à être en mesure en 2015d'attribuer les fréquences libérées par le passage à la télévisionnumérique – le fameux ‘dividende numérique’ – au service mobile dansles bandes des 700 MHz et des 800 MHz. Les décisions prises par laConférence mondiale des radiocommunications de 2012 (CMR-12) pourfaciliter la disponibilité du dividende numérique pour le service mobileseront applicables, moyennant quelques peaufinements sur le plantechnique, immédiatement après la prochaine Conférence mondiale desradiocommunications, qui aura lieu en 2015 (CMR-15).

Le Secrétaire général de l'UIT, Hamadoun I. Touré, s'est félicité duniveau élevé de coopération de l'Union africaine destélécommunications (UAT) et de son Secrétaire général, M. AbdoulkarimSoumaila, dans le processus.

M. François Rancy, Directeur du Bureau des radiocommunications del'UIT, a annoncé que les pays d'Afrique subsaharienne ont commencé àsoumettre officiellement des modifications à apporter au Plan GE06après la réunion finale de coordination des fréquences qui s'est tenue àNairobi du 17 au 19 juillet 2013 et la date limite du 31 août fixée pour lesnotifications.

"L'objectif était de permettre aux pays africains d'attribuer ledividende numérique aux services mobiles dans la bande 694-862 MHz,et d'appliquer ainsi de manière harmonisée à l'échelle régionale lesdécisions prises à la Conférence mondiale des radiocommunications de2012", a déclaré M. Rancy. "Cet objectif a été atteint grâce à une nouvelleplanification des besoins de spectre pour la radiodiffusion télévisuelledans la bande 470-694 MHz."

COMMENT ESTIMER LA valeur d’une identité numérique ? Répondreà cette question n’est pas facile car cela dépend notamment du prixauquel les consommateurs évaluent leurs informations personnelleset de la manière dont ils décident ou pas de les partager. Les plusemblématiques sont les services publics et le secteur de la santé, lesservices financiers fixes et mobiles, le commerce électronique, lescommunautés numériques... sans oublier les titres d’identité et lesdocuments de voyages - passeports et cartes d’identité – produits auformat numérique. Face à de telles opportunités économiques etcommerciales, les entreprises qui fournissent des technologies et desservices liés à l’identité numérique se multiplient dans le mondeentier, depuis les fournisseurs d’objets sécurisés (cartes à puce,terminaux, smartphones,...) jusqu’aux multiples prestataires deservices. Les technologies les mieux adaptées à la sécurisation del’identité numérique et à la protection de la vie privée restent lescartes à puce et autres supports physiques (‘smart tokens’). Latechnologie des cartes à puce est reconnue dans le monde entiercomme la plus adaptée aux applications d’identité qui doiventrépondre à certains besoins cruciaux de sécurité.

Cette année, CARTES se tient conjointement au salon Milipol Paris,le salon mondial de la sécurité intérieure des États pour tous lesprofessionnels de la sécurité publique et industrielle. fr.cartes.com

ORANGE BUSINESS SERVICES et Ericsson ont signé un accord pour renforcerleur positionnement sur le marché mondial du M2M (machine-to-machine). LeM2M et plus largement l’internet des objets connaissent un essor dans denombreuses applications et le développement des réseaux mobiles haut débitdevrait renforcer cette croissance. C’est particulièrement le cas dans lessecteurs de l’automobile et de l’électronique grand public pour qui cessolutions représentent un grand potentiel de développement de services. Lesmultinationales qui adressent différents marchés dans le monde doiventpouvoir s’appuyer sur une solution homogène d’un pays à l’autre et ce, touten étant capables de répondre aux attentes spécifiques des utilisateurs danschaque pays.

Orange Business Services a choisi la plateforme en mode cloud de gestiondes objets connectés DCP (Device Connection Platform) d’Ericsson pourenrichir sa gamme de solutions M2M et renforcer le support auprès de sesclients internationaux. Cette solution permettra aux clients d’OrangeBusiness Services de bénéficier de fonctionnalités de pointe pour déployer,faire évoluer et exploiter des millions de connexions M2M à l’échellemondiale. Un portail de services disponible en permanence permettra auxclients d’accéder eux-mêmes et directement à des fonctionnalités de gestionet de contrôle de leur base de cartes SIM installées, avec un accès en tempsréel pour le suivi opérationnel, le soutien aux équipes métiers et l’accès auxstatistiques d’utilisation. Les fonctionnalités de la plateforme Ericssonviennent renforcer la qualité de service globale d’Orange Business Services etla fluidité de l’expérience client.

Orange Business Services propose déjà une gamme complète de solutionsM2M à la carte (allant de la connectivité M2M aux solutions de bout-en-bout :conception, gestion de projet, services de conseil et support). Avec plus de250 personnes dédiées au M2M, Orange Business Services offre une expertisereconnue dans l’innovation, l’intégration et le développement de solutionsmétier incluant notamment : la surveillance à distance des systèmesmédicaux connectés, le diagnostic et la maintenance d’équipements, lescompteurs intelligents (smart metering), la gestion de flottes ainsi que lesuivi et la traçabilité.

Après la Global M2M Association (GMA), cet accord marque une nouvelleétape dans l’ambition d’Orange Business Services de proposer des solutionsM2M mondiales. Grâce au partenariat (GMA) signé avec les principauxopérateurs Européens, les clients d’Orange Business Services bénéficient desaccords de roaming et d’intéropérabilité de ses membres et accèdent ainsi àune couverture réseau inégalée à l’échelle mondiale et des niveaux deservices harmonisés.

Thierry Bonhomme, directeur exécutif d’Orange Business Services,explique : « Cela fait de nombreuses années qu’Orange Business Servicesinvestit dans l’Internet des objets, avec pour ambition d’être un acteur clé surle marché mondial du M2M. Nous continuons à enrichir notre portefeuille dansce domaine pour fournir aux entreprises internationales les meilleursservices disponibles. L’accord conclu avec Ericsson constitue une avancéenouvelle dans notre approche mondiale du M2M, et dans la mise en œuvred’un éco-système de partenaires sélectionnés – pour le plus grand bénéficede nos clients. »

Orange Business Services renforce son offre M2ML'Afrique prête pour le déploiement de latélévision numérique

L’identité numérique – un défi social et économique

« LTE Signalling est un serviceindispensable qui offre à nos clients lacapacité de se différentier de laconcurrence et leur permet de générerdes recettes supplémentaires sur unmarché en très forte évolution » -Alexandre Pébereau

AGENDA


This year, AfricaCom promises a plethora of innovative approaches to inclusion andoptimisation, creating opportunities for revenue maximisation where it counts inthe communications industry

An expositionof digital excellence

EVENTS AfricaCom

WHAT DO YOU get when you come to the continent’s biggest communications event? Whether you are an operator, a

broadcaster, a service provider, an ICTenterprise, an application developer, or aregulator, the answer is the same: you will get aroadmap to digital inclusion.

What does inclusion mean? That is where themarket is differentiated at this event - and that iswhere you can tailor your experience in CapeTown this November. Entrepreneurs candiscover the benftis of incubators,entertainment firms can gain the latest gen ondigital music in Africa, operators and investorscan take a look at forward movement towardsthe implementation and operation of LTE in thecontinent, or of mobile money ecosystems, ofnew modes for broadcasting, or of theemergence of apps as a serious route toprofitability. Those geared more towardinfrastructure and provision of services mightconsider delving into knowledge resources onCloud technology, on utilisation of Big Data, oron solutions geared towards enterprise mobility.

AfricaCom is Africa's largest annualcommunications congress and exhibition, andthere are many ways to profit from participationin the event, which this year is held from 12-14November. The conference programme coversthe most strategic issues affecting companies inAfrica’s digital market - including services,efficiency, profitability, customer experience,partnerships, and policy – and includes sevenco-located events: Digital Music Africa, MobileMoney Africa, LTE Africa, AfricaCast, AfricApps,Cloud and Big Data. Plus two FREE workshopswith Corning and WiMAX Forum. There will beHear from 300+ Industry speakers from theentire digital ecosystem, including key playerssuch as: Deezer, MTN, Etisalat, Mozilla,Wananchi, Orange, Airtel Africa, Vodacom,Google, SABC, Smile, Iroko, and Facebook.

The exhibition features over 350 exhibitors,offering outstanding opportunities to networkwith a record 8,000+ decision-makers,representing the entire communicationsecosystem across continent, and beyond it.

As Irene Charnley, CEO of SmileCommunications, put it to the Informa TM,organiser of AfricaCom, “The next 12 monthsare likely to see continued growth in ICTaccess across the continent, combined with

ever-increasing demand for high-speed, highquality and reliable broadband services asmarkets and services continue to mature.Increased competition and innovationamongst high-quality service providers andcontent and application providers will placeadditional pressure on legacy systems. Thisand other factors will add to the pressure onlarge legacy networks as consumer loyaltycontinues to decline and as the demand forhigh-quality and reliable services to supportthese new applications becomes increasinglydifficult to ignore.”

Infrastructure remains to be built – includingthe deployment of solutions to improve networkquality and reliability. Work highlighted in CapeTown, hence, will include a variety of vendorsand their partners, such as governmentalorganisations and regulatory agencies.

WiMAX is central amongst the keytechnological standards promoted at this year’sevent. The WiMAX Forum is promoting itsinvolvement in industrial markets and building acase for its WiMAX Advanced initiative.Enterprise connectivity is key to suchdevelopment, as many members of the WiMAXForum are moving away from the traditionalservice provider operations, to utilise technologyto gain direct share of industrial markets. TheWiMAX Forum offers opportunities to learn moreat WiMAX Africa 2013, which is co-located withAfricaCom. This third annual event is designedto focus on supporting the African operatorcommunity, and on developing and managing

profitable corporate growth through WiMAXnetwork deployments.

Technologists at AfricaComEnterprises promoting key technologies atAfricaCom include many notable providers ofsolutions and services to African ICT sectors.

Global ICT solutions provider Huawei, whichis dedicated to customer-centric innovation andstrong partnerships, has established end-to-endcapabilities and strengths across the carriernetworks, enterprise, consumer, and cloudcomputing fields. The company is committed tocreating maximum value for telecom carriers,enterprises and consumers by providingcompetitive ICT solutions and services. Itsproducts and solutions have been deployed inover 140 countries, serving more than one thirdof the world's population.

Econet Solar is a manufacturer and distributorof solar-powered products for the global market,and in particular for the developing world. Thecompany is driven by a vision to light up thedeveloping world and provide safe alternatepower. Econet Solar aims to achieve this visionby providing a variety of practical and affordableproducts, uniquely tailored for developingmarkets. The company’s patented innovation:the Home Power Station (HPS), a lighting andcharging solution, makes expensive SolarTechnology available to low-income individualsthrough the innovative combination of solarenergy products and mobile-phone technology;and is emblematic of the ethos and innovation ofEconet Solar to improve the lives of millionsthrough technology.

Samsung Electronics offers specialisms insemiconductor, telecommunication, digitalmedia and digital convergence technologies.The company operates two separateorganisations to coordinate its nineindependent business units: Digital Media &Communications, comprising Visual Display,Mobile Communications, TelecommunicationSystems, Digital Appliances, IT Solutions, andDigital Imaging; and Device Solutions,consisting of Memory, System LSI and LCD.

O3b Networks is building a next-generationsatellite network for telecommunicationsoperators, Internet service providers, enterpriseand Government customers in emergingmarkets. The O3b system will combine theglobal reach of satellite with the speed of a fibre-


DAARSAT was recently launched on theAMOS-5 satellite

S05 CAF 6 2013 Report AA_Layout 1 16/10/2013 16:51

Building Africa’s digital future

We are Liquid Telecom and, like you, we know leaders

always innovate. Recently we were awarded ‘Best

Network Innovation 2013.’ But we’re not stopping there.

We’ll continue to lead the way unrestrained by convention.

www.liquidtelecom.com

I amchampion and challenger



optic network providing billions of consumersand businesses in nearly 180 countries with low-cost, high-speed, low latency Internet andmobile connectivity.

Procera Networks Inc. delivers IntelligentPolicy Enforcement solutions designed forcarriers, service providers and enterprisesworldwide. Procera’s PacketLogic solutionsprovide actionable intelligence and policyenforcement to ensure a high quality experiencefor any Internet connected devices. Networkoperators deploy Procera’s technology to enablereal-time visibility, superior performance andscalability, and deliver personalised services formillions of enterprises and consumers.

Cisco helps companies seize theopportunities of tomorrow by proving thatamazing things can happen when you connectthe previously unconnected - providingsolutions that support success.

RFS designs, manufactures and markets highquality antenna systems for mobileinfrastructure, microwave links point to point,radio/television broadcast and HFcommunications systems. RFS’ products forthese applications include RF cables, coaxialelliptical waveguides, connectors, antennas,filters and other RF signal conditioningequipment, repeaters, pressurisation systemsand installation accessories.

Ruckus Wireless is a global supplier ofadvanced wireless systems for the rapidlyexpanding mobile Internet infrastructure market.Ruckus technology addresses Wi-Fi capacity andcoverage challenges caused by the ever-increasing amount of traffic on wirelessnetworks due to accelerated adoption of mobiledevices such as smartphones and tablets.Ruckus invented and has patented state-of-the-art wireless voice, video, and data technologyinnovations, such as adaptive antenna arraysthat extend signal range, increase client datarates, and avoid interference, ensuringconsistent and reliable distribution of delay-sensitive multimedia content and services overstandard 802.11 Wi-Fi.

Gemalto specialises in digital security. It isentrusted by over 450 mobile operators aroundthe world to manage subscribers as well asenable new business models by connecting tonew services from beyond the tradition telecomeco-system. It brings deep security expertise and

rich software innovation to mobilecommunication services as a pioneeringprovider of identification, transactions andoptimization solutions for wireless consumerdevices and industrial machines.

NEC provides innovative and integrated ITand networking solutions, delivering a completeportfolio of mobile and broadband networkinginfrastructure, innovative technologies andproven applications that meet the complex andchanging needs of our customers. NEC’sSolutions enables carriers to seize theopportunities of the emerging next era intelecommunications, without delay, withminimum investment, and with carrier gradesecurity and quality. We have the key to abusiness transformation that builds acontinuous stream of new revenue.

Citrix ByteMobile Smart Capacity solutionsenable mobile network operators to increaseavailable network capacity by 30 to 50 per cent,to improve quality of experience (QoE) for theirsubscribers on an individual basis and todifferentiate service plans in order to improvemonetisation of over-the-top content.

Telecommunications network operator Neotelcaters for wholesale, business and homecustomer needs. We deliver services that reducethe cost of doing business through the optimaluse of advanced technologies. It is South Africa'sfirst converged telecommunications networkoperator. This means that voice, data andInternet is now offered over a single connection.

Giesecke & Devrient’s smartcard-basedsolutions, software, and services secure yourmobile life. Its customers include banks,credit card companies, mobile networkoperators, public transport companies, andOEMs or enterprises.

Comverse’s provision of telecom business

solutions enables communication serviceprovider success in the hyper-connected worldthrough service innovation and smartmonetisation. The company’s proven andinnovative product portfolio includes BSS, PolicyManagement (PCRF) and Enforcement andDigital & Value Added Services – all backed byManaged and Professional Services.

Clickatell specialises in mobile messaging

and transaction services, which enable itscustomers to connect, interact and transact withtheir business partners and communities on themobile phone.

HP helps communications service providers(CSPs) to meet demand for services andstreamline internal operations. It offers an end-to-end portfolio including a suite of convergentIT and telecom solutions, such as: software(OSS/BSS, service delivery and networkplatforms, subscriber data management,analytics, cloud); professional servicesincluding business consulting, integration, andmanaged services/outsourcing; joint go-to-market programmes; carrier-grade servers;storage and printers.

With its expertise in next-generation softwareand telecom technology, Intersec designssolutions that enable mobile operators tocapture and monetise network value through bigdata collection for innovative services creation.Intersec integrates its leading core networksolutions to generate location intelligencerevenue and to maximise customer valuemanagement, contextual engagement, andmessaging traffic profitability.

Africa’s current communications developmentsA survey of key enterprises exhibiting atAfricaCom - and their partners in thecommuntications sphere - reveals a number ofimportant developments underway.

Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) andHummerlton Security Services (HSS) recentlythat signed a multi-transponder agreement onABS-2 and ABS-3 satellites. The capacityagreement will provide additional connectivityfor HSS to expand its business network andinfrastructure for its growing business in Africa.

Based in Botswana, HSS applies projectappraisal and implementation skills to leverageinvestment opportunities in the ICT andFinancial sector. Under the multi-yearagreement, HSS will use the high powered C andKu-band capacity of ABS-2 and ABS-3 to providedata services to its customers across Africa. Itwill be used to support HSS’s payment gatewayservices and to extend data connectivity andenterprise applications to ICT and bankingindustry predominantly in Africa region.Wholesale carrier BICS has opened three newoffices - in Ghana, Kenya and South Africa - toensure a strong local presence for customers inthe African region. The offices are part of abroader programme of expansion in key growthmarkets and will provide a critical focus for salesand support of BICS’ portfolio of services. BICScurrently has offices located in Brussels, Bern,Dubai, Singapore and New York.During the past summer, Alcatel-Lucent andSurfline Communications Ltd continued work onthe first commercial deployment of a 4G LTEnetwork in Ghana and - more generally - inWestern and Central Africa. Alcatel-Lucent is

“Delivery of high qualityservice on a powerfulplatform is what elevatesAMOS and helps ourbusiness grow” -Spacecom's president andCEO David Pollack

EVENTS AfricaCom

In Ghana, and elsewhere inAfrica, 4G LTE is expected to

transform the use oftechnology with regards to

mobile consumers, healthcare,transportation, energy,

security, agriculture, salesand payments industries and

infrastructure


YOUR PARTNER IN AFRICA

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EXPAND YOUR REACH WITH EUTELSAT AND GROW YOUR BUSINESSEutelsat is one of the world’s leading satellite operators. We have provided premium satellite coverage of Africa for over 15 years and are the continent's leading operator for DTH broadcasting. More than 700 TV channels are now broadcast via our satellites, representing over 50% of Africa’s TV channels.Broadband demand is also growing rapidly. Our IPEasy solution for SMEs and residential users provides broadband services that can be bundled with reception of TV channels for triple play.Committed to furthering communications in the African market, we have recently launched four new satellites, EUTELSAT 21B,EUTELSAT 70B, EUTELSAT 3D and EUTELSAT 25B, all of which have extensive African coverage. In addition, three out of our next seven satellites to launch will have capacity for the African market and will bring cost effective connectivity across the continent at competitive rates.Contact us and find out how our market leading satellite resources can accompany your digital television growth, mobile communications and broadband access throughout the entire continent.

Join us at AfricaCom 2013: Stand D09

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EVENTS AfricaCom

providing hardware and software, along withinstallation, optimisation, maintenance andmanaged services, to help Surfline roll out next-generation mobile communications in responseto rapidly increasing data demand driven by theproliferation of lower cost smartphones. A newIP architecture-based network will give Surflinethe ability to quickly and economically expandmobile broadband capacity as customerdemand grows. The 4G LTE network will provideSurfline customers access to social networkingsites, Internet browsing, e-mail, online gaming,streamed videos and video calling withdramatically increased performance. Surfline believes the Ghanaian market hasmatured beyond the products and servicescurrently available in the market. This isespecially true in the data sector. As a data-centric communications provider Surfline willaddress national requirements for broadbandconnectivity that will greatly contribute toGhana’s social and economic growth.

Spacecom, which operates the AMOSsatellite fleet, recently launched DAARSAT, asatellite TV service, on the AMOS-5 satellitelocated at the 17° Eprime orbital position.DAARSAT is the eighth Nigerian direct-to-home(DTH) service on AMOS-5. DAARSAT is nowavailable to all of Nigeria as a stand-alone digitalTV service. It joins fellow Nigerian DTH servicesInfinity and HiBand, among others, on AMOS-5.Spacecom's president and CEO David Pollackremarked, “Our partnership with DAAR serves asan excellent example showing Spacecom'scommitment to DAARSAT. The agreementsecures a long and mutually beneficialrelationship between our organisations for manyyears to come."Network and subscriber intelligence provider

Astellia and Zimbabwean mobile operatorEconet Wireless have jointly been shortlisted forthe AfricaCom Awards 2013 in the category of‘Best cost efficiency solution for Africa’, inrecognition of the pair’s attempts to addresserratic energy supply, which has been high onEconet Wireless’ agenda since it is hindering itfrom delivering and guaranteeing reliable voiceand broadband services to its subscribers.Econet Wireless found in Astellia a partner tohelp it calculate the impact of power outagesand network congestion on its operationalefficiency which allows them to prioritize andoptimise CAPEX/OPEX investments to offer abetter quality of experience to customers andincrease revenues.

“The results from the revenue assurance toolwere successfully used to prioritise CAPEXinvestments on strategic high traffic sitesguaranteeing a fast and substantial ROI.Furthermore, we will be using revenueassurance data to justify future CAPEXinvestments to ensure a short payback periodand efficient use of resources,” says KezitoMakuni, technical director at Econet WirelessZimbabwe.

Comviva’s mobiquity mobile financialservices platform links a mobile wallet account

to any payment instrument (cash, bank account,debit and credit cards), which customers canaccess using multiple access mechanisms,including Apps, STK, USSD, Web and NFC.Across deployments, mobiquity platform aidsservice providers address rapidly evolvingtransactional needs of a broad set of consumersby supporting cost-efficient delivery of a range ofconvenient, reliable and secure financialproducts. Customers can receive monies directlyinto their mobile wallets in the form of domesticand international inbound remittances salariesand government grants and use available fundsto pay insurance premiums, taxes, utility bills,and merchants. Easy access, simplicity andconvenience offered by the mobile as atransactional channel have helped bring 30mnhouseholds into the formal financial servicesfold in cash-intensive economies of Asia andAfrica.In South Africa, Dimension Data and InternetSolutions (IS) have launched Enterprise Wi-Fi, afully-managed solution that integrates a secure,enterprise WLAN deployment with theadvantages of the AlwaysOn Hotspot service.“The need to cater for smartphone and tabletusage constitutes a significant, unplannedrequirement for most enterprise LANs,”explained Brett Steingo, innovation andtechnology manager for Connectivity at IS.

Also in South Africa, TP-LINK has formed apartnership with VoIP and networking solutiondistributor Even Flow, in a bid to grow itsbusiness in Southern Africa. TP-LINK is a globalSOHO and SMB networking products providerand is amongst the world’s fastest growingbrands of broadband routers and networkpoints and one of the largest providers of WLANand Broadband CPE devices. ✆

NIGERIAN MOBILE SERVICE provider Globacom has a subscriber base of over20mn, across many countries in Africa. The company has a reputation as oneof the fastest growing multi-national carriers in the world. Since its launch in2003, Globacom has strived to provide the best service and coverage withspecific business-oriented services targeted at all small and mediumenterprise (SME) segments.Globacom decided, recently, to upgrade its networks in order to provide itsbusiness customers with higher capacities at lower cost. As the subscriber basegrew, so did the traffic demand. The existing network required a modernisationin order to keep up with increased data traffic from smartphones andnotebooks. An expansion of the existing fibre cable was impractical as it wasnot nearly redundant enough to cope with the rash of fiber cuts in the southernpart of Nigeria especially over the Port Harcourt-Owerri route. Themodernisation had to cover both the access part of the network as well assignificant portions of the backbone network.

Ceragon delivered a turnkey solution, employing its long-term expertise andfield-proven radio technologies, building high-capacity communication linksover the entire territory of Nigeria. The project included network design, radioplanning, site survey, network implementation, project management andongoing support.For the access part of the network, Ceragon provided its advanced FibeAir IP-10G,engineered to deliver up to 2 Gbps of IP traffic per channel while it improvesbackhaul spectral efficiency by enabling higher download capacities inasymmetric scenarios.Deployed in all 850 access links, FibeAir IP-10G proved to be an ideal combinationof quality and capacity at an affordable cost. The backbone network wasupgraded using the innovative Evolution Long Haul multicarrier solution. With itsunmatched combination of high performance and low power consumption,Evolution Long Haul is ideal for sites lacking access to commercial power linesand that could run only on diesel power. For sites with limited rack space, theunique split-mount configuration was the best choice. Combiner Space Diversityand various traffic-protection schemes provide reliable radio transmission evenunder degraded conditions. The solution is future-proof, enabling effortlessupgrade to all-IP where a simple change of interface modules switches therunning system to all-packet transmission. The entire network is managed viaCeragon’s comprehensive network management system (NMS).

AfricaCom Ceragon delivers high-capacity microwave to Globacom Nigeria

Ceragon’s FibeAir IP-10 - MEF-certified for high capacity operation

“We chose Alcatel-Lucent tobuild and operate our LTEnetwork because of thestrong trust and relationshipwe developed” - John Taylor,executive chairman of Surfline


,


Building bandwidthdensity in Africa

INTERNET Capacity

BROADBAND ADOPTION REMAINS amajor focus for countries acrossAfrica. The advantages ofsustaining knowledge based

economies is driving operators, Governmentsand regulators to overcome political, culturaland economic barriers to deploy future proofinfrastructure. Africa as a whole presentscontrasting fortunes when it comes tobroadband adoption.

Operators in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenyaand several North African countries are at anadvanced stage with high bandwidth fixed lineaccess and mobile 4G technology deployment.On the other hand, some other countries stilllack the availability of 3G spectrum and anykind of legacy infrastructure to supportbroadband services.

What is clear, however, is that countries atan advanced stage of broadband adoption canall point to key investments made in theavailability and deployment of fibre. Thepresence of fibre is underpinning theavailability of LTE services and providing thebandwidth density required to meet Africa’sbroadband needs well into the future.

Fibre no longer a pipe dreamAfrica is no different to Western economies inits aggressive pursuit of fibre. Vodafone’sacquisition of Cable & Wireless and ongoingpursuit of Kabel Deutschland provides strongevidence on the importance of fibre tosustaining bandwidth density. The same focusapplies in Africa with WIOCC aggressivelydriving fibre provision through its submarineand terrestrial networks.

WIOCC’s submarine fibre cableinterconnects nine African countries along theeastern seaboard, delivering bandwidth of4.72Tbps. Its terrestrial network broughttogether by its series of partners creates thelargest terrestrial fibre footprint throughoutsouthern and eastern Africa. It extends acrossmore than 50,000 km of terrestrial fibre-opticnetwork interconnecting more than 400 Africanlocations across 30 countries.

With a growing fibre infrastructure, Africacan look forward to driving its digitaladvancement. Yet despite its morewidespread availability, African countriesstill face significant obstacles in making thisbandwidth available across multiplecountries. One of the biggest hurdlesremains cost. With such a diverse range oflandscapes and challenging geographies,laying fibre cables remains cost prohibitivefor a great many African countries. Regulatoryand political challenges also persist.

Controlling cost is crucialUnlike in some European countries, theprospect of African operators being able toshare network infrastructure is fraught withchallenges. Most developed European marketshave a series of established operators thathave each built network sites over a number ofyears. Each market has consolidated over timewith just a small handful (rarely more thanthree) of major operators contesting for marketshare. With this level of saturation, very little, ifany, competitive gain can be made byprecluding rival operators from sharingnetwork infrastructure. In fact, it is in the

operators’ interests to adopt these agreementsto offset rising costs and sustain healthyprofitability.

The market landscape in Africa is verydifferent. Smartphone adoption in moredeveloped African markets is still relativelylow. This is contributing to an ongoing mobiledata land grab with operators keen to seize theinitiative from their rivals. Another key point isthat competition for these subscribers is rife,with a wide variety of operators looking toundercut each other in the battle for marketshare. In a mostly prepaid environment,operator revenues can therefore fluctuate,removing an element of financial certainty. Thisclimate has made network sharing agreementsimpossible with most operators focused onbuilding their own bandwidth, through theirown infrastructure with their own resources.

This has served to slow fibre deploymentdown as escalating costs take their toll onoperators who are being forced to take acautious approach to investment. Deployingfibre can cost operators up to US$200mn for a1000 km link. This is contributing to operatorstaking a short term view when it comes tobuilding a business case for its fibreinfrastructure, pushing them further away fromsharing agreements that would significantlybenefit the country in the longer-term.

Shayan Sanyal, Chief Commercial Officer,Bluwan

Complete analysis of broadband in Africa, byShayan Sanyal, may be found atwww.communicationsafrica.com ✆


How ‘fibre through the air’ can help African operators overcome obstacles tofurther network development


S06 CAF 6 2013 Report BA_Layout 1 16/10/2013 16:54

With myriad of operators to choose from, there is a need for dedicated communities to retainusers and to enhance sales

African mobile operators are nowgetting customer’s message

INTERNET VAS

AFRICAN MOBILE OPERATORS are inpositions of great strength in theirmarkets — enjoying strong brandprofiles and close relationships with

their subscribers. However, the exaltedpositions of these carriers will be tested asOver the Top (OTT) messaging and socialmedia services enter their markets. Africanoperators still have the chance to take stepsnow to protect their subscriber relationshipsthrough the creation of their own communities— centred on messaging services.

A position of strength?There are 650mn mobile users in Africa,surpassing the number in the US or Europe,according to the World Bank and AfricanDevelopment Bank. This is explained by theabsence of a reliable fixed-line infrastructure inthe continent. This development has resultedin Africans coming to rely heavily on theirmobile operators. The mobile device in Africa isleveraged not just for communication, but alsofor many other services — such as financialservices and banking. This has seen Africanmobile phone penetration increase rapidlyover the past 12 years — from one per cent in2000 to 54 per cent in 2012, according toDeloitte’s report The Sub-Saharan AfricaMobile Observatory.

This rocketing penetration has seen mobilecarriers in these markets develop an extremely

powerful presence. However, the robustmarket position they currently enjoy will sooncome under threat.

Smartphones and the OTT threatAs smartphone and data costs fall, the marketpenetration of consumers connected to theInternet over smartphones grows.

Smartphones allow OTT messaging services,such as WhatsApp and Line, and social mediaservices such as Facebook, to leverage theirmore sophisticated features to engagecommunities of users without reference to theoperator brand.

OTT messaging services, in particular,represent a major threat to operators. Theability to share short messages quickly withfamily, friends and colleagues is central tomeeting a basic human need tocommunicate. On average, a typical userchecks their mobile phone 23 times a day formessages, according to KPCB’s InternetTrends 2013. This suggests messaging is, byfar, the most popular service users utilise ontheir mobile phones. Operators generate 15-20 per cent of their revenues worldwide frommeeting this need through SMS.

However, operators in developed markets,where connected smartphones are ubiquitous,have seen OTT players draw traffic, subscriberrevenues and loyalty away from theirbusinesses. Operators in the US, UK, Spain,Holland and even China are reporting falls inSMS revenue and traffic. In April this year,Informa Telecoms and Media estimated thatdaily traffic from WhatsApp and other OTTmessaging services had already overtakendaily SMS traffic. Informa estimated that by theend of 2012, 41bn OTT messages will be sentevery day, compared to 19.5bn SMS messages.

Operator branded OTT messaging servicesFortunately, African operators have the timeand the opportunity to take steps now that willallow them to retain, and enhance, therelationship they have with their subscribers.The opportunity exists to build operatorbranded OTT-like messaging communities.This type of community can enable an operatorto grow alternative revenue streams throughthe sales and distribution of content withinthat ecosystem.

Mike Grant, CMO, Myriad.

On average, a typical userchecks their mobile phone

23 times a day formessages, according to

KPCB’s Internet Trends 2013


There are 650mn mobile users in Africa



INTERNET VAS

Key to building such a community is tolaunch an OTT-like instant messaging servicethat encompasses both feature andsmartphone users. Such a service is alreadybeing leveraged in the Latin American market— reaching 15mn mobile subscribers. Thisoperator branded OTT service is available toboth users of smartphones and featurephones. Moreover, it works across 3G and 2Gdata and SMS bearers, to provide a compellingand seamless user experience.

As in Latin America, the majority ofsubscribers in Africa continue to use featurephones. In Nigeria, it is estimated that 89 percent of the population relies on this type ofdevice. In Kenya, that figure stands at 88 percent, according to mobile advertisingnetwork BuzzCity.

While smartphone penetration is growing, itwill take several years before penetrationreaches an adequate level where a consumercan connect to the majority of their friends andfamily over an OTT service. This evolutionrepresents an opportunity for operators tobuild their own messaging communities up,prior to the entry of OTT players.

Engaging social media playersIn emerging markets, there is also strongdemand from consumers for access to Facebook.

Providing users with the access they desireto Facebook is difficult in markets wheresmartphone penetration is low and data isexpensive. However, through UnstructuredSupplementary Service Data (USSD), a GSMprotocol which enables handsets tocommunicate in real-time with operators’servers, operators are able to offer achargeable but low cost and effective textbased versions of social media services. Theseservices enable operators to providesubscribers with a low cost initial step on thedata service ladder, demonstrating to users thevalue of data, and encouraging more rapidadoption of other data packages.

The journey to the mobile InternetBy making these two compelling services, arich, OTT like chat service and low cost accessto social media available to all consumers, notjust smartphone users, operators are able toevolve their relationship with subscribers. This

evolution means that the relationship betweenoperators and subscribers in Africa will surviveand prosper in an age where OTT players havecome to dominate. Operators can have theability to walk side by side with consumers onthe journey they take into the OTT world.

This journey can take customers from basicfeature phones up to high-end smartphones,from low-cost SMS to high value data plans;and to the purchase of exciting, compellingcontent that helps users express how they feelas they chat with friends and family every day.By developing the subscriber relationship inthis way the operator is not only protecting

their ARPU, they are also providing customerswith the rich compelling experience of OTTmessaging services. They are retaining anddeveloping their relationship with subscribersthrough this market activity.

The creation of subscriber communitiesaround these services will ensure the operatorcan build brand loyalty with subscribers, protectexisting revenues and pave the way for newadded-value services. Moreover, it will enableoperators to unlock new revenue streams overthe months and years to come. As OTT playersinevitably arrive in the African market to seekgrowth; they will discover that mobile operatorsare already there with a compelling, operator-owned messaging solution in place. The entry ofOTT players will be viewed as simply anadditional choice for the consumer — not athreat to the survival of the mobile operator.Messaging is going to continue to be a valuableasset for African mobile operators. ✆

The KPCB graph shows a user’s preference in a mobile phone

Access to social mediacommunities such asFacebook is one of the keyreasons that consumers indeveloped markets purchasedata plans for Internetthrough handsets

The majority of subscribersin Africa continue to use

feature phones as opposedto smartphones


SMART PHONES ARE coming up in a big way in Africa but loyalty still lies with feature phones. In Nigeria,67 per cent use mobile phones, 25 per cent of them use smartphones.

Growth in Africa’s Internet and Broadband sector has accelerated in recent years due to improvementsin infrastructure, the arrival of wireless access technologies and lower tariffs.

International World Stats reveals that the Internet penetration in Africa in Q2 2012, seven per cent vis-a-vis the rest of the world.

According to the report, West African country Nigeria topped the list with 48,366,179 users by June end2012 whereas South Sudan has only 100 users. Nigeria also had the highest penetration rate with 28.9 percent of the population using Internet.

However, despite the growth in smartphone penetration, the vast majority of mobiles in Africa continueto be feature phones, and the most successful mobile services and marketing in the region are thosemaking innovative use of these platforms, TNS said in a report.

Developed-market mobile strategies cannot simply be imported to African countries, the agency added.

‘Be feature, be smart for African mobile services market’


Communications Africa Issue 6 2013 29

Les objets connectés et applications M2Msur des marchés multi-domestiques

M2MCloud

ORANGE BUSINESS SERVICES et Ericsson ont renforcé leurpositionnement sur le marché mondial du M2M (machine-to-machine). Le M2M et plus largement l’internet desobjets connaissent un essor dans de nombreuses

applications et le développement des réseaux mobiles haut débitdevrait renforcer cette croissance. C’est particulièrement le cas dansles secteurs de l’automobile et de l’électronique grand public pourqui ces solutions représentent un grand potentiel de développementde services. Les multinationales qui adressent différents marchésdans le monde doivent pouvoir s’appuyer sur une solution homogèned’un pays à l’autre et ce, tout en étant capables de répondre auxattentes spécifiques des utilisateurs dans chaque pays.

Des solutions M2M et des clients internationauxOrange Business Services a choisi la plateforme en mode cloud degestion des objets connectés DCP (Device Connection Platform)d’Ericsson pour enrichir sa gamme de solutions M2M et renforcer lesupport auprès de ses clients internationaux. Cette solution permettraaux clients d’Orange Business Services de bénéficier de fonctionnalitésde pointe pour déployer, faire évoluer et exploiter des millions deconnexions M2M à l’échelle mondiale. Un portail de services disponibleen permanence permettra aux clients d’accéder eux-mêmes et

directement à des fonctionnalités de gestion et de contrôle de leur basede cartes SIM installées, avec un accès en temps réel pour le suiviopérationnel, le soutien aux équipes métiers et l’accès aux statistiquesd’utilisation. Les fonctionnalités de la plateforme Ericsson viennentrenforcer la qualité de service globale d’Orange Business Services et lafluidité de l’expérience client.

Orange Business Services propose déjà une gamme complète desolutions M2M à la carte (allant de la connectivité M2M aux solutions debout-en-bout : conception, gestion de projet, services de conseil etsupport). Avec plus de 250 personnes dédiées au M2M, OrangeBusiness Services offre une expertise reconnue dans l’innovation,l’intégration et le développement de solutions métier incluantnotamment : la surveillance à distance des systèmes médicauxconnectés, le diagnostic et la maintenance d’équipements, lescompteurs intelligents (smart metering), la gestion de flottes ainsi que lesuivi et la traçabilité. ✆

Le M2M et plus largement l’internet desobjets connaissent un essor dans de

nombreuses applications


S07 CAF 6 2013 Report C_Layout 1 16/10/2013 16:56


Fingerprint technology deployed by the NigerianCommunications Commission helps clean up thedatabases used for a national SIM card registrationprogramme

Deleting the duplicates

BIOMETRICS Mobile

Nigeria issues an estimated eight million new SIMSannually through various mobile network operators

FINGERPRINT TECHNOLOGY DEPLOYED by the Nigerian Communications Commission helps clean up the databases used for a national SIM card

registration programme.BIO-key International, which specialises

in fingerprint biometric identificationsolutions, advanced cloud-based mobilecredentialling and identity assurancetechnologies, has been working withinformation technology services firm SWGlobal to implement BIO-key’s fingerprintbiometric technology as part of the NigerianSIM (NSIM) Card Registration programme forthe Nigerian Communications Commission(NCC), the independent National RegulatoryAuthority for the telecommunicationsindustry in Nigeria. The NSIM programmehas classified and biometrically enrolled thepurchasers of over 110mn SIM cards, makingit one of the largest biometric identitymanagement projects in the world.

BIO-key was selected by SW Global toprovide cost-effective, highly accurate andscalable biometric identity solutions to supportthe enrollment and de-duplication of thecountry’s entire mobile phone user population.SW Global has emerged as one of the firstglobally competitive software developmentand application service provider companiesout of Africa. The company has extensiveexperience designing and applying e-Government solutions throughout Africa andother emerging markets.

The Nigerian SIM Card Registrationprogramme was set up to combat fraud and

criminal activity by securing the identities ofMobile Network subscribers nationwide.

The goal was to implement a solution that issecure, cost effective, widely accepted, andintegrates with other identity databases inNigeria. The process includes enrollingsubscribers and associating their identity withthe ownership of SIM cards and mobile phonenumbers. BIO-key’s fingerprint technologyautomates the detection of multiple identityholders, and ensures a permanent physicalconnection of every person to a single identity.

Nigeria has an estimated 110mn SIM cardsin use and issues approximately eight millionnew SIMs annually through multiple MobileNetwork Operators. Historically, most of theissued SIM cards were for prepaid lines andwere not registered before issuance.

These anonymous mobile lines have beenused in perpetrating fraudulent acts andother crimes without a means of tracing theactivity back to the responsible party. NSIMintends to put an end to this anonymity tocombat fraud and crime.

Streamlined and modernised Dr EugeneJuwah, executive vice chairman/CEO of theNCC at a recent Security Summit convened bythe Office of National Security advisor stated,“In making further analysis andconsultations, the Commission became veryconvinced that registration of SIM Cards withfull biometric identity of every subscriber inthe network will go a long way in assisting thesecurity agencies to fight crimes against livesand properties. SIM Card registration alsoprovides a good opportunity for the nation to

accelerate the achievement of a NationalRegistry of its citizens which has eluded thisnation for a long time.”

Anthony Nwachukwu, SW Global LimitedCOO, stated, “The National SIM Registrationprogramme is an important milestone for thecountry, in that it can potentially provide everyNigerian citizen with a secure identity foraccessing public and private servicesbecoming available through mobile telephony.

Nwachukwu continued, “We are proud topartner with BIO-key which is best in class interms of identity solutions.”

“Through our partnership with SW Global,we are delivering one of the largestcommercial/civil identification programmes inthe world using our core WEB-key AFISbiometric engine. When the database ofregistered users is fully scrubbed, each SIMcard will be associated with a user andanonymous SIMs, which many times are usedfor criminal purposes, will no longer be active,”stated Mike DePasquale, BIO-key CEO. ✆

The Nigerian SIM CardRegistration programmewas set up to combat fraudand criminal activity bysecuring the identities of mobile networksubscribers nationwide


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Africa Com

November 12 to 14



Africa is expected to see a post-mobile data revolution however mobile operators andother telecom companies in the continent still face many challenges

Meeting the demandof the African data boom

INFRASTRUCTURE Data

AFRICANS LIKE THEIR mobile phones, too. So, surely theAfrican continent will simply follow the same telecomdevelopment and usage pattern as the rest of the world, justmaybe a little later? Well, not quite. Africa has proven to be

somewhat different when it comes to mobile telephony; just look atthe unexpected speed with which cellphone usage took off as itsubstituted for the lack of fixed-line networks and other keyinfrastructure.

Africa has always had myriad challenges for mobile operators andother telecom companies to overcome: lack of or substandardinfrastructure, political uncertainty, regulatory issues, challengingenvironments, vast and sparsely populated geographical areas to cover,unreliable energy supplies and poorer target groups.

These challenges have been overcome with ingenuity andperseverance. Prepaid cards in small denominations sold in numerousmobile booths have given consumers with little money access to mobiletelephony. Off-grid base stations are increasingly using green powersolutions almost completely replacing the use of dirty and expensivediesel. Roaming costs are often lower than in the developed world,enabling communities separated by colonial borders to communicate. M-PESA and other mobile money systems have revolutionised the waymoney is transferred, making it possible for almost everybody to use basicbanking services.

Africa is the next market for a data boomIt is no great secret that the next big step for Africa is the “post-mobiledata revolution”. The penetration of data in African markets is still low,even in South Africa, and prices are still high. And even if everybodyagrees that data will take off in a big way, it is difficult to predict when itwill happen and how fast. There are of course going to be a number ofchallenges to overcome. How can you best prepare to quickly respond tothe anticipated demand without investing too much too early?

The biggest challenge is infrastructure. High quality, efficient datacentres are essential. They house and power all the equipment neededfor transmission of data and are both the heart and brain of any network.But traditional builds for data centres take a lot of time to plan, co-ordinate (with different suppliers) and construct.

Furthermore, challenging environments add a lot of risk to a datacentre project, often resulting in delays and budget over-runs. Buildingsfor data centres are often not purpose built to be used as technicalfacilities, often with water leaks and other problems, as well as beingover-dimensioned since they cannot be expanded quickly and easily.

Pre-fabricated modular data centres ideal for African networksThe solution is pre-fabricated modular data centres. They are quickerto deploy and will in most cases save considerable time and moneycompared to traditional brick and mortar buildings. The facility willalways be the “right” size since its modular structure makes it easy toquickly expand in response to changing needs. More efficient powerand cooling will make a pre-fabricated data centre more cost effectiveto run. And quality, budget and the time plan can more easily beensured for pre-fabricated purpose built facilities, bringingpredictability to the project.

A pre-fabricated solution also makes it much easier to customise thedata centre for specific needs and it can be deployed anywhere.

Speed and predictability in challenging environments are criticalissues in Africa considering it is the fastest growing mobile market in theworld and the take off for data could be right around the corner.Pre-fabricated, modular and custom-designed data centres that can bedeployed very quickly, and easily re-deployed if needed, is yet anotherinnovative solution to an African problem (or rather African situation,since there is nothing problematic with fast growth).

It is a solution that will allow data centre owners – internet serviceproviders, hosting companies, mobile operators and banks in Africarespond quickly to the demand for data. ✆

David King, CEO, Flexenclosure

David King, CEO, Flexenclosure

It is no great secret that the next big step for Africa is the ‘post-mobile

data revolution’


S08 CAF 6 2013 Report DC_Layout 1 16/10/2013 16:57


INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS Technology (ICT) policy makers andexperts from 35 countries said that TVbroadcasting and broadband can share

the same radio spectrum to help addressAfrica’s connectivity problems.

The TV White Spaces & Dynamic SpectrumAfrica Forum, which took place in Dakar(Senegal), convened more than 100 peoplecomprising ICT regulators, Internet serviceproviders, equipment manufacturers,academics and civil society organisationslooking for innovative ways to improve Internetaccess on the continent. The event was held byGoogle, Microsoft, Association for ProgressiveCommunications (APC), AFRINIC and theInternet Society Senegal Chapter.

Wireless communication systems are recentconcepts, which can detect interference andswitch frequencies to unused wavebands,making much more efficient use of availableradio spectrum. Surveys presented at theforum indicated that large swathes of the lowerfrequency bands allocated to broadcasting inAfrica are almost completely unused. Thesewavebands, known as TV white space, canreach long distances and provide a low-costsolution for meeting needs for Internet accessfor people living in remote and rural areas.Despite the growth of mobile services andbroadband access in many parts of thecontinent, Internet access continues to lag, andlast mile access is one of the biggestchallenges to increasing access in theseregions.

Technologies to improve resource useShowcased at the forum were successful trialsof the technology that have already taken placein South Africa and Kenya (as well as in the USand the UK). The Association for ProgressiveCommunications (APC) co-organised asuccessful TV White Space awareness-raisingworkshop in South Africa in 2011, which helpedto encourage the trials in South Africa andKenya.

“What really impressed me about the forumwas the sense of common cause amongst theparticipants to make better use of radiospectrum,” said Mike Jensen, APC’s Internetaccess specialist.

“This has overturned the commonly heldview that all radio spectrum is a scarceresource. The forum also provided a venue forshowcasing examples in Africa where moreinnovative use of our spectrum resources canmeet some of the immediate connectivityneeds in Africa, especially for rural areas. Asidefrom using these technologies in the TVfrequencies, the model can also be used inother wavebands to make more efficient use ofall our spectrum resources — a public goodthat needs to be exploited to the full in order tomeet the needs of marginalised members ofour societies.”

The major conclusions that emerged fromthe forum were• TV White Spaces are available and

underutilisedUsing its spectrum database, Google shareda visualisation of available white space inSenegal. There is more than 90 MHzavailable in Dakar alone, and more acrossthe country spectrum that could be used forbroadband.

• Trials show the technology works inpracticeTrials in the Kenya, Malawi, Singapore,South Africa, the UK, and the US havedemonstrated that broadband can coexistwith licensed spectrum holders and providebroadband service. For example, Google,

the eSchools Network, TENET, and theWireless Association Providers Associationhave led a TV White Spaces trial to providebroadband to 10 schools in Cape Town. CSIRshared initial results from the trial, whichdemonstrate that TV White Spaces radioscan operate without interfering with TVbroadcast. Similarly, in Kenya, a trial in aremote area of the country demonstrated acost-effective and sustainable businessmodel for Internet access provision bysmall-scale local entrepreneurs.

• TV White Spaces policy is underway ICASA, the South African ICT regulator, plansto use the trial outcomes to evaluatepossible rules for use of the TV WhiteSpaces. Other regulators showing interest inTV White Spaces for broadband includedNigeria, Senegal and Malawi, where lessthan nine per cent of the populationreceives broadcast TV and many channelsare left available.

• Radios lower barriers to Internet Radio manufacturers shared how TV WhiteSpaces radios can talk to a database, whichtells the radio which channels are availablein a given geography. White spaceequipment manufacturer Adaptrum sharedresults of the deployment in Kenya, whileCarlson presented its successfuldeployment in South Africa. Databasedevelopers showed how the creation ofcommon standards could help build anecosystem of devices that works globally.

Two initiatives that APC is discussing withpartners to build on the success of the event area ‘Shared Spectrum Alliance’ for Africa, whichaims to bring together public interest groups tobuild capacity in advocating for use of sharedspectrum for Internet access, and an OpenSpectrum Data Initiative, to support ICTregulators in making their radio spectrumallocations publically available (on the Web). ✆

New technologies allow the Internet and the broadcastindustry to co-exist on airwaves

Sharing radio waves

SPECTRUM Technologies

Despite the growth of mobileservices and broadband accessin many parts of the continent,Internet access continues to lag


How innovative banking solutions aim to foster development in sub-Saharan Africa,which has 57 million registered mobile money users

Mobile paymentsenabling further growth

FINANCEBanking

THERE ARE ALREADY more mobile money accounts in Kenya, Madagascar, Tanzania and Uganda than bank accounts (GSMA 2012).

And across sub-Saharan Africa, there arealmost 57mn registered mobile money users.In Kenya, for example, the value of mobilemoney transactions is equivalent to morethan 60 per cent of the country’s GDP.

Mobile money's rapid adoption acrossAfrica is due to the speed of its urbanisation.As a result, mobile money is going some wayto meeting the needs of the underbankedand overcoming the limitations of a bankinginfrastructure playing catch-up. Developingnations, particularly those in sub-SaharanAfrica, are now the innovators embracingnew payment technologies as companiesseek to drive economic growth throughmobile payments.

The potential of mobile money in Africa isclear and has led to an astonishing amount ofinitial growth, bringing new forms of paymentsto disenfranchised groups who simply couldnot access these types of services before andestablishing itself as a vital part of Africansociety. These payments can range from nearfield communication (NFC) to mobile moneytransfers and mobile prepaid.

But, how are these payment methodsbeing implemented across Africa? How areretailers maintaining customer experienceand loyalty in their efforts to drive paymentsand how are they educating consumers to usethese new payment methods?

NFC in Africa By allowing simple, secure swipe and pay,NFC has the potential to offer a practical andconvenient solution. One that connectsmobile users in a broader payment context –to retailers, services, trading points andtransportation, without relying on cash. Inaddition, the low value transactions coveredby NFC suits Africa’s spending profileperfectly – giving its population a practicalsolution to their payments issues.

Enabling NFC payments and non-paymentapplications requires acceptance devices fora wide variety of environments and a securesoftware that provides integration of paymentwith value-added online services. More thanthis it also requires a vision of how to ensuremerchants – from the largest to the smallest –can easily migrate to this new era with theconfidence that their investments today willbe viable as new capabilities and paymentservices come on-stream.

NFC in Africa has, however, been met witha series of challenges, particularly in relationto education and the unbanked. However, itspotential to drive economic growth in Africastill remains. While Africa’s adoption of NFCmay be ahead of other nations, for it to trulysucceed in this difficult market, it needs to rollout NFC enabled payment devices, or upgradeexisting POS systems in tandem with NFCphone deployment.

Loyalty is keyMerchants will be faced with the challenge ofintegrating its services and providing aseamless experience at the point of sale. It isno longer enough to provide a solely mobilepayments experience – Africa wants more!While implementing new technology,merchants must maintain the efficiency andtargeted customer experience that mobilepayments offer. They must also keep in mindthe loyalty of consumers.

Whilst payment methods such as NFC/contactless are growing indeveloped areas such as South Africa, in more rural locations

they simply lack the education to adopt new forms of payment.

Communications Africa Issue 6 2013 35www.communicationsafrica.com

Mobile money's rapidadoption across Africa is

due to the speed of itsurbanisation



In South Africa, however, loyalty andretention is tricky. The diversity in SouthAfrica makes defining the ‘typical’ consumerimpossible, but if there is a trait that seemsto be shared it is a lack of loyalty to aparticular retailer.

In many other countries, retailers can relyon a certain inherent ‘stickiness’. This effectcannot be relied upon in Africa – instead,novelty and impulsiveness makes retention amore difficult proposition.

In order to keep customers coming back,customer experience is key – particularlyoffering a dynamic customer experience. Partof that is giving the customer exactly what theywant, and for many, this means going mobile.

As the point of sale (POS) starts toconverge, the need to enable ‘consumer tobusiness’ payments via mobiles and mobiledevices is becoming increasingly vital.Allowing the customer to pay regardless oftheir location via a mobile POS on the shopfloor not only allows for a seamless customerexperience but it also reduces queues andprevents customers walking away. For someretailers, the mPOS – a smartphone or tabletwith software and hardware allowing paymentacceptance – can actually be a more cost-effective way to accept electronic payments.

Educating on mobile paymentsMobile money may be starting to meet theneeds of the underbanked as well as drivingloyalty, but there is still some way to go. Arecent study by Visa showed that the primary

barriers to entry were ease of use and lack oftrust in mobile money providers and agents.Both of these barriers can be overcome witheducation.

For some, mobile money will be their firstencounter with banking. Mobile money canoffer extraordinary benefits for theunderbanked, but these benefits need to beclearly communicated. How exactly thishappens is currently up for debate – directeducation may seem the most obvious route,but the ‘hole in the wall’ experiment in Delhishowed that giving people the tools andallowing them to innovate can be just aseffective a teaching method, if not more so.

By simplifying payment acceptance,VeriFone’s solutions make educatingconsumers simple and easy. Offering manydifferent payment types, consumers are ableto choose what VeriFone solution suits thembest. Additionally, VeriFone’s network ofregional partners understand the specificneeds of banks and retailers and can providethe right training, service and support tomeet individual needs and createcustomised solutions.

Enabling mobile payments in AfricaMobile money has the potential to driveeconomic growth in Africa. In fact, it can beargued that as mobile payments continue toevolve it can drive far more innovation thandeveloped countries. The proliferation ofpayment methods such as NFC, contactlesspayment, mobile prepaid and mobile money

transfers has shown that, as a country, Africais ready for a new phase in paymentinnovation. Similarly, it highlights theopportunities that payment innovation cangive to people which will only serve to driveeconomic growth.

Despite the progress that Africa has made,retailers and businesses are still facingchallenges. Whilst payment methods such asNFC/contactless are growing in developedareas such as South Africa, in more rurallocations they simply lack the education toadopt new forms of payment. Retailers arealso struggling to initiate loyalty programmesand maintain a high level of customerexperience. However, VeriFone solutions arehelping retailers to better understand theconsumer and drive sales.

Mobile payments present an undeniableopportunity for growth in Africa. Africa’sproven appetite for mobile means that oncechallenges such as education and loyalty areovercome, then mobile money will trulybecome the norm. ✆

Gabriel Swanepoel, business developmentmanager, VeriFone Africa

Allowing the customer to pay regardless of their location via amobile POS not only allows for a seamless customer experience

but it also reduces queues and prevents customers walking away.


By simplifying paymentacceptance, VeriFone’ssolutions make educatingconsumers simple and easy

FINANCE Banking


S09 CAF 6 2013 Report EA_Layout 1 16/10/2013 16:58

Mobile solutions have a huge potential to increase corporate efficiency - but beware thepitfalls of implementation

How to succeedwith mobile solutions

ENTERPRISE Solutions

MOBILE SOLUTIONS - IE software for PDAs andsmartphones - have an enormous potential to improveefficiency and save big money for companies that todayrely on time-consuming paper-based solutions.

Industries such as fire safety, security, electrical, telecom, data,energy, power, construction, logistics, andheating/ventilation/cooling have much to gain by adapting modernmobile business solutions for their work forces.

However, the transition from paper-based/manual/traditionalsolutions to advanced mobile solutions is filled with pitfalls. Manythings can go wrong that can leave you with an inadequate, or inworst case, non-functioning solution. Mobile business solutionexpert Mikael Nilebacke, CEO of Erisma Technologies withmore than 15 years of industry experience, shares his topten advice on how to succeed with the implementationof mobile solutions:

1. Conduct a needs analysisWhy do you need a mobile system? Do you want to bemore effective? Do the clients demand more access toinformation? The answers will help you identify the specificfunctions you require in your mobile solutions. Prioritizefunctions that are really useful. Decide who will use thesystem and how much the system may cost. If you skip thisstep, there is a risk that the supplier’s sale team gains controlover the process and create needs that do not really exist.

2. Engage and involve youremployees in the processTry to engage and involve your staff inthe process of implementing a mobilesystem as early as possible. Lead youremployees through the entireprocurement process and utilize thecompetence, experience andknowledge they possess. Engagingthe staff from an early stage willmake them motivated to implementthe system/solution and showcasethe benefits of a mobile solution.

3. Carefully choose a system and a supplierUsually, the important choice willbe between a standard system anda customized system. I stronglyrecommend using standardizedsystems. The development ofmobile technology is evolving veryrapidly, which makes thestandardized system more future-proof and flexible than the customizedsystem.

Choose a supplier that is of "the right size": not small enough for youto risk ending up with a system that will disappear or cease to beupdated, and not too big for the supplier to lose interest in you when you

are no longer a key customer.

4. Contact all the references that you can findWhen contacting a reference that your supplier has given you- always try to read between the lines. Learn from how theyuse the system and think about ways your organization canbenefit from this knowledge. Try to find your own references,at least three of them, and do not settle for just one. This willminimize the risk of spending time and money on the wrongsystem.

5. Keep the option to cancel the orderNot all suppliers have sufficient knowledge and experience to

deliver and implement their systems correctly. Try tonegotiate an evaluation period with the option to

cancel the order should you discoverthat the system is not right for youand your organization. You must beprepared to let go of the system if itdoes not deliver and solve theproblems and/or fulfill the list ofdemands you created during yourearlier needs analysis.

6. Listen to the supplierOnce a supplier is chosen -stick to your choice. Let themknow what you want to achieve

and be all ears to any goodadvice and feedback that thesupplier can give you. Do not

try to control the supplier toomuch - if you are unsure of theplan, ask them to explain.

7. One step at a timeAvoid trying to do everything atonce. Running several projects

simultaneously will increase thecomplexity and can lead to

devastating consequences. ✆

Mikael Nilebacke, MD,Erisma Technologies

Try to engage and involve your staff inthe process of implementing a mobilesystem as early as possible



TICInternet

Communications Africa Issue 6 2013 39www.communicationsafrica.com

Un rapport démontre pour la première fois la corrélation indéniable entre lesplans nationaux pour le large bande et l'accès à des services abordables pourla population

SELON UN NOUVEAUrapport que l'UIT, laCommission sur le largebande au service du

développement numérique et lefabricant d'équipements deréseau Cisco Systems viennentde publier conjointement, lespays ayant un modèle nationalbien défini pour le déploiementdu large bande obtiennent debien meilleurs résultats que lespays misant davantage sur lelaisser-faire.

Les données brutes recueilliespar les analystes de l'UIT dans lecadre de nouvelles recherchesmenées pour l'élaboration durapport Planning for Progress: WhyNational Plans Matter (Planifier leprogrès: pourquoi les plansnationaux pour le large bandesont importants) indiquent que les

pays qui ont un plan national pourle large bande affichent, pour lelarge bande fixe, un taux depénétration supérieur de 8,7% enmoyenne à celui des pays qui n'enont pas. Une fois les donnéespondérées compte tenu del'incidence éventuelle dedifférents facteurs (revenu moyenpar habitant plus élevé,concentration du marché eturbanisation), les recherchesmontrent que ce taux est enmoyenne 2,5% plus élevé dans lespays dotés d'un plan que dans lesautres pays – ce qui représente unavantage significatif dans uneéconomie mondiale de plus enplus interconnectée.

S'agissant des servicesmobiles, l'impact peut êtremême plus important, puisqueles pays qui ont un plan national

enregistrent également, pour lelarge bande mobile, un taux depénétration supérieur de 7,4%en moyenne à celui des pays quin'en ont pas.

La progression du taux depénétration du large bandeLe rapport permet de conclure quela concurrence sur le marchécompte elle aussi pour beaucoupdans la progression du taux depénétration du large bande.Lorsque les marchés sontconcurrentiels, le taux depénétration est supérieur dequelque 1,4% en moyenne dans lecas du large bande fixe et il estmême jusqu'à 26,5% plus élevéen moyenne dans le cas du largebande mobile.

"Le message de la Commissionsur le large bande concernant lacapacité de cette technologie detransformer tous les secteurs del'économie est aujourd'hui entendupartout dans le monde", a déclaréle Secrétaire général de l'UIT, le DrHamadoun I. Touré. "Les pouvoirspublics prennent conscience du faitque les réseaux large bande sontnon seulement essentiels pour lacompétitivité nationale, mais aussiindispensables pour fournir desservices dans les domaines del'éducation, des soins de santé, desservices collectifs comme ladistribution d'énergie et d'eau, de lagestion de l'environnement et pourassurer nombre de services publics.Le large bande est le catalyseur quipermet non seulement lacommunication entre les personnes,mais aussi entre les systèmes demachine à machine, sur lesquelss'appuiera le monde de demain."

"Il est indéniable que lesplans pour le large bande jouentun rôle important", a déclaréRobert Pepper, Vice Président deCisco Systems chargé de lapolitique technologiquemondiale. "Ils favorisent

l'adoption de cette technologie,et ainsi stimulent la croissanceéconomique et renforcent lacompétitivité nationale. Le rôlede la politique est de définir unmodèle pour le développementdu large bande et de garantir desconditions équitables quipermettront par la suite de fairefructifier les meilleures idées."

Les retombées économiques etsocialesLe rapport fait en outre apparaîtreune forte augmentation récente dunombre de plans nationaux pourle large bande, puisque 134 plansétaient en vigueur mi-2013. Cesplans peuvent prendre des formesdifférentes (législations, cadrespolitiques, stratégiesgouvernementales et/ouréglementations), mais tousmettent en avant le rôle vital dularge bande dans l'améliorationde la compétitivité nationale etvisent à élargir la couverturenationale des réseaux large bandeet à renforcer l'utilisation desservices et applications reposantsur cette technologie.

Toujours selon le rapport, onpeut s'attendre à des retombéeséconomiques et socialesmaximales lorsque les pouvoirspublics et le secteur privétravaillent en partenariat étroit etque les pouvoirs publics s'appuientsur la consultation et la participationdes grandes parties prenantespour élaborer la politique enmatière de large bande. ✆

Le large bandedans le monde



Small cell infrastructure and high throughput satellite backhaul are making itprofitable for mobile operators to expand into remote areas

How small cells arehelping connect rural Africa

SATELLITE Infrastructure

THE AFRICAN CONTINENT is a primary focus for the satellite communications industry. In recent years, growing demand for

connectivity diminished the supply ofavailable capacity, putting Africa’s economicand social development at risk, with Sub-Saharan nations hit particularly hard.

Today, the satellite industry is launchingan abundant amount of new capacity overthe Sub-Saharan region. Ku-band capacityin the region is forecasted to increase by 32per cent, from roughly 445 TPEs(Transponder Equivalents) in 2012 to about588 TPEs by 2022, according to NorthernSky Research (NSR).

There will also be brand new capacitycovering the region from next-generation highthroughput satellite (HTS), with scheduledlaunches by Intelsat, EMC/ArabSat, Avanti andNewSat. NSR projects 30.85 Gbps of GEO and15.48 Gbps of MEO high throughput capacitywill be available by 2022. This development iscritically important as HTS promises to lowerthe overall cost of satellite capacity per Mb,making connectivity more affordable.

This new capacity will drive growth for manyapplications across the continent from Direct-to-Home to consumer broadband access. Andit will also breathe life into enterprise markets,including banking, oil and gas, maritime, andgovernment/military.

One market where it will have a big impact isthe mobile industry as backhaul will be one ofthe biggest satellite capacity drivers in theregion. New HTS capacity, combined with thegrowing use of small cell infrastructure, meansmobile operators may have a much moreaffordable solution to expand their networkcoverage into remote and rural areas.

Current challenges to mobile networkexpansionTo date, mobile operators in Sub-SaharanAfrica have been slow to expand their networksinto remote areas. Remote locations are costlyto service. Traditionally, mobile operatorswould need to build out macro towers acrosswide stretches of rugged rural landscape toserve thousand of scattered villages. Needlessto say, this is not economically feasible.

Beyond that, there’s the question ofbackhaul. Fibre is typically used in core

urban and rural markets. But there is no cost-effective way to lay fibre across Africa’sexpansive land mass.

Microwave devices are an alternative, butline of sight constraints and the cost ofdeployment and maintenance usually knockmicrowave from contention.

While these challenges are understandable,they leave a major percentage of the Africanpopulation unconnected.

Small cells shrink mobile infrastructure costsNew satellite capacity is clearly on its way. Andit is fortunately timed with a majordevelopment from the mobile industry: theemergence of small cell infrastructure as acompact, easily deployable, much moreaffordable alternative to cell towers.

Small-cell devices are compact basestations that were originally deployed indeveloped nations to offload network traffic in

highly concentrated areas or to improvecoverage for specific locations. Small-celldevices have been deployed in homes that arebeyond the reach of macro cells and in densepublic areas with high traffic demands, such asshopping malls and sports stadiums.

Small-cell infrastructure delivers somemajor benefits over macro cells. Given theirsize, they can be deployed much more cost-effective and quickly. They take advantage ofself-organizing network functionalities. Thatmeans planning is greatly simplified, andinstallation can be done by a less technicalperson. And small cells have lower powerrequirements, which is a critical benefit inremote locations.

Today, mobile operators have discoveredthat they can utilize the same small-cellinfrastructure to offer targeted voice and dataservice to remote locations in developingnations.



SATELLITE Infrastructure

A new generation of outdoor-grade rural small cells have beendeveloped that can cost-effectively cover a rural village. For example, a3G HSPA small cell can broadcast coverage across a one-kilometre range,supporting up 32 simultaneous voice calls and up to 16 Megabits persecond download speeds.

Improved satellite infrastructure and HTS lowers backhaul costsWhile small cells lower infrastructure costs, mobile operators must stillcontend with backhaul costs to make the business case for expansioninto remote areas.

Satellite IP networks have been used to backhaul 2G voice traffic frombase stations to the core network for many years. Mobile operators haveadopted satellite for its unique advantages. Satellite has ubiquitouscoverage and can be easily and quickly deployed over a large geographicarea, bypassing the challenges of distance and terrain that impede fibreand microwave.

Advances in satellite technology over the last decade have largelyovercome issues of data speed and latency, so that today’s IP-over-satellite systems can deliver two-way IP connectivity that is fast andreliable. Modern satellite systems are also largely immune to the effectsof adverse weather conditions, delivering high levels of availability andresilience.

Further, satellite has shifted from an SCPC model to TDMA model.TDMA-based satellite networks like those developed by iDirect haveproved to be an economical fit for low-density sites that are scatteredacross large expanses and are characterized by dynamic traffic patterns.

With TDMA, multiple sites under the same satellite footprint can cost-effectively share bandwidth based on each site’s real-time demand.Mobile operators only need to pay for the bandwidth they use, in contrastto traditional SCPC links where bandwidth is set at a fixed sizedetermined by peak volume.

As mobile operators look now to extending 3G and 4G networks, thepicture changes. Supporting data traffic requires greater amounts ofsatellite capacity, which translates to higher operating costs in areaswhere capacity is already highly constrained.

Here the answer is HTS capacity. HTS promises to lower the cost ofsatellite bandwidth, making satellite an affordable backhaul solution forboth voice and data. Many estimates project that HTS capacity will costas low as 25 per cent to 33 per cent of non-HTS capacity.

iDirect and Informa have run several business case analyses todetermine probability margins for remote networks supported by smallcells and HTS. These studies suggest that mobile operators can achievea margin greater than 30 per cent per site, which makes an undoubtedlystrong business case.

How big is the remote market?In their core markets, mobile operators are fighting for closely-heldmarket share. There’s limited room to add new subscribers. So theremote market has natural appeal as a source of growth.

Remote geographies are home to a largely untapped population. In atleast 12 Sub-Sahara Africa nations, penetration rates are below 50 percent, according to Informa. See chart 1.

Across all of Africa, the penetration rate for mobile telephony is only59.8 per cent, according to the International Telecommunications Union(ITU). Fixed telephone is nearly non-existent at 1.4 per cent. Mobilebroadband is only 7.1 per cent with fixed broadband even lower at 0.3 percent. Only 5.3 per cent of households have Internet access, and 14.3 percent of the population uses the Internet. See chart 2.

Informa projects that by the end of 2016, global mobile subscriptionswill be close to eight billion, up from 6.73bn subscribers on record in June2013. A large percentage of the more than one billion new subscriberswill come from remote and rural locations. And according to Informa,CAGR subscription growth in a number of sub-Saharan countries isexpected to be in the order of 15-20 per cent between 2012 and 2017.

3G technology provides a more profitable path to serving ruralsubscribers in both developing and developed countries. For many ofthese customers, 3G service represents the most affordable access tohigh-speed Internet connectivity, sometimes even the only access.According to the ITU only 15.8 per cent of the population in developingcountries has Internet access and only 22.5 per cent have a computer.

In the future, Internet access will primarily be through mobile devices,and this represents a significant opportunity for mobile operators. In fact,a new report by Cisco projects overall mobile data traffic will growannually at a CAGR of 66 percent from 2012 to 2017, with the Middle Eastand Africa experiencing the highest CAGR of 77 percent.

The payoffMobile operators in Sub-Saharan Africa have a fresh path to ruralexpansion. A new generation of small-cell infrastructure technologies aresignificantly more cost-effective and easier to install than macro-celltechnologies. HTS capacity is coming online in big numbers and promisesto substantially lower the cost of satellite bandwidth. And modern TDMA-based satellite ground infrastructure systems from iDirect can delivercarrier-class, IP connectivity that is ideally suited to 3G and 4G networks.

All this means mobile operators can find new subscribers beyondsaturated core markets. They can affordably serve rural areas, extendtheir coverage to serve existing subscribers and offer roamingconnectivity to travellers. And they can bring connectivity to populationsthat have long suffered without it, advancing social and economicdevelopment in Africa. ✆

Richard Deasington, director vertical markets at iDirect

Richard Deasington, director vertical markets at iDirect


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S10 CAF 6 2013 Equipment A_Layout 1 16/10/2013 17:03


EQUIPMENT

44 www.communicationsafrica.com

ORANGE BUSINESS SERVICES and MobileIron are working together on thedevelopment of a new version of Device Management Premium managedservice, a smartphone and tablet management system for fleets of morethan 300 devices.

This partnership with MobileIron will go beyond traditional mobile fleetmanagement functions, user profile and device management, securitypolicy application, configuration of embedded apps, mobilepersonalisation, to offer an advanced, highly secure version of thesolution.

Available in either a private or cloud mode, this version will feature,application management to address bring your own device (BYOD), fleetmanagers can create a secure barrier between personal and professionalapplications and data.

Each business application will communicate with the company's servervia a distinct and secure tunnel, and the application data stored on thedevice will be automatically encrypted.

It will also have a content management system where employees canview and save the documents they need to work on the go using theirtablet or smartphone.

Access to certain resources can be restricted or limited to read-onlybased on users' profiles and data sensitivity. The documents saved will bestored in an isolated container which the administrator can remotelydelete if the device is lost or stolen.

MobileIron CEO Bob Tinker said, “Enterprise mobility is complex andour partnership with Orange Business Services brings together the toptechnology and services that MNCs need to be able to make mobile aprimary computing platform.”

ONLINE PROJECT COLLABORATION solutions provider Aconex has beenengaged by African Minerals (AML) to support rail, port and infrastructuredevelopment for the Pepel35 expansion of the Tonkolili Iron Ore MiningProject in Sierra Leone.

AML and its team of contractors will use the Aconex OnlineCollaboration Platform to manage documents, drawings,correspondence and other project information, as well as workflows forprocess control and audit records.

AML IT group head Gareth Burton said, “After a very successful phaseone infrastructure build-out, we have decided to enhance ourrelationship with Aconex. This will enable us to coordinate the activitiesof a project team of more than 25 contractor organisations and keepstakeholders informed of our progress from a secure, neutral platform.

“All system users on Pepel35 will follow uniform processes forcommunications, document sharing and review and approvaltracking. The Aconex platform will improve AML’s overall control ofthe project, while allowing contractors to retain ownership and controlof their own information.”

AML plans to use application programming interfaces to integrate theAconex platform with its internal document management, schedulingand costing systems, so that project-related data can be transferredbetween them as required.

Aconex general manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA)Herve Hamelin said, “Pepel35 is an important project win in the globalmining sector for us. The deal expands our presence in the Africanmarket. We look forward to supporting AML’s success as mineproduction increases and its supply chain grows.”

MICROSOFT NIGERIA BROUGHT technology tocapital market operators at the X-Gen Expo,which was organised by the Nigeria StockExchange (NSE).

X-Gen is a new electronic trading platformthat will allow stockbrokers and otherstakeholders access the market anywhere,anytime. The expo provided an avenue formarket shareholders and solution providersto discuss the functionalities and usage ofthe X-Gen.

On display at the Microsoft exhibition standalso was the Microsoft Office 365, a cloudservice which requires no hardware investment.

The meet also provided market operators theopportunity to learn more about the potentialbusiness impact of Office 365 and explore itspower and functionality during a hands-ondemo by officials of Ha-shem Network ServicesLimited, a Certified Microsoft Gold Partner.

The Microsoft Office 365 has the potentialto fuel business and economic transformationby delivering cost-effective, flexible access toenterprise-class IT and also provides theproductivity backbone for modern businesses.

Office 365 also brings together MicrosoftOffice, Microsoft SharePoint Online, MicrosoftExchange Online and Microsoft Lync Online inan always-up-to-date service, at affordablecost. These tools put email, voicemail,enterprise social networking, instant

messaging, Web portals, extranets, videoconferencing, web conferencing and more ateveryone’s fingertips.

NSE chief executive officer Oscar Onyemadescribed the X-Gen Expo as the first of its kindsince inception of the NSE in 1960 and said, “X-Gen symbolises NSE’s untiring commitment todelivering a first rate technology platform thatwill enable our members build and grow theirbusinesses, and the investing communityexperience a more efficient market when theybuy and sell securities.”

Speaking on new trading possibilities for

the Nigerian capital market, NSE executivedirector, market operations and technologyAde Bajomo noted that the new trading modelswill support algorithm trading, customer drivenelectronic trading, direct market access andhigh frequency trading, amongst others.

Bajomo said, “The system when introducedis expected to improve transparency, marketaccess, audit trail and provide efficient pricediscovery in the market, thereby enablinginvestors to realise their investment objectivesby using products currently offered at theExchange in more meaningful ways.”

Microsoft’s new generation businesstools guarantee efficiency and

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EQUIPMENT


SATELLITE AFRICA DISHSKYVISIONhas finished installing a satellitenetwork solution for the NationalUnion of Savings and CreditCooperatives.

SkyVision has announced that ithas completed the installation of aprivate satellite network solutionfor the National Union of Savingsand Credit Cooperatives(UNACOOPEC-CI) in Côte d'Ivoire.

SkyVision said that UNACOOPEC,which specialises in microfinance,banking, and insurance, requires avery secure and efficientcommunications network.

SkyVision, provider of IPconnectivity over satellite and fiberoptic systems, has designed a newsolution which provides a securedand managed satellite-basedprivate network that connects all97 UNACOOPEC-CI branchesthroughout Côte d'Ivoire.

SkyVision CEO Doron Ben Sirasaid, “We regard this deploymentas an integral part of SkyVision’scontinuing expansion in providingunique solutions for a broad rangeof customers.

“SkyVision truly valuesUNACOOPEC-CI’s business,professionalism and commitmentand is pleased to be able to meettheir precise needs.”

According to SkyVision CEO, theproject involved network design, fullHQ hub and teleport facilitiesinstallation, remote sites installationand commissioning, training andcustomer network management.

Sira added, “UNACOOPEC, nowhas a fully supported voice anddata communications, throughoutthe country.”

TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS PROVIDERS Cobham has been named the VolvoOcean Race’s broadcast equipment partner for 2014-15.

The company will provide its technical infrastructure to enhance theviewing experience at the race villages along the route. The participants willcover the longest route ever selected for the event with the 12h edition ofthe race starting in Spain’s Alicante and visiting Recife, Abu Dhabi, Sanya,Auckland, Itajai, Newport, Rhode Island, Lisbon, Lorient and Gothenburg.

Cobham’s technology will use Internet Protocol platforms to providebroadcast-quality high definition content through wireless transmissionand available Internet access points globally.

For the broadcaster, this will reduce transmission costs, enable realtime distribution to a global audience and allow more flexible broadcastproduction.

Cobham vice president oftactical communications andsurveillance David Ashtonsaid, “The opportunity to beinvolved in the live broadcastof the Volvo Ocean Race,arguably the world’s toughestsporting event, is incrediblyexciting.

“Our engineers are lookingforward to working with the Volvo Ocean Race to deploy a flexible,innovative solution that will perform in the most challengingenvironments.”

EBONYLIFE TV HAS chosen a complete broadcast systemfrom PlayBox Technology for a new channeltransmitting in high definition by direct satellite tosubscribers in sub-Saharan Africa. The installationincludes ingest, storage, content management, channelbranding and playout automation using PlayBoxTechnology’s flagship AirBox and TitleBox servers.EbonyLife TV is based at Studio Tinapa, Nigeria’s ultra-modern ‘Nollywood’ movie production centre at Calabarin Cross River State.EbonyLife TV founder and seasoned broadcaster MoAbudu said, “We wanted a no-hassle complete automationworkflow from one vendor. PlayBox Technology has anexcellent reputation in Africa and worldwide both for therobustness of its control and playout systems and for theefficient support it provides during initial planning,installation, training and onsite testing. “Our production staff like the system’s fast and logicaluser interface which gives them all the information andcontrol they need to perform each specific task. Ourtechnical management team recognise and appreciatethe system’s reliability. Knowing that it works and is fully-

protected by redundant PlayBox Technology servers, weare able to concentrate on our main objective oforiginating entertaining and informative programmes.”PlayBox Technology managing partner and director, salesDon Ash said, “EbonyLife TV produces a large proportionof its content in house. For that reason, it needed asolution which could capture and pass live video andaudio content as well handle pre-prepared files. Thesystem we have provided is capable of easy expansion ifor when the station introduces additional channels. It wasinstalled over a two week period prior to the channelgoing live at the beginning of July.” PlayBox Technology UK sales director Ben Gunkel said,“The system was assembled in our test centre andconfigured to suit the requirements of EbonyLife beforebeing delivered. Dual high-definition servers drive thechannel output. The media asset management and trafficsystem power the operation before going to air. A PlayBoxTechnology MAM server allows operators to access theirgrowing content library. The traffic system providesadvanced scheduling with forward planning and reportingfor the advertising sales team.”

The PlayBox technology system installation includes ingest, storage,content management, channel branding and playout automation

EbonyLife TV Goes Live with PlayBox TechnologySkyVision installsnew satellite solution

Cobham to aid Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15 broadcast



EQUIPMENT

47www.communicationsafrica.com

INTEL HAS REVEALED plans to tune chips for managingworkloads in Big Data applications.Intel Big Data solutions general manager Ron Kasabian saidthat the software has become an important building blockin chip design and customisation will help applicationsgather, manage and analyse data a lot quicker.Through hardware and software improvements, thecompany will try to figure out how its chips can performbetter in areas like predictive analytics, cloud datacollection and specific task processing.

The company has already released its own distribution ofHadoop, a scalable computing environment that deals withlarge data sets and now chip improvements are on tap.Kasabian said Intel will be starting with the software. He said,“It takes a while to get silicon to market. We understand

where we can optimise for silicon, and there are certainthings to improve for performance and optimisation.The company is taking lessons from softwareimplementations and then looking to enhance the silicon tofill any software gap, Kasabian said, adding that the chip-design process takes about two years.Server makers have been customising serversspecifically to carry out Big Data workloads, andimprovements at the chip and instruction-set level couldspeed up task execution.Different industries have different implementations of BigData, Kasabian said. For example, a Big Data problem ingenomics could differ from one in telecommunications.Intel is also entering the space of the Internet of things,an emerging field in which networked devices withembedded processors and sensors are used as data-gathering instruments. Outside of the silicon, Intel is focusing on providing theright software tools for data centres. Hadoop was thestarting point, and now Intel will be looking closely atanalytics, Kasabian said.Attaching Intel’s name to Hadoop will “kind of ease the mindof folks in enterprises,” Kasabian said, adding thatimplementation of the platform in data centres will be easier.A lot of research is also taking place at Intel labs on streamprocessing and graph analytics as the company designschips and tweaks software.“We’re looking at all the big industry categories,” Kasabian said.

Intel’s customised chips for Big Data applications

LOGITECH HAS LAUNCHED a newwireless all-in-one keyboard going bythe moniker TK820. The LogitechPerfectStroke key system design hasbeen employed in the device.

The sleek wireless all-in-onekeyboard TK820 is greyish in colourhighlighted by blue.

Apart from its wireless construct,the large touchpad affixed to the rightside is another talking point of theTK820.

By downloading the SetPointsoftware, users can take advantage of the Windows 8 multi-touch gesturesnumbering up to 13. Support for point,zoom and swipe functions have alsobeen enabled on the keyboard,amongst others.

A unifying receiver which works on2.4GHz connectivity can the hook thedevice to PCs. However, the device isbeing considered not so suitable forgaming although the wirelesstechnology used in this Logitechcreation holds up well againstinterferences.

Logitech’s TK820 Wireless keyboard

S11 CAF 6 2013 Equipment D_Layout 1 16/10/2013 17:07


EQUIPMENT


THE MOZAMBICAN GOVERNMENT has revealed plans to install a radiotelescope at the Maluane science and technology park in Manhicadistrict, about 90km north of Maputo.

The installation of the radio telescope, budgeted at aboutUS$336,000, was announced in early August by the minister of scienceand technology Louis Pelembe.

Pelembe explained that currently the land where the telescope will beerected was being prepared. “Because of the size of the telescope, the spacewhere the foundations will be laid must be properly prepared”, he said.

A joint statement issued by the Mozambican and South Africandelegations said that the Maluana Radio Telescope Project will provide“benefits towards a knowledge economy”.

It would “give impetus to the economy of Mozambique in future” andwould become “a training tool to ensure Mozambique's involvement inthe Square Kilometre Array (SKA)”

The SKA will be the world’s largest radio telescope, although, to bemore precise, it will not be a single installation, but a series ofthousands of radio receptors located in southern Africa and inAustralia.

By increasing the collecting area of a radio telescope its sensitivity isalso increased, allowing it to pick up weaker signals from far away galaxiesthat smaller radios will miss.

The African part of the SKA is centred on the Karoo desert in SouthAfrica, but will extend into seven other countries, includingMozambique. The first precursor telescope of the SKA began operatingon 9 July 2013 in Australia.

AN INDIGENOUS ADVANCEDweather satellite, Insat-3D, withnewly-developed equipment tostudy the atmosphere waslaunched recently from theEuropean spaceport of Kourou inFrench Guyana.

An Indian Space ResearchOrganisation (Isro) official saidthat the new equipment, knownas atmospheric sounder, will bethe first geostationary soundersystem over the Indian Ocean. Asounder is a scanner whichstudies the atmosphere.

With a mission life exceedingseven years, Insat-3D will have alift off mass of 2,060kg and will beequipped with an improved

imaging system, a satellite-aidedsearch and rescue payload and adata relay transponder.

Insat 3D will be carried byArianespace’s Ariane 5 rocketalong with another foreign

satellite, marking the 70th flightof the rocket.

The Isro official noted that theflight of Insat-3D will be followedby the launch of the GeoSynchronous Satellite LaunchVehicle (GSLV) with anindigenous cryogenic engine, inthe middle of August.

This flight is crucial becausetwo missions of the GSLV hadfailed in 2010, one in April with thefirst indigenous cryogenic engine,and the other in December with aRussian engine.

Towards the end of August,multi-band communicationsatellite GSat-7 will be launched byAriane 5 from Kourou.

BOTSWANA’S NEW COMMUNICATIONS regulator has issued a communiqué advisingthe country’s companies and citizens to seek approval for the use of variouscommunications equipment.Established at the beginning of April 2013, the Botswana CommunicationsRegulatory Authority (BOCRA) has kicked off massive enforcement of regulationsin the country’s communications sector.BOCRA spokesperson Aaron Nyelesi said type approval of equipment is intendedto ensure that all communication equipment used on the country’s networks areelectrically safe, electromagnetically compatible and capable of internetworkingwith other equipment without causing interference.Nyelesi said the development is in line with the Communications RegulatoryAuthority Act of 2012.“The Act prohibits the use of any equipment which has not been type approvedby BOCRA,” said Nyelesi.The call to seek endorsement could affect radio communication equipment andtelecommunication equipment such as radar systems, two way radios, satellitecommunication equipment and radio transmitter equipment.In addition, it also includes all types of telephone sets including cordless,facsimile, GSM station equipment, handsets and all types of modems.The authority further specifies that all necessary auxiliary test equipment, thesetting up instructions of the equipment and other product information shouldbe type approved as well.BOCRA monitors telecommunications, internet and information andcommunications technologies (ICTs), commercial radio and televisioncommunications broadcasting, postal services and other related matters.

Botswana to soon have approval standards forcommunications equipment

Mozambique to install radio telescope at Maluane

Advanced weather satellite Insat-3D launched

Insat-3D will be equipped with an improved imaging system

HUAWEI HAS UNVEILED its Ascend P6 smartphone,one of the world’s slimmest smartphonesmeasuring a mere 6.18mm.The Ascend P6 smartphone features a 1.5GHz quad-core processor and a sleek metallic body. It isequipped with a 4.7-inch high definition in-celldisplay, industry-leading 5MP front-facing camera,and outstanding software.Huawei Device eastern and southern Africa regionmanaging director Peter Hu said, “Huawei’sreputation for technology is as a result of over 20

years experience in the ICT sector. Oursmartphones are reasonable in price, yet offer thelatest technology and high quality performance.” As the flagship smartphone of the Huawei Ascend Pseries, the Ascend P6 embodies a cutting edgedesign for the fashion conscious. The smartphonehas a metallic brush and naturally curved base.The Ascend P6’s 5MP front-facing camera and autofacial-enhancing capabilities of the phone can helpgenerate glamorous shots. Its 8MP rear-facing BSIcamera with F2.0 aperture and 4cm macro view

also enables 1080P full HD video recording andplayback. The phone’s IMAGESmart software canturn even the most novice photographer into aprofessional, with contrast and colourenhancement, auto scene recognition, and objecttracing focus.The Ascend P6 is also equipped with Huawei’sEmotion UI. Inspired by people, for device usersworldwide, Huawei has gathered input from morethan five million consumers to help us optimise thelatest version of Emotion UI.

Huawei launches Ascend P6 in South Africa


The FG Wilson dealer will aid MTN Nigeria to modernise mobilecommunication in the West African country

JMG wins telecommunications contract in Nigeria

EQUIPMENT FG Wilson

JMG, AN OFFICIAL FG Wilson dealer inNigeria and one of FG Wilson’sworldwide network of 370 dealers,has been appointed by the largest

mobile operator in West Africa to helppower a US$9.6mn modernisation ofNigeria’s mobile communicationsnetwork.

The project will see JMG deliver powersolutions for MTN Nigeria’s networkupgrade. With nearly 50 years’ experienceof delivering world-class power solutionsthroughout Africa, JMG has been apartner of FG Wilson for 15 years.

The telecoms giant offers mobile networkservices and business solutions to morethan 45mn subscribers and currentlyprovides network coverage to almost 90per cent of Nigeria’s land mass.

The power solution to be delivered forMTN by JMG will involve the installationof 12 high-capacity FG Wilson generatorsets at MTN switch locations in Asaba,Lagos, Kano and Ibadan. The installationis expected to provide Nigeria with

enhanced network coverage to meet thepopulation’s increasing mobilecommunications capacity requirements.

The initial three-month installationproject will encompass the supply andinstallation of six 2,000 kVA, three 1,500kVA and three 1,250 kVA generator sets.JMG will also be supplying high voltageinstallations in order to conclude theproject, company sources said.

Mazen Jubaili, JMG’s managing director,said, “We have a proven pedigree ofdelivering world-class power solutions forsome of the most significant projects inNigeria and it is a strong endorsement ofour work that MTN Communications hasentrusted us with this contract. We lookforward to commencing work on theproject and bringing our renownedtechnical expertise to bear in overcomingany challenges presented.

“By working with FG Wilson to ensure thegenerator sets are delivered on time, weare confident the mobile communicationspower infrastructure upgrade will be

successfully concluded to specificationand on schedule to meet the urgentdemand for increased mobile networkservices and quality of service inNigeria.”

Lynda Saint-Nwafor, chief technicalofficer of MTN Nigeria, added that JMGwas ideally positioned to deliver thepower infrastructure upgrade to meettheir expectations.

“Building on our existing relationshipwith JMG, this project will enable MTN tofurther enhance our reputation forproviding a world-class cellular networkacross Nigeria.” ✆

“Building on our existingrelationship with JMG, thisproject will enable MTN tofurther enhance ourreputation for providing aworld-class cellularnetwork across Nigeria.”



S12 CAF 6 2013 Equipment F_Layout 1 16/10/2013 17:08


EQUIPMENT

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Company .................................................................................... pageAmos Spacecom ................................................................................7Anritsu A/S ......................................................................................43ArabSat ............................................................................................10Asia Broadcast Satellite ..................................................................13Ceragon Networks Ltd ....................................................................47Comviva Technologies Ltd. ..............................................................23Dolphin Telecoms ............................................................................17Eaton Industries GmbH......................................................................9Eutelsat ............................................................................................21F G Wilson Engineering Ltd. ..............................................................5Gazprom Space Systems, JSC..........................................................51GL Communications ........................................................................15Intelsat..............................................................................................27Interactive Intelligence ....................................................................14Kirloskar Oil Engines Ltd. ................................................................54Liquid Telecommunications Ltd. ......................................................19MEASAT Satellite Systems ..............................................................41PCCW Global Ltd ..............................................................................45Rohde and Schwarz International Operations GmbH ....................31RSCC (Russian Satellite Communications Company) ....................37Safran Morpho ................................................................................29SatADSL............................................................................................33Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. ................................Cover wrapSky Vision Global Networks ..............................................................2Telecom Italia Sparkle S.p.A. ..........................................................53THAICOM Public Company Ltd. ......................................................49WIOCC ..............................................................................................25

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ALCATEL-LUCENT ET QUALCOMM Technologiesont annoncé leur projet de collaboration pourdévelopper des stations de base small cells(petites cellules) qui amélioreront la qualité deconnexion des réseaux 3G, 4G et Wi-Fi dans desenvironnements résidentiels et professionnels.Ces petites cellules de nouvelle générationdevraient allier le savoir-faire et la capacitéd’innovation d’Alcatel-Lucent dans le domainedes solutions de petites cellules auxtechnologies de réseau et detélécommunications mobiles de pointe deQualcomm Technologies pour mettre en œuvredes communications très haut débit mobile.

Ce projet de collaboration réunit deux leadersdu marché des communications mobiles dans lecadre du développement de petites cellules quiamélioreront la réception des réseaux cellulairesdans des zones telles que les espaces urbainsdenses, les centres commerciaux ou d’autreslieux d’activités professionnelles.

Compte tenu de la popularité croissante dessmartphones, tablettes et autres terminauxmobiles permettant d’accéder à des vidéos etdes jeux consommateurs de bande passante,les opérateurs de réseau mobile et lesfournisseurs de services se tournent vers les

petites cellules pour faire face, à moindre coût, àla forte croissance de la demande en capacité detransmission de données mobile et encouverture réseau. En travaillant de concert,Alcatel-Lucent et Qualcomm Technologiesentendent accélérer l’adoption des petitescellules sur le marché et atténuer l’impact dutrafic de données sur les réseaux mobiles.

Pour faciliter cette accélération, les deuxsociétés devraient investir conjointement dansun programme stratégique de R& D pourdévelopper la nouvelle génération de petitescellules lightRadio d’Alcatel-Lucent qui inclurontla famille des processeurs petites cellulesFSM9900de Qualcomm Technologies.L'investissement devrait être partagé entreAlcatel-Lucent et Qualcomm Technologies.

Commentant cette collaboration, MichelCombes, directeur général d’Alcatel-Lucent, adéclaré : « Cette initiative est une parfaiteillustration du Plan Shift que nous avonsannoncé le mois dernier, et qui va permettre àAlcatel-Lucent de centrer son activité sur destechnologies en croissance telles cellesfacilitant l’accès très haut débit. Nous avonségalement déclaré que nous rechercherionsactivement des partenariats avec des acteursclés du marché.

« En collaborant avec QualcommTechnologies, un leader mondial des solutionsavancées de plateformes mobiles comme lesprocesseurs petites cellules, Alcatel-Lucentcontinuera de se positionner à la pointe del’innovation sur le marché des petites cellules. »

Et Paul E Jacobs, président et directeurgénéral de Qualcomm Incorporated, d’ajouter : «Les petites cellules permettent d’augmenterfortement la capacité réseau au plus près del’utilisateur ; elles peuvent non seulementpréparer les opérateurs à un trafic de donnéesmobile qui, selon les prévisions, sera multipliépar 1000, mais également améliorerconsidérablement l’expérience des abonnésmobiles. »

Les petites cellules de nouvelle générationdevraient allier le savoir-faire et la capacitéd’innovation d’Alcatel-Lucent

Alcatel-Lucent, Qualcomm Technologies, et des petites cellules de nouvelle génération


communications africa 6 2013

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integrated solutions

combined ehensive

goveroad portfolio of

broad portfolio of services

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communications africa

telco market requirements

small cells