June 2021 – KigaliTech

Nokia unlocks unlicensed private wireless networks with the world’s first MulteFire solution

Recently Nokia mentioned that CBRS in the US leads the world on vertical spectrum and that Nokia is addressing this opportunity with some key partnerships and innovations. Nokia is now unlocking the global unlicensed spectrum with the industry first MulteFire 4.9G/LTE private wireless network solution. This solution features the industry’s first certified MulteFire device: the Nokia Industrial MulteFire router 700.

The availability of licensed spectrum is often seen as a barrier to the deployment of new private wireless networks. While the situation has improved in quite a few countries, it is not yet ideal for all markets. When it comes to unlicensed spectrum, some countries allow the use of LTE-U on the unlicensed 5.8 GHz bands, which are traditionally used by Wi-Fi or wireless backhaul. But these bands are mainly used for static point-to-point applications and mobility is not allowed.

MulteFire now makes it possible to quickly set up and tear down a private LTE/4G network anywhere that Wi-Fi is allowed in 5.x GHz spectrum without worrying about spectrum availability, site footprint and boundaries, regulatory consent or licensing costs. It is a new very important option for small and medium-sized enterprise (SMEs), and we hope it will help take private wireless to the mass market.

Communication service providers (CSPs) should also rejoice because MulteFire gives them a tool to tap into the SME market and offers private wireless more easily in countries where they don’t own any spectrum. Value-added resellers and distributors will also find MulteFire private wireless networks to be an ideal fit for their high-volume models.

One of the cherries on the cake with MulteFire is the potential to add capacity to existing licensed networks by deploying a few extra MulteFire access points. These access points can use the existing core network and operations and maintenance (O&M) functions.

Finally, MulteFire opens-up many new segments that lack access to licensed spectrum for some of their use cases. For example, MulteFire could be used to build temporary networks for events, construction sites, broadcasting, public safety operations, defense sites or field operations.

The Nokia Industrial MulteFire router 700 can break free from deployment and regulatory constraints to reliably connect a broad and growing range of IoT and digital assets in areas such as:

Communications, including LAN, business- and mission-critical communications, Industrial Ethernet and Machine Type Communication (MTC)
Visual intelligence, including video surveillance, image recognition and video analytics
Asset insights, including tracking, predictive diagnostics and supply chain management
Cloud automation, including automated guided robots (AGRs) and vehicles (AGVs) and remote machine control

By opening the world, new uses and making private wireless easier for SME, MulteFire further enhances Nokia Digital Automation Cloud (DAC) plug & play and easy-of-use capabilities. The solution can be delivered using an as-a-service package approach with a quick set-up service and includes a catalog of applications.

With such announcement, Nokia opens-up the field of the unlicensed spectrum to drive growing MulteFire ecosytem and pave the way for the future 5G NR-U market and use cases.

SoftBank, Smart Africa collaborate to provide affordable broadband solutions, enhance digital transformation in Africa

Japan’s SoftBank and Smart Africa entered a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), to collaborate on innovative solutions towards achieving the vision of providing affordable broadband. Through this partnership, SoftBank and Smart Africa will work to bridge the digital divide by providing accessible and affordable internet connectivity to Africa’s underserved regions.

Through various projects and activities, Smart Africa has an ambitious strategy to double broadband penetration to 51% in Africa by 2025. As part of achieving this vision, Smart Africa is working to implement the Bulk Capacity Purchase Project, an initiative that aims to deliver affordable internet connectivity for African citizens through the large-scale joint procurement efforts of Smart Africa member countries. To contribute to the Project, SoftBank will deploy its Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) Solutions to reduce internet costs and build affordable internet infrastructure. SoftBank also became a Smart Africa Gold Member in October 2020.

SoftBank’s NTN Solutions will utilize the connectivity services of OneWeb, Skylo, and HAPSMobile, among other solutions, that provide connectivity from space and the stratosphere. SoftBank aims to deploy NTN Solutions in African markets by collaborating with Smart Africa and working closely with its member countries.

