Kathy Gibson reports from AfricaCom in Cape Town – It’s all very well to talk about the services that will be enabled by broadband connectivity in Africa, but none of it can become a reality unless the networks are in place.
Shiletsi Makhofane, head of government and industry relations for sub-Saharan Africa at Ericsson, says that much of the talk at this year’s AfricaCom conference so far has been about the services that can ease users’ lives in Africa, but the foundation seems to be taken as a given.
“It’s almost like we missed a step,” he says. “But we can’t ignore the foundation – and there are fundamental issues still involved in delivering it.”
While South Africa has adopted a National Broadband Policy, Makhofane cautions that a lot of work still needs to be done before the policy can become reality.
Ericsson, together with the World Bank, has developed a guide for policy-makers to help them in driving national broadband plans forward. The guide is meant for use by any country, but could resonate with South African policy-makers and industry.
Industry can’t do much on its own, Makhofane points out, but needs to work within the triangle of policy, technology and markets, all of which have to work together to ensure success.
“For us, the critical point for broadband rollout in Africa is spectrum,” he says. “If we don’t release the spectrum that was supposed to be released, we are going to face a challenge.”
The importance of spectrum cannot be overstated, he adds. “The laws of physics tell us that the lower the band, the better the propagation of coverage, so it’s important to release those bands in order to cover the rural areas.”
3G is not necessarily the answer for universal access, Makhofane says, since it is designed for higher-density coverage. So, although it works well in the cities, it doesn’t necessarily translate for rural use.
In addition, the current spectrum is not sufficient to allow better quality services even where broadband is currently available, with operators trying to squeeze more through the existing bands than they can comfortably take.
Another issue that needs to be addressed in Africa is that of harmonisation, Makhofane says. “We are long past the era when each country could allocate their own. It’s a big challenge, but it’s important for African countries to work together on harmonised allocation across the continent.
“When that happens we can talk about industrialisation, and reaching the African market. Today we have 54 different markets, but with harmonisation we can start thinking about the continent as a cohesive region. When manufacturers can work seamless across the entire continent, they can standardise products and lower costs.”
The issue of neutrality is the final step that policy-makers need to consider, Makhofane adds. A lack of neutrality means that some markets stall on old technology and can’t move forward. “We need to think about neutrality more seriously, as it allows operators to provide better services to the end-user.”
Neutrality will also help the industry to move away from selling talking about technology but to start developing services that can change and impact lives, Makhofane says. “We are still selling megabits, but soon customers will be buying services for television, banking, health or education. But today, those services are all licensed separately.
“It is time to consider service neutrality as well as technology neutrality.”
To make broadband a reality across the continent – or even to roll it out in South Africa – will take the concerted efforts of all stakeholders.
Makhofane has issued a call for government, industry and the regulator to come together to set up a forum dedicated to making broadband happen.
“As an industry we can’t sit and wait for government,” he says. “We cannot afford to wait any more. As an industry we need to reach out; we need to get together, look at what the barriers are, decide what we can do and who will do it; and set measurable outcomes, with accountability.
“We need to have a common agenda, and create something that has a life, has got milestones and aