Kathy Gibson reports from SATNAC 2014 – Setting up the networks that connect the world is just the beginning of the dream to provide mobile broadband for all.
Tumi Sekhukhune, vice-president: strategy, marketing and communications at Ericsson, agrees with the philosophy that mobile phones are the most transformative technology ever to reach Africa’s citizens.
With 75% of the continent’s population in rural areas, the mobile phone plays an important role in healthcare, education and commerce.
“The revolution is not about to happen,” she says. “It is happening now.”
Key growth areas for Africa are devices and local content, ICT in key sectors, national broadband plans and high performance networks.
In terms of devices, these are becoming increasingly affordable, with smartphones now available for less than $50. In addition the growth of social networks in Africa is one of the highest compared to the rest of the world, mainly driven by the youth. However, 47% of mobile data users believe it is too expensive. Local content is also important to drive usage in places like Africa, Sekhukhune says.
National broadband plans are increasingly being adopted in the continent to drive mobile broadband growth. These will gear towards increasing universal access, digital migration to free up spectrum for broadband and open access network business models.
Sekhukhune points out that spectrum harmonisation and allocation will drive mobile broadband.
ICT in key sectors is a vital driver, with government, agriculture, finance and utilities examples of how mobile broadband could change people’s lives. Examples are M-Pesa, MedAfrica, agriculture apps that are being used in Africa, and the Nollywood movie industry.
“The question is how do we take these learnings and spread them to the continent to gain scale?”
Network performance will always be a key enabler, she adds. WE need to improve users experience to drive uptake. An investment in solutions that enhance customer experience while complying with regulatory requirements is paramount.
Sekhukhune says this will require a collaborative mind-set from regulators, mobile operators, OTT player academics and infrastructure suppliers.
So who are the operators that are able to do these things? An Ericsson study used key parameters: double-digit growth; leading with profitability; is the growth driven by mobile broadband; and network performance.
The companies identified as leaders are not problem focused but opportunity focused, with a drive to innovate new revenues, use connectivity as a differentiator, and how to leverage the market and technology synergies.
These leaders lead with superior network performance, but marry it will innovative marketing and product offerings.
The growth codes include streetwise metrics based on experience-centric KPIs; showcasing with quality-led marketing; unboxing that redefines subscriptions; ecosystematic approach that allows open ended innovation; co-partnering for visionary collaboration; and gap-minding which seeks visionary investing.
None of the leaders are in Africa, which Sekhukhune says should act as a spur to local and regional telecommunications companies.