SoftBank and Smart Africa will begin their collaboration by identifying demand for NTN solutions and conducting further feasibility studies in the five African countries that have already expressed interest in the Bulk Capacity Purchase Project (the Republic of Djibouti, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Republic of Kenya, the Kingdom of Morocco, and the Republic of Rwanda). SoftBank and Smart Africa will also draw up implementation plans and consider potential market entries in the future.

The partnership, with a vision to expand the area of work from internet infrastructure into digital transformation (DX), will boost the transition and development of a knowledge-based social economy in Africa. The collaboration will also align with the fundamentals of Smart Africa’s goal, which is the realization of a single digital market on the continent through Information and Communication Technology (ICT). To bridge the digital divide, SoftBank and Smart Africa will also study ways to collaborate and engage with organizations such as the HAPS Alliance, which seeks to promote the commercial adoption of HAPS, among others. Further, through a series of engagements in the coming future, this partnership will also consequently work to contribute to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by providing digital solutions that address societal challenges.

“The vision of transforming Africa into a single digital market requires us to embrace partnerships. Therefore we are honoured to welcome SoftBank Corp. into the Smart Africa Alliance. Together, we will be able to inject further innovation into Africa’s digital innovation as we move towards creating a Single Digital Market by 2030,” said Lacina Koné, Smart Africa’s CEO.

Contributing to the SDGs is a top managerial priority for SoftBank, and the company has identified six key initiatives (materiality) to achieve them. “Building high-quality social communication networks” is one such initiative, and SoftBank is working to build sustainable communication infrastructure so people anywhere can connect to stable and trustworthy networks.

“We believe our NTN solutions will be extremely effective technologies to provide connectivity to African countries and regions that lack sufficient Internet access. With our NTN solutions powered by OneWeb, Skylo and HAPSMobile, we’ll work closely with Smart Africa to provide telecommunication networks,” said Hidebumi Kitahara, SoftBank Corp. Vice President and Head of the Technology Unit’s Global Business Strategy Division.

www.smartafrica.org

www.softbank.jp

Google Cloud and Ericsson partner to deliver 5G and Edge cloud Solutions

Google Cloud and Ericsson announced a partnership to jointly develop 5G and edge cloud solutions to help communications service providers (CSPs) digitally transform and to unlock new enterprise and consumer use cases.

Globally, industries with edge presences – including communication service providers, retailers, manufacturers, transport businesses, healthcare and media/entertainment providers – face pressures to build more digitized businesses and new digital experiences for their customers.

To help businesses address this shift, Google Cloud and Ericsson are working together to develop new solutions at Ericsson’s Silicon Valley D-15 Labs, a state-of-the-art innovation center where advanced solutions and technologies can be developed and tested on a live, multi-layers 5G platform.

Ericsson and Google Cloud have already completed functional onboarding of Ericsson 5G on Anthos to enable telco edge and on-premise use cases for CSPs and enterprises.

As part of the partnership, Google Cloud and Ericsson are also piloting enterprise applications at the edge on a live network with TIM. The project, which will automate the functions of TIM’s core 5G network and cloud-based applications, will use TIM’s Telco Cloud infrastructure, Google Cloud solutions and Ericsson’s 5G core network and orchestration technologies.

The joint offerings will help enterprises in the automotive, transportation, manufacturing and other sectors improve efficiencies and lower latency by bringing connectivity close to companies’ physical locations.

Thomas Kurian, CEO, Google Cloud, says: “Organizations have a tremendous opportunity to digitally transform their businesses with 5G and cloud capabilities like artificial intelligence and machine learning at the edge. We are proud to partner with Ericsson to help build a foundation for communications service providers and enterprises alike to take advantage of cloud technology and cloud-native services, from telecom network core to the edge and enterprise premises.”

Niklas Heuveldop, President and Head of Ericsson North America, says: “5G is a powerful innovation platform. Combined with edge cloud capabilities, 5G has the potential to accelerate the digital transformation of virtually any sector of industry or society. We are excited about our partnership with Google Cloud as we engage with our customers to leverage our combined capabilities to solve real-world business challenges for the benefit of consumers, enterprises and society at large.”

Ericsson and Google previously formed a services partnership to enable the digital transformation of operator networks and application migration through cloud-native, container-based solutions.

www.ericsson.com

[Africa Cloud Review] Simon Ngunjiri: Cloud is empowering African businesses with the certainty of a quicker time-to-value

The speed with which Africa’s business sector has changed over the past year has been nothing short of astonishing. Business leaders across the continent have had their hands full, from enabling remote work on a previously unprecedented scale to adapting to disruptions in the global supply chain, enabling e-learning for millions of youth – not to mention ensuring business continuity in the midst of a once-in-a-generation crisis.

At the foundation of this change is cloud, which gives organisations the ability to simplify and scale their systems landscape without sacrificing performance.

Cloud, according to Pedro Guerreiro is the Managing Director Central Africa at SAP Africa, empowers businesses with the certainty of a quicker time-to-value, without the upfront capital outlays required of on-premise deployments.

With cloud-enabled intelligent enterprise capabilities, organisations can achieve the speed needed to stay ahead of competitors and other disruptors while maintaining the certainty of measured, data-driven decision-making.

In Africa, cloud adoption has reached new heights, driven in part by the pandemic. Increase in cloud computing has also created an increased demand for cloud-related skills and we are currently in a cycle where the global demand for cloud skills outstrips the supply.

Just last week, The African Telecommunications Union (ATU), a specialized agency of the African Union (AU) and China’s technology firm, Huawei signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to boost capacity for ICT transformation in the continent which includes providing cloud solutions. AAR Insurance also inked a deal with telecommunications provider Safaricom to migrate to the cloud. In South Africa, Vox, a market-leading end-to-end integrated ICT and infrastructure provider and telecoms company selected Minim Cloud Software to Deliver Its Next-Gen Home WiFi Experience.

Still, in South Africa, HPE announced that it has brought a new multi-cloud Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) data centre solution to the South African market. This powerful multi-cloud data centre model is all about leveraging the cloud to define the customer experience, while underpinned by HPE’s GreenLake platform.

This plus other cloud news updates from across Africa shows how IT leaders are going all-in on cloud.

Incentro Africa, a cloud service provider which works exclusively with Google Cloud, most African businesses are moving to the cloud because it is more secure, scalable, and more affordable. Large enterprises unburden their IT department from maintaining infrastructure and enable them to contribute to business goals. For startups, it’s a cheap and convenient way to get started and use amazing technology that is only available on the Cloud.

Simon Ngunjiri Muraya is Google Cloud Architect at Incentro Africa.

RDB partners with Tek Experts to recruit and upskill 1000 technical support engineers

The Government of Rwanda, through the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), has partnered with Tek Experts, a global provider of deep technical IT support services and professional services, to set up a technology support center in Rwanda.

The partnership with Tek Experts will support Rwanda’s goal of talent development in the ICT sector as the company will recruit and upskill professionals at scale. Tek Experts has a target to employ 1,000 technical support engineers and management staff at the new Kigali center. From this location, Tek Experts’ team of engineers will provide technical support services internationally to customers of some of the world’s largest technology brands.

The government will support Tek Experts to widen access to technical jobs for existing talent that require additional skills gap training to align with world-class standards. In combination, this collaboration will develop the country’s IT ecosystem by adding a new segment to its IT offerings. This new segment will focus as much on deep technical skills as it will on excellent customer experience.

Commenting on the partnership, Chief Executive Officer, the Rwanda Development Board, Clare Akamanzi said: “Global outsourcing, and in particular, IT enabled services is a key sector for Rwanda’s economic transformation. While still a nascent sector in Rwanda, it holds significant potential for the creation of decent jobs and service export revenue. It is a constantly evolving, multi-billion-dollar industry. Developing the sector to its full potential in Rwanda is a key priority to RDB and receives the necessary government support and attention to increase competitiveness, remove barriers and bring in frontier investors, such as Tek Experts.”

Steve Heffron, Tek Experts’ CEO, expressed the company’s enthusiasm for the strategic partnership with the Rwandan government, “Tek Experts is committed to making a meaningful difference in the lives of our employees and the communities where we operate. This agreement with the Rwanda Development Board directly supports that objective. We will continue to invest in Rwanda because of the incredible pool of diverse technical talent and infrastructure which allows us to support the largest tech brands in the world. With the addition of our new office in Kigali, we intend to create up to 1,000 new technology jobs. We will also conduct a mass digital upskilling initiative, in partnership with our sister training company Elev8, to have an even greater impact.”

www.rdb.rw

ATU and AFRINIC collaborate to enhance efficient and secure internet connectivity in Africa

The African Telecommunications Union (ATU) and the African Network Information Centre (AFRINIC) signed an MOU aimed at jointly undertaking research and building the capacity of African Governments and ICT regulators for enhanced broadband development in Africa.

The projects to be implemented under the MOU will contribute to a more secure and efficient internet connectivity for the African countries. Addressing the role of enhanced broadband in the socio-economic development of Africa, ATU Secretary General Mr. John OMO reiterated that the MOU will be of great benefit to the everyday internet user, especially the African youth.

“To the everyday internet user, this MOU has you at heart more than anyone else. To our youthful population in Africa, the resource that we are channelling towards you today is the possibility of a more efficient and secure connectivity,” Mr. OMO said, Secretary General of the African Telecommunications Union (ATU).

Adding to that, Mr. OMO also called on all ICT stakeholders across the continent to be alive to the most basic and fundamental needs that contribute to an easier life for the African people. The key focus of the research and capacity building efforts will be on the Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) migration strategy and policies that are intended to support effective deployment at national level across all African states. IPv6 is the latest version of the IP address standard which represents a numerical Internet Protocol (IP) address that aids devices connected to the Internet to communicate. Its rollout is designed to supplement and eventually replace IPv4 making the case for more efficient and secure connectivity.

“The future of the Internet in Africa remains full of endless opportunity. This collaboration will pave the way for both ATU and AFRINIC to work closer together towards a more reliable, accessible, affordable and resilient Internet to support the Digital Transformation on the continent’’ said AFRINIC Chief Executive Officer Mr. Eddy Kayihura who also spoke during the signing of the MOU.

The partnership between the two organisations comes at a time when the IPv4 is becoming more burdened by the increased number of internet connected devices and emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IOT). The adoption of IPv6 in Africa is therefore vital for reliable and stable connectivity. This, as recognized by the MoU, calls for leveraging the skills and experiences of African Regulators and engineers in its deployment in order to accelerate the development of a resilient digital transformation infrastructure in the continent. The MOU also provides for the development and implementation of tools for Internet performance measurements in Africa which is important in determining whether the internet speed provided is compliant with the speed value indicated in relevant customer’s Service Level Agreement (SLA).

With the world moving online, today more people depend on the internet to conduct various businesses and activities making the development of digital infrastructure in Africa fundamental. This is even as the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063 recognizes ICT as an enabler of delivering socio-economic development in the continent. As such, implementation of the MOU will, in fulfillment of the AU Agenda 2063, go a long way in enhancing broadband availability, uptake and affordability across the continent and is expected to lead to increased access to broadband applications and service including mobile technologies.

www.atuuat.africa

Verizon partners with IBM and Red Hat to deploy its 5G network as an open hybrid cloud platform

IBM and Verizon have a long and successful history of collaboration, built on a shared vision to drive continuous innovation for consumers and businesses in all industries. Therefore IBM is delighted to announce the next major step in their partnership. Verizon has chosen IBM and Red Hat to help build and deploy an open hybrid cloud platform with automated operations and service orchestration as the foundation of its 5G core.

This work with Verizon comes at a critical time for the telco industry as telcos position to deliver on the fundamental transformation potential of 5G. With increased bandwidth, reduced latency and cloud native capabilities, telcos now have the opportunity to leverage their unique and trusted role in communications to capture value from enterprise 5G adoption.

Why is this so crucial right now? Because it’s the kind of platform transformation that enables telcos to play a leading role in bringing connectivity and compute together for the 5G era. And the value that can be driven from this is clear, as 91% of high performing CSPs surveyed by the IBM Institute for Business Value expect to outperform their current financial expectations in five years as a result of using 5G-enabled edge computing. In simple terms, telcos must become platform businesses, or face competing with them.

Think about the rate and pace of innovation we are all experiencing, including heath care – evolving from telehealth doctor visits to network enabled remote surgeries. Or consider factory workers who can now gain access to video and real-time, augmented reality tools to improve quality and yields while they predict maintenance and repair needs before they happen. Or complex modern power grids that can support clean energy and more intelligent, real-time monitoring via 5G-enabled sensors. All of these innovations must be powered by agile network platforms that can support AI and data intensive use cases as low latency edge computing moves closer to where data is created and captured.

Verizon is a great example of a communication services provider that is on the forefront of this transformation, by embracing an open hybrid cloud platform that enables a world-class operations environment, aligned to their next-gen vision of an intelligent, highly automated and efficient 5G network. With this transformation, they can scale and deploy new services across a variety of environments, speeding innovation that delivers new value to customers.

By working with Red Hat and IBM Global Business Services (GBS) to build their 5G core network services on Red Hat OpenShift, Verizon is evolving to an open, cloud-native, containerized webscale platform that is ready to harness innovative applications that can support advanced 5G use cases. This open hybrid cloud foundation is designed to help them draw on the power of the immense up-stream open source community, while retaining the architectural control necessary to speed new features, offerings and services like network slicing and multi-access edge computing to market. And they can retain choice over what cloud (public or private), on-prem or Edge environment is best to deploy these solutions.

IBM Global Business Services, a leading systems integrator in the telco industry, is also integrating Telco Network Cloud solutions into Verizon’s Service Orchestration Platform to automate and manage services much more efficiently. This integration is designed to improve the service quality, predictably and automation of virtual network functions and comply with Open Network Automation Platform interfaces.

Taken together, today’s news is an enormous step forward in how IBM is supporting Verizon’s position as a network-as-a-service leader in 5G. With this approach, Verizon gains more control over how they choose to drive new value for their customers. They have flexibility in how and where they move their data, and what tools and technologies they choose to develop these emerging 5G-enabled business solutions.

We all know change and opportunity go hand in hand, and Verizon has long embraced forward thinking – especially now, when the industry is racing to create and capture new value as the market adopts 5G. As we look towards a future with 5G, IBM and Red Hat are deeply engaged, and working hand in hand with leading telecom operators all over the globe, to co-create and deliver open hybrid cloud platform solutions that will enable them – and the enterprises they serve – to thrive in this next era that combines the power of “connectivity + compute.”

www.ibm.com

Lenovo introduces new Android tablets and Smart clock at MWC

While at home the past year, many have turned to their tablets for streaming, gaming, learning and more screen time. As the lines separating our relaxation time from hours spent working or learning start to blur, Lenovo is helping consumers rediscover their happy place with mobile experiences that make adapting to today’s new hybrid lifestyle much easier.

Introducing smarter devices capable of restoring the balance with strong multi-purpose performance: the new expertly-crafted Lenovo Yoga Tab 13 and its family-friendly sibling, the new Lenovo Yoga Tab 11, the powerful Lenovo Tab P11 Plus Android™ tablet, and the Lenovo Smart Clock 2 that’s optimized to transform your day by simplifying your nightstand.

Treat yourself to the next level of digital me-time with the new premium tablet from Lenovo that’s practically a portable home-cinema, the new Yoga Tab 13. Use its large mobile display to jumpstart new hobbies, perhaps you’ve been wanting to learn to bake: all you need are the right ingredients, and time to watch a couple of how-to videos on a tablet that’s designed to work virtually anywhere – on the kitchen counter, gripped in your hands, or hanging from a pot rack thanks to its new stainless steel kickstand.

Coated in an anti-fingerprint coating, the kickstand doubles as a sturdy hanger and its innovative rolled edge design enables multiple modes and angled positions for truly hands-free viewing, from any room. Prop it on its base in landscape mode and watch shows in the bedroom, hang from a door hook to glance, or just tilt to type, write, and draw with the optional Lenovo Precision Pen 2.2 The tablet’s hands-free offerings extend to smarter log-in via its front 8MP camera for superb video calling with background noise reduction.

The Yoga Tab 13 offers great entertainment features for all-day streaming of up to 12 hours3 in remarkable clarity (1080p). More power-efficient and less reflective than other LCDs, its large 13-inch 2K LTPS (Low Temperature Poly-Silicon) display offers 400 nits of brightness and 100 percent sRGB color gamut. The panel is also powered by Dolby Vision® HDR, which delivers incredible detail along with ultravivid picture quality. Enjoy spectacular audio with quad JBL® speakers including the two built into its innovative soundbar; Lenovo Premium Audio tuning and Dolby Atmos® combine for a more immersive audio experience. Plus, a bottom audio chamber helps achieve up to 450Hz bass performance for a strong audio effect you can feel. Streaming Netflix shows4 never sounded so good!

This tablet doesn’t just run entertainment apps, it can also augment work. Say you want to see more content at once using double screens – you can use it as a super portable secondary display while connected to your laptop via its included micro-HDMI to USB cable.

This tablet comes certified for fast Wi-Fi 6,5 and is supported by the performance efficiency of an octa-core processor, the Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 870 Mobile Platform which delivers powerful graphics and 8GB LPDDR5 of memory – making it more than capable of downloading and running high performance gaming titles in high-resolution, high speed, and low-latency for commanding gameplay that rocks, even from the backyard.

Time certainly flies when kicking back with the family, that’s why we also created the new, more accessible Yoga Tab 11 that can be shared by the whole family. Go with the flow as you move room to room enjoying everyone’s favorite content on a family-friendly tablet that’s certified by TÜV Rheinland® for greater eye protection to help reduce harmful blue light. Simply select the tablet’s Eye Care Mode to automatically adjust white balance and color tone for optimal vision comfort.

Ideal for home entertainment and learning from home with pen support, the Yoga Tab 11 has an optional LTE variant and comes loaded with many of the same entertainment and light productivity features as its sibling above. It’s built on the fast and powerful MediaTek Helio™ G90T octa-core processor with UFS-based memory chip for superior video watching, plus lightning-fast for games, apps and browsing so you accomplish more in less time online. Check out Google Kids Space7, a kids mode that helps children discover, create and grow with a library of quality content (and Family Link parental controls). Channel your inner artist when doodling with the optional Lenovo Precision Pen 2 in tilt mode.2 With an 11-inch 2K IPS TDDI (Touch Display Driver Integration) display and Dolby Vision ultravivid picture quality, this sleek tablet is offered in a soft-touch, high tenacity Storm Grey fabric for extra durability and heat resistance. Its stainless steel kickstand can be adjusted to enable hang mode.

www.lenovo.com

[Africa Cloud Review] Simon Ngunjiri: Cloud adoption has reached new heights

Driven in part by the pandemic, cloud computing adoption across Africa has reached new heights. Globally, Enterprise spending on cloud infrastructure bypassed spending on data center hardware and software for the first time in 2020 according to the latest data from Synergy Research Group.

The data shows that enterprise spending on cloud infrastructure services (IaaS, PaaS, and hosted private cloud combined) grew by 35% to reach almost $130 billion in 2020, while enterprise spending on data center hardware and software dropped by 6% to less than $90 billion over the same period.

In Africa, mass movement to remote work and increasing uptake of digital communications tools has led to increased adoption of cloud. ID had already predicted this rise to happen in 2021 noting that Migration to cloud will help fuel a 2.8% growth in IT spending in the Middle East, Africa and Turkey this year, after a slump due to the pandemic.

This migration has certainly revolutionized the way African enterprises conduct their businesses, offering various benefits such as cost-effective access to computing power, on-demand applications, and services among others. Cloud-based office applications have increasingly become vital components of the African modern workplace.

In 2020, IT spending was hit hard by the pandemic and declined by 4.9% in the META region, according to IDC. The crisis caused by the pandemic, though, appears to have accelerated plans for digital transformation and related projects such as migration to cloud technology.

“The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic fallout has accelerated digital transformation across the region, spurring unprecedented demand for contactless services, cloud solutions, and collaboration applications,” Jyoti Lalchandani, vice president and regional managing director at IDC says.

Spending on public cloud services in the region according to IDC will grow 26.7% to top $3.7 billion. Spending on SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS will grow 24.5%, 30.6%, and 30.7%, respectively, according to the company. In addition, spending on professional cloud services will grow rapidly to total $1.6 billion.

Hybrid cloud has specifically provided enterprises in Africa with a trusted and capable foundation to adapt to changing market needs. Hybrid cloud offers business and IT leaders the chance to meet changing business demands head-on. While continuity and business resilience are fundamental, improving customer experiences and growing revenues still features highly on the list of business objectives.

Simon Ngunjiri Muraya is Google Cloud Architect at Incentro Africa.

MTN to launch OpenRAN in Africa

MTN Group is leveraging our expansive footprint across Africa to test and ultimately deploy OpenRAN – an innovative technology that will enable us to launch new services more quickly, cost-effectively and seamlessly, supporting our strategy, Ambition 2025: Leading digital solutions for Africa’s progress.

We plan to modernise our radio access networks using OpenRAN. This is in line with one of five vital enablers of our strategy: to build technology platforms that are second to none, thereby allowing for the rapid expansion of 4G and 5G population coverage across our markets.

With up-to-date technology, we can expect a reduction in our power consumption and associated carbon emissions. This, in turn, supports our plans to decarbonise our network and achieve net zero emissions by 2040, our Project Zero.

OpenRAN allows for the disaggregation of hardware and software elements of a network, enabling telcos to build a network using components with the same specifications and scale from a diverse base of vendors. A disruptive trend, it is gaining popularity as the industry seeks to promote an open and interoperable ecosystem between various vendors.

We at MTN aim to roll this out by the end of 2021 in collaboration with our partners Altiostar, Mavenir, Parallel Wireless, TechMahindra and Voyage.

As an early adopter, MTN first rolled out open-source technology in 2019 to improve rural coverage. This was in line with our belief that everyone deserves the benefits of a modern connected life. To date, we have deployed over 1 100 commercial sites in more than 11 countries and were among the pioneers of open-source adoption, facilitating cost-effective deployment in unconnected areas.

For all mobile network operators, radio access network (RAN) makes up the bulk of capital and operating costs. By applying OpenRAN, MTN targets further innovation and cost efficiencies.

“At MTN we are alive to the potential of open interfaces. There is a lot of value that dominant players bring to the business, but telecommunications today is as much about the stability of the network as it is about new services,” says MTN Group Chief Technology and Information Officer Charles Molapisi. “Customers measure us against the speed with which we can deploy the latest technology and we are committed to finding faster and better ways to do that.”

The many benefits of OpenRAN include diversifying the vendor landscape, disrupting the cost flow, and removing dependencies on proprietary suppliers. It also promises cost savings and flexibility as it allows operators to use generic hardware and open interfaces. It enables a so-called ‘Lego architecture’ where many different vendors supply the components and software products that together make the end-to-end radio network work. By modernising the network, we reduce our power consumption and emissions in support of our Project Zero.

“While OpenRAN brings a new architecture to mobile networks and more suppliers to deal with, it gives telcos much-needed flexibility,” says Amith Maharaj, MTN Group Executive: Network Planning and Design. “This means that MTN can now look at building a network that can meet cost and capacity requirements of specific markets, or even rapidly deploy 5G and/or 4G seamlessly with existing legacy services. This is a real game-changer for mobile advancement in emerging markets.”

While the technology is still in its early days and widespread adoption is likely years away, MTN has already collaborated with a number of global players to reap the benefits and trigger innovation. In efforts to drive OpenRAN standardisation, we are also participating in Facebook’s Telecom Infra Project.

“Early adoption gives us the ability to improve and deploy appropriate network architecture underpinned by technology, both tried and tested, and disruptive, to ensure we continue to deliver an exceptional experience, and ultimately play our part in harnessing the power of technology to lead digital solutions for Africa’s progress,” concludes Molapisi.

www.mtn.com