Africa mobile leader Alan Knott-Craig to give a keynote speech at AfricaCom 2012

Alan Knott-Craig, new CEO of Cell C is one of the pioneers of Africa’s mobile telecommunications, and recognised as a leading innovator in the region’s business world.

He started his career in telecoms as Director of Telematics in 1989. He then moved to South Africa’s incumbent operator Telkom as Senior General Manager for Mobile Communications in 1992, at the beginning of the development of cellular technology.

He became the first Managing Director of Vodacom Pty as the company launched its mobile operation in 1993 and became Chief Executive Officer of Vodacom (Proprietary) Limited in 1996, a position he kept until 2008. During this time he built the company into a 33 million customer operator in 5 countries across Africa: the home market of South Africa, as well as Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mozambique and Lesotho.

After a 3-year break from the world of telecommunications, during which he was a non-executive director of NedbankLimited, he joined South Africa’s 3^rd operator Cell C as its new CEO in 2012. Since then Cell C has embarked on a radical move to challenge the position of market leaders Vodacom and MTN: cuts in prepaid tariffs, cost-efficiency initiatives and network improvements financed by a $180 million cash injection from its majority shareholder Oger Telecom.

Alan Knott-Craig will give a keynote speech at AfricaCom on Wednesday 14^th November, sharing his vision of how the communications market is transforming.

Social Media Teaches Operators How to Manage Millions of Users Each Day

VAS Africa                    
3-4 July 2012              
Hilton Sandton                   
Johannesburg, SA         
www.comworldseries.com/vasafrica 

The second day of VAS Africa has closed in Johannesburg, South Africa to great acclaim. For the second year in a row the event has provided an important platform for VAS experts

from the telecommunications, media & ICT industry in Africa.  Furthermore, this second annual event was far more extensive than the 2011 event, both in terms of content, and in terms of including more of the 'disruptive' players in the ecosystem. Day 2 in the conference keynotes was all about focusing on this potentially disruptive element, as operator executives spoke alongside social media and OTT gurus.

The day kicked off with Google's speech, delivered by business development expert Bryan Nelson, about how local content & app providers must make their offerings more 'searchable'.  The keynotes then saw a fantastic 'Ecosystem Brainstorm' with leading experts Prins Mhlanga, Managing Exec. of Vodacom's Digital Media, Maxime Cuvellier, business development for Orange Technocentre, Randall Abrahams, MD at Universal Music SS, Ben Zaaiman, CEO of mLab SA and Andrew Herd, Multi-Media Manager at ABN Digital. The audience thoroughly enjoyed the discourse between these different players in  the ecosystem, but what became clear was that operators have a need to take the lead in important matters like billing for content, and that a lot of simplification of such systems still needs to take place.

The conference then moved on to focus in particular on the social media side of things, with illuminating presentations from both Vodacom'ss Prins Mhlanga, and the CEO of popular social networking platform Mxit, Alan Knott-Craig.  The audience then benefitted from a 'Social Media Panel & Tweetathon' with questions for the panel being delivered from the audience via Twitter using #VASAfrica.  The panel really addressed controversial issues challenging providers of social networking platforms, including child protection controls, and general privacy rules. Expert opinions and examples from Alan Knott-Craig, Nic Haralambous, CEO of Motribe, Tshepo Selokela, Tech 'Bunny' at Cell C's Customer Support Office and Bradley Shaw, Tech Editor at Rolling Stones Magazine.  The clear message from the panel was that operators really need to modernise and pick up pace if they want to compete with successful social networking players like Mxit. In fact, Alan Knott-Craig did not hold back in letting the audience know that the traffic on operator's networks in a month is comparable to that on Mxit's platform in a day. The network isn't overwhelmed because the software engineering used by Mxit is far more capable than the systems in use by operators - so there are definitely still lessons to be learned.

The rest of the day was dedicated to the inaugural Mobile Marketing Summit, proudly in partnership with the Mobile Marketing Association SA, with a real focus on issues like; how to reach African consumers through mobile, how to guaranty quality content, using mobile to build relationships with lower-income consumers, examining whether Africa is ready for apps, and leveraging the mobile web in a meaningful way. Simultaneously there were fascinating VAS case studies from mPedigree, Orange Community Phone Project, Dr. Math and the BBC Worldeide Service.

This could not have been achieved without event sponsors Comviva, Spice, Business Connexion, Intersec, Huawei, SSD-TECH, Adaffix & Lumata, without whom the free passes for operators, app developers and other key industry segments would not have been possible. Thank you to our Sponsors!

------------------

See You Next Year!

------------------

Re-Aligned focus for 2013:

Digital Services Africa                    
25-26 June 2013             
Sandton Convention Centre                           
www.comworldseries.com/vasafrica

   

    

Operators need other players in digital services ecosystem to drive traffic on their networks

VAS Africa                  

3-4 July 2012                

Hilton Sandton                 

Johannesburg, SA         

www.comworldseries.com/vasafrica  

**** Join us for Day 2 - Tweet about the show #VASAfrica ****    

Today saw the opening of the second annual VAS Africa Com Conference & Exhibition. At the Hilton Hotel in Sandton, Johannesburg, 600 per-registered delegates congregated at this exciting, industry leading event. This year saw huge expansion of the conference from 2011, including an inaugural APPGIG on the opening day, specifically tailored to independent app developers.  This was of course alongside the usual Strategic Keynotes that delegates expect of Com World Series events, with thought leaders and decision makers from organisations across the ecosystem taking to the stage.

Highlights in Day 1 of the conference included a strategic panel debating how best to drive demand for data services, and ensure that all parties benefit. Panellists included the CCO for broadband and data services from Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, Leon De Fleoriot, Bryan Nelson who manages business development for Google, Jose Henriques, CMO for Unitel Angola, Tim Walter, Executive Head of Marketing at Nashua Mobile and Nicholas Okoye, President & CEO of Anabel Mobile - the device manufacturer.

The main message from this panel highlighted that operators are prioritising services which will drive data growth, but don't necessarily have all the means to succeed on their own. In fact, they very much need other parts of the ecosystem, including OTT players with millions of subscribers, the local content providers, app developers and the device manufacturers. These other players wanted to encourage closer partnerships with operators, and more transparency - it was clear that nobody thought it is quite easy enough yet, so there's more work to do and further partnerships to be formed.

After the keynote, the conference split into focus streams, offering greater choice of content, and even more expert speakers.  Conference Manager, Emily Martyr, commented that "VAS Africa 2012 provided an unrivalled opportunity for learning and networking, thanks to the focus on VAS across disciplines, including the big strategic picture, mobile financial services, enterprise services, and more." The greater choice of topics enabled delegates to meet like-minded peers with similar business challenges and concerns.

These meetings were greatly benefitted by the dedicated networking time provided by the event organisers, including the successful VIP Speed Networking session, and then the more relaxed Evening Networking Drinks - delegates certainly made the most of each and every opportunity to talk and exchange ideas.

All in all Day one was a great success, in no small part thanks to the sponsors Comviva, Spice, Business Connexion, Intersec, Huawei, SSD-TECH, adaffix & Lumata, without whom the free passes for operators, app developers and other key industry segments would not have been possible.

Day 2 holds even more content and networking & learning opportunities. Google will be presenting other opening keynote, followed by an extended discussion on content, apps and social media - with top speakers including Vodacom SA's Managing Executive for Digital Media, Prins Mhlanga, Universal Music South Africa's MD, Randall Abrahams, mLab SA's CEO, Ben Zaaiman, Mxit's CEO, Alan Knott-Craig, to mention just a few.

Day 2 also heralds the flag ship Mobile Marketing Summit, in partnership with the Mobile Marketing Association - it's a chance for delegates to get a better understanding of the opportunities and challenges in the mobile marketing & advertising space, and a forum at which to mingle with large brands leveraging the mobile channel in Africa.

Finally, the Com World Series team, organisers of VAS Africa made the exciting announcement that the 2013 event will be realigned with changing market priorities, and will change from VAS Africa, to be called Digital Services Africa in 2013! This change is reflecting the expansive services now available over mobile and digital channels - no longer do all players recognise the term Value Added Services, but in fact more segments of the ecosystem will be included in this umbrella event name, including cloud, m2m, TV, IPTV & other content broadcasting, and more! It's one not to be missed.

--------------------------------------------------
What are your thoughts on this year's Vas Africa Conference and exhibition?   
--------------------------------------------------
     
Tweet about your experience using #VASAfrica @allaboutcom on twitter!
     
https://twitter.com/allaboutcom
 
--------------------------------------------------
Take a look at the photos from the packed busy conference on Google+
--------------------------------------------------
 
Click here: http://bit.ly/NtIVod
 
-----------------------------------
Big thank you to our 2012 Sponsors:
-----------------------------------

Comviva
Spice
BCX (Business Connexion)
Intersec
SSD-Tech
Huawei
Lumata
Adaffix
 

------------------
Join us for Day 2! 
-----------------

How to get there:
 
Hilton Sandton
 
138 Rivonia Road
Sandton
Johannesburg
South Africa
2196
Tel: +27 011 322 1888
 
http://www.hilton.co.uk/sandton
 
View the directions: http://bit.ly/9orv4V

Friday News Round-Up

Emerging markets are increasingly seen as hubs of innovation and creative start-ups in their own right – not just attractive investment prospects. So in this age of activity, advancement and never ending news, we thought we’d put together a list of all the Hot stories we come across. The Com World Series team live and breathe emerging markets, so we want to make sure we spread the news!

Hot Stories in Emerging Markets

Operators worldwide “spending like crazy”
http://www.telecoms.com/45807/operators-worldwide-spending-like-crazy/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=operators-worldwide-spending-like-crazy

Umniah Launches 3G Services in Jordan
http://wirelessfederation.com/news/93517-umniah-launches-3g-services-in-jordan-jordan/

OTT pressure not major threat to SMS
http://www.telecoms.com/44976/ott-pressure-not-major-threat-to-sms/

25% of Vodacom Lesotho network now green
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/biztechafrica/CgBD/~3/UhsiixyuvaY/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email

NCC Transparency Unit sworn in
http://www.biztechafrica.com/article/ncc-transparency-unit-sworn/3299/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%253A+biztechafrica%252FCgBD+%2528BiztechAfrica+News+updates%2529

Infographic of the Moment

LinkedIn in South Africa
http://afrographique.tumblr.com/post/4285157029/infographic-of-south-africas-linkedin-users-and

Statistics in Pictures

Mobile Phones in Africa
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lnm76jKdrV1qiuwg7o1_1280.png

Blog Spot
Devices are crucial to the next stage of development in Africa’s digital market
http://www.comworldseries.blogspot.co.uk/

The Com World Series team concentrates on emerging markets in Africa, the Middle East and Eurasia 24/7 – 365 days of the year. 

Devices are crucial to the next stage of development in Africa’s digital market

Data, content, apps and internet access are providing African and Middle Eastern operators with major opportunities for revenue growth. These services are particularly important for the younger customers who make up the most promising segment.

Operators have been working tirelessly (and investing accordingly) to improve their networks and provide reliable and affordable broadband access. However they cannot ignore the importance of handsets and devices in ensuring that consumers use these new services.

According to a recent report by David McQueen, Principal Analyst with Informa Telecoms & Media, "Africa and the Middle East (excluding Israel and Turkey) were estimated to have combined handset sales of 196.3 million in 2011. The annual total of handset sales are expected to continue growing in the region, driven by the increasing number of subscribers. In 2012, handset sales will be up 10.3% and will go on to reach 287.6 million by 2016. By then, Informa Telecoms & Media estimates that Africa will account for 73.8% of the region's sales."
AfricaCom 2012 will for the first time dedicate a keynote session to the importance of developing a Handset & Smart Devices Vision for Africa.

The discussion will bring together operators, device manufacturers and OS platform representatives to discuss:

- the device market in Africa and current needs from all stakeholders including consumers
- how to offer a suitable range of devices including low-cost handsets, smartphones and tablets
- which platforms will be most successful in Africa and for what segments

Already confirmed panellists include Léon Charles Ciss, VP Marketing AMEA at Orange Group; José Henriques, Marketing Director of Unitel Angola, and Vérone Mankou, CEO of VMK who produced the first African tablet and is also ICT Advisor for the Ministry of Post, Telecommunications and ICT in Congo. The panel discussion will also include representatives of international handset manufacturers to be announced soon.

For informaton on the speaking opportunities at AfricaCom please contact Julie Rey on julie.rey@informa.com

Friday News Round Up...

Emerging markets are increasingly seen as hubs of innovation and creative start-ups in their own right – not just attractive investment prospects. So in this age of activity, advancement and never ending news, we thought we’d put together a list of some of the Hot stories we come across: this week, a focus on Africa as the Com World Series team is back from West & Central Africa Com in Senegal.

Hot Stories in Emerging Markets

Tim cohen: plenty of fat to cut out of the cellphone business
http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=173842

Access is a fundamental need
http://www.telcoprofessionals.com/ChunlingWoon/blog/928/

Sub-Saharan Africa economic growth remains robust – World Bank http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/sub-saharan-africa-economic-growth-remains-robust-world-bank-2012-06-13

Several African countries ahead of Europe in the race to LTE
http://blogs.informatandm.com/5048/press-release-several-african-countries-ahead-of-europe-in-the-race-to-lte/

Price war hurts smaller operators in Tanzania; mergers & acquisitions likely
http://www.developingtelecoms.com/price-war-hurts-smaller-operators-in-tanzania-mergers-a-acquisitions-likely.html

3G licences and more international fibre bandwidth set to boost Gabon’s broadband market in 2012
http://www.developingtelecoms.com/3g-licences-and-more-international-fibre-bandwidth-set-to-boost-gabons-broadband-market-in-2012.html

Picture of the week

Map of tech hubs and incubators in Africa
https://africahubs.crowdmap.com/
 
Video of the week
West & Central Africa Com features in Africa24’s news bulletin – Interviews and feedback on the market on the video link below from 4:30 minutes in
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xriifv_jt-live-13-06-12-edition-du-soir_news

Blog Spot
West & Central Africa Com 2012 - See your next year!
http://www.comworldseries.blogspot.co.uk/

The Com World Series team concentrates on emerging markets in Africa, the Middle East and Eurasia 24/7 – 365 days of the year. You can follow the news with us by joining our online communities.

West & Central Africa Com 2012 - See your next year!

Took place on 13-14 June 2012
King Fahd Palace
Dakar, Senegal
Website: www.comworldseries.com/wcafrica

After two days of intensive learning, debate and networking, yesterday saw the close of the 9th annual West & Central Africa Com in Dakar, Senegal. After enjoying drinks and music, sponsored by Alcatel-Lucent, at the Sea View Networking Reception on the Day 1, attendees gathered yesterday, for an engaging second day, to address the issue of relevant service innovation.

Delegates benefitted from a strong speaker line up taken from the region’s digital ecosystem, with a focus on innovation in the value added services space. VIP speakers included Orange Technocentre’s Arnauld Blondet, Director of AMEA, Constant Nemale, President & Founder of leading digital news broadcaster, Africa24, Lola Masha, Google’s New Business Dev elopement lead in West Africa, John Ndego, CEO of Airtel Burkina Faso, to name a few.

There was further consensus, as during day 1, that the customer should be at the centre of all innovation, and that hearing their needs, understanding the market and responding in an innovative way should be key areas of focus for service providers.  The panel discussing how to generate new revenues elaborated on this, further pressing the point that all players (service providers, OTT players, content providers, app developers, etc.) need to play their part, but there also must be fair revenue generation for all.  Also, the operators requested further local action in the challenge of developing local content, saying that successful partners are needed to ensure better content for the region.  It remains to be seen who will take the leading role, or emerge on top, in this scuffle in the shifting ecosystem, but what is clear is that forums like West & Central Africa Com are key meeting places for this expanded ecosystem, and an important platform for the discussion and debate of issues like this one.

The afternoon of Day 2 further segmented approaches to delighting the customer, with a focus on services for enterprise clients, including the potential of cloud, as well as reaching rural segments with the right services, and reliable access.

Finally, delegates attended the ICT Entrepreneurs’ Hub – a brand new session dedicated to the innovation and entrepreneurial spirit in West & Central Africa.  Chaired by the CTIC of Dakar, discussions centred on how to promote existing ICT innovation taking place in the region, as well as what young, emerging entrepreneurs need from the rest of the ICT industry in order to successfully overcome hurdles facing their progress and profitable start-up ideas.

--------------------------------------------------
Don't forget to share your thoughts on this year's West & Central Africa Com 
--------------------------------------------------
   
Tweet about your experience using #WCACOM @allaboutcom on twitter!
   
https://twitter.com/#!/allaboutcom

--------------------------------------------------
Take a look at the photos from the packed busy conference
--------------------------------------------------

Click here: http://yfrog.com/ny6mleej

--------------------------------------------------
Click here to see what our attendees are saying on twitter: https://twitter.com/search/%23wcacom
--------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------
What are delegates saying about West & Central Africa Com?
--------------------------------------------------

- "I love the event, the quality of the speakers, the quality of the panels and the good networking environment. For me it was a good experience and I want to be here again next year!"

Verone Mankou, Chairman and CEO, VMK, Congo 

"The opportunity provided by this conference was invaluable. Meeting the decision makers in the telecoms industry in Africa"

Ajibola Aiyedogbon, Software Developer, MobileXcetera, Nigeria

 "I am truly satisfied on the quality and organisation of the event. Great opportunity for solutions and problems in the telecoms Industry."

Sako Yaya, Head of IP/Wimax, Orange Bissau, Guinee
------------------------
Thank you to all the Sponsors of West & Central Africa Com:
------------------------ 

- Alcatel-Lucent
- ACE Consortium
- Telecom Italia Sparkle
- Sonatel
- Comviva
- BICS
- Corning
- Tellabs


------------------
See You Next Year!
------------------

West & Central Africa Com 2013
18-19 June 2013
Radisson Blu Hotel
Dakar, Senegal
Website: www.comworldseries.com/wcafrica

General Manager of Zain speaks out about VAS in Africa

Informa Telecoms & Media has interviewed Hakeem Dario N'Moi,
CEO of Zain Sudan on his thoughts about VAS & it's future in Africa.

1)     Tell us a bit about yourself and your organization.

CEO of Zain South Sudan, the leading mobile operator in the country and emerging market in the world. Zain SS is independent and separate operation of the Kuwait Zain Group of telecom operators in the middle east and north Africa. The company started off as a branch of Zain Sudan before independence of South Sudan on 9th July 2011. And I have been overseeing the unique challenge of implementing GSM network separation between North and South of Sudan; after the country divided into two and led Zain South Sudan efforts to be the first among other operators (MTN, Vivacell, Sudani, Gemtel) to launch the South Sudan new country’s code of +211 on 30th September 2011.  My career spans more than fifteen years of professional experience with blue chip and multinational UK firms; in financial services, capital markets, insurance, telecommunications and media domains. I have interest in convergence of media and telecom in the development of information and knowledge economy in Africa.

2)     What does VAS mean to you?

To my mind, VAS is any service or product that leverages a telecom operator’s GSM network for the benefit of subscribers and giving them more than just voice and SMS or access to Internet on their handset and mobile devices. To borrow a leaf from the PC world, we have seen how proliferation and adoption of PCs made it possible to innovate new products and services in various industry sectors to satisfy customer needs and demands. Mobile computing extends that model to a mobile handset to deliver products and services to users and subscribers ‘everywhere there is a mobile network’. Mobile money is typical of value added services that leverage existing GSM network and there are infinite applications that can be developed and deployed on mobile devices as happened on the ubiquitous computing on Pcs.

3)     How would you describe the growth of Value Added Services in Africa over the past year?

There is a growing penetration of mobile phones in Africa as demonstrated by the success of M-Pesa in Kenya, with over 16 million registered users of M-Pesa, and growing number of agents which creates more employment in the continent.  I have recently come across many start up companies by young entrepreneurs in the East Africa region, particularly in Kenya and Uganda, that have awakened up to real market opportunities for value added services in the region, and many of these new products and services targeted mobile devices and their users across different segments in the financial services, utilities, games, entertainment and agricultural sectors. There are no less than 30 VAS applications today in Kenya and Uganda that offer innovative products and services ranging from mobile payment services, to location based services such as Mafuto app in Uganda used by drivers to compare fuel prices across 400 service stations. The trend has been set, last and this year has seen an increase in the number of new start ups as well new VAS applications adoption in the VAS market such as; mfarm, mTracker, EasyOrder, mVerified, Tough Jungle, and many countless others to mention. Mobile penetration growth in Africa will continue to spur development of VAS, perhaps more than it is in the developed world.

4)     What do you think has been a major change in the nature of value added services in the past year?

I think that the major change has been that VAS has started to assume a global dimension and market beyond the local and emerging markets for VAS in Africa,  and this is driven by the adoption of smart phones which open up opportunities for developers to target a global rather than just a local market for their products and services.  Furthermore, diversification of VAS is increasing, and there is more portability of PC apps to smart devices in almost all categories:

5)     How important do you think cost-efficiency is for the delivery of VAS and why?

Cost-efficiency is critical and very important indeed for delivery of VAS,  and if the cost of innovation is high (new product development, marketing, and servicing etc are high), then customers and subscribers’ adoption of VAS would be inhibited by high prices from vendors who want to recover their costs from sales. Furthermore, 3G and LTE networks are not wide spread in the continent which limits available cost-effective bandwidths for rich VAS applications on smartphones and low end handsets for the mass market in Africa (base of the pyramid).

6)     Who do you think are the major players in the African market (or your region) affecting the VAS industry?

Firstly, large mobile operators, like Airtel, MTN, and Safaricom in Kenya, and Zain in South Sudan are the key players for providing the enabling environment and distribution medium for the delivery of VAS to customers. Secondly, handset suppliers and distributors (Nokia, Samsung, Huawei, ZTE, Apple, etc) and their partners such as Google Android,,  play a key role together with operators in promoting mobile and handset penetration in Africa and its regions so that access to VAS applications is made possible. Thirdly, VAS developers and their innovations to meet African market needs. All these contributors play a critical role in the development of VAS industry in Africa to a larger or lesser degree on the continent.

7)     What do you think are the 3 key areas VAS providers need to focus on in order to succeed in the African market?

The three key areas for VAS providers to focus on for success are; firstly understand the needs of the African market, do not focus on technology alone, but on the real needs of the customer. Secondly, focus on new product development, marketing and distribution channels to satisfy real  and not imagined customer needs, in other words, VAS providers must focus on being customer-centric and focusing on what makes the customer spend on your product and not from a competitor. Thirdly success comes from a solid business model, focusing on well-defined revenue streams and managing, and optimizing the cost of doing business.

8)     Which key message do you want to highlight during your participation at VAS Africa in Johannesburg later this year?

The key message to highlight is that mobile has proven potential and success stories to transform Africa, the challenge now is needed infrastructure to move Africa to the next level.


Register to learn from Zain & 39 other C-level speakers @ VAS Africa - FREE passes available for operators!
http://vasafrica.comworldseries.com/free-operator-pass/

John Earley, President of Ceragon Africa and Middle East shares his views on how “Microwave Expansion Improves Connectivity for Africa”

Ceragon is exhibiting at West and Central Africa Com, taking place today at King Fahd Palace in Dakar, Senegal. 

John Earley, the President of Ceragon Africa and Middle East is our guest blogger for the week. Today he shares his views on how “Microwave Expansion Improves Connectivity for Africa”

Africa is connected directly, telecommunications-wise, to Europe, South America, and the Middle East via the subsea cables that were laid in the last decade and that surround the continent. This, of course, enables African governments, multinational corporations and other organizations to open up African communications to the rest of the world. However, there is still the problem of connecting up cities, towns and villages, especially those that are not very close to the subsea cables, so that the bulk of the population of African countries can enjoy the benefits of the Internet and international data communications services.

Terrestrial fibre cable has traditionally been considered the long-term solution for Africa’s connectivity demands. At the start of 2010, there were more than 300Gbps of Internet capacity in place on the African continent. By the end of that year, Internet traffic had already grown an additional 70% to more than 500Gbps. Where available, fibre accommodates this growth so, governments and private operators have rolled out many kilometres of fibre cable both internally and across national borders to bring networks together and to establish and improve connectivity with the subsea cables.  But it seems that even after more than five years and hundreds of thousands of kilometres of deployed fibre, connectivity is still a problem. 

The African environment makes fibre deployment difficult for a number of reasons.

•   Fibre is expensive to deploy and operate especially over long distances 
• Breaks in the Fibre, malicious or accidental, are a daily occurrence 

 Fibre Deployment. Greenfield fibre deployment is a time-consuming and expensive activity. The costs for trenching and deploying fibre increase rapidly with distance. Right-of-way permits and the labour-intensiveness of trenching add significantly to the cost and the time required. Fibre requires significant supporting equipment. For example, network interface cards (NICs) for fibre cables can cost $1,000 each and a fibre network requires thousands of them.  For connecting highly populated areas, fibre deployment can be justified. However, as Africa comprises many large countries with population centres separated by vast distances, not to mention numerous remote areas, Fibre deployment becomes exceedingly expensive.

Fibre Breaks. After a fibre break, in the best cases, severely restricted back-up services to fibre routes are dimensioned to carry only essential voice and signaling traffic leaving the growing IP-based data services at risk along with the revenues they generate.  In the worst cases, fibre breaks destroy connectivity completely for unacceptably long periods of time.  With vast road construction, poor environmental management and erratic observance of planning procedures, no country in Africa is immune. In Nigeria alone, there are, on average, fourteen fibre breaks per 100km per year leading to a colossal 2,200 hours of network down-time! When a fibre break occurs, the expectations that customers have built up for accessibility and quality of service are destroyed.  

Africa is returning to microwave.

Although they neglected long-haul microwave in favour of fibre, African network operators are re-thinking their strategies. Where microwave was once considered a less desirable technology than fibre, operators are now seeing significant advantages.

Microwave is particularly suitable to the African environment due to technology advances, lower deployment costs, ease of maintenance, and practical backup strategies. For example, Celtel has installed a long-haul microwave link to improve communications between Uganda and Tanzania. A new microwave link now connects Tangiers, Morocco with Tarifa, Spain.  

Advances in Capacity. Today’s microwave technology provides impressive long-haul capacity. Where outdated routes were previously limited to two or three STM1s, they now carry capacities measured in gigabits. Innovative technologies, like advanced modulation and multi-channel bandwidth control empower network operators to provide true high capacity on long-haul routes. Today’s long-haul microwave provides abundant capacity far in excess of Africa’s current and predicted demand.

Advances in Reliability. Where inclement weather and other types of interference used to be mitigating factors in microwave link availability, leading microwave equipment vendors are now able to keep their long-haul transmission links functional even in transient fading conditions. For example, Ceragon Networks’ systems sense the quality of the transmission link and can automatically decrease the modulation technique in case of degraded signal quality due to interference or other microwave propagation problems. So, if a microwave transmission is humming along at maximum capacity and it suddenly encounters fading, the Ceragon microwave system automatically steps down the modulation to lower levels until the transmission network maintains the requisite level of reliability. The traffic is distributed over all carriers using Multi-carrier Adaptive Bandwidth Control (ABC), so, when one carrier is affected by reduced modulation, the link distributes traffic to the remaining carriers making the link appear as a single dynamic, high-capacity pipe. As the transient problems disappear, the resilient microwave system automatically re-applies more efficient modulation techniques to regain full capacity. All of this occurs automatically with split-second timing and without human intervention.

Deployment Costs and Speed. Long-haul microwave links are significantly less expensive and speedier to deploy than fibre. Right-of-way issues and expensive trenching are avoided while complete microwave networks can be implemented economically in just weeks reducing the operator’s time-to-revenue and service provision. Unlike fibre, microwave deployment costs do not increase with distance. Long-distance hops of 20, 50 or even more than 100 kms are practical to implement.

Microwave is an excellent fit for large African countries with vast territories between population centres and is enjoying a resurgence in Africa.

You are invited to attend West and Central Africa Com, taking place today at King Fahd Palace in Dakar, Senegal. 

For more information, please visit our website www.comworldseries.com/wcafrica