Nigerian Railways speaks on connectivity issues ahead of Nigeria Com

Connectivity across the public sector can have systemic impacts to how a city or country operates.  For a better understanding of the challenges at state level we discussed with Fredrick Onasanya, who is Assistant Director at the Nigeria Railway Corporation.  

Nigeria Com: How is your company positioned in Nigeria and what are its future objectives?


Fredrick Onasanya: Nigerian Railway Corporation is positioned in the Transport sector.

The objectives of NRC is to be the best in carrying passengers and goods at an affordable price through a well seasoned,trained experience staff with modern tools/equipment

Nigeria Com:  What do you think are the top 3 major trends that are affecting your business in the region in 2014?

Fredrick Onasanya:  (.a)The policy that established .Nigerian Railway Corporation does not give room for individuals to operate Railroad transportation
(b)Government is not releasing sufficient funds to finance railway compared to her counterpart in other countries

(c) Inadequacy of locomotive and rolling stock

Nigeria Com:  What are the remaining challenges in terms of connectivity and quality of services in the region and which technologies are most likely to resolve these issues?

Fredrick Onasanya:  Lack of rural connectivity

Challenges( a) .deficiency of energy supply (b)Lack of' Last mile' infrastructure (c) Extravagant cost of Internet connectivity (d) High cost of Bandwidth

Nigeria Com:  How are smartphones/tablets and cloud services impacting mobile/internet service providers in Nigeria?

Fredrick Onasanya:  APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY: WIMAX, VSAT, Cellular Telephone Network

Nigeria Com:  In your opinion, which companies are spearheading innovation in the region and what can be learnt from them?

Fredrick Onasanya:  The best GSM telecommunication company is Durban Communication Networks ltd Abuja

The best bank is Zenith bank.

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Anthony Masunga discusses popular services, main operator challenges and money services, ahead of VAS Africa this June

Anthony Masunga, COO

Botswana Telecom

VAS Africa speaks with Anthony Masunga ahead of VAS Africa this June

VAS Africa: Please describe your company’s position and objectives in Africa

Anthony Masunga: My company (Botswana Telecommunications Corporation including beMOBILE) is evolving from single lines of business (Mobile, Fixed, Internet) into a converged operator. These changes were introduced in 2013 through organisational restructuring and will be supported by massive investment in technology to support the strategy of fixed mobile convergence. In addition to that, changes at shareholding level will involve partial privatisation of the whole company which would see the Government of Botswana listing 49% of the shares in the local Botswana Stock Exchange.

VAS Africa:  What do you think are the top 3 major trends affecting your business in the region in 2014?

Anthony Masunga: Consumer Demand: Access to Affordable, high quality internet

Capex for Fixed Access Network: Investment in the access network to improve wireline broadband connectivity vs returns

Capex for High Speed Mobile broadband (LTE and 3G): Investments in the mobile networks to improve mobile broadband experience vs. returns

VAS Africa:  Which do you consider to be the most popular services for African consumers and enterprises?

Anthony Masunga: Mobile money transfer for the consumers

VAS Africa: What are the main challenges operators need to adapt to in order to deliver attractive services to their customers?

Anthony Masunga: Truly identifying the needs of the customers (African markets differ from country to country and no single solution is fit-for-all markets)

VAS Africa:  What is the best way forward for operators and OTT players – competition or partnership?

Anthony Masunga: Partnership (Lowers opex for operators and improves time-to-market).

VAS Africa:  How are mobile money services likely to evolve in the years to come?

Anthony Masunga: More public utility companies will embrace the technology and it will be used for purchase of water, power, TV subscription and social payments.

VAS Africa:  How do you see mobile fitting into marketing and advertising campaigns?

Anthony Masunga: It will just be a cheaper and more direct form of marketing and advertising campaigns provided issues of SPAM are addressed

VAS Africa: Which companies are showing most innovation in the region and what can be learnt from them?

Anthony Masunga: First National Bank in partnership with different Mobile Networks for money transfer and payment services (e-wallet, m-wallet and payments)

See Anthony Masunga speak on the 24th June at 12:40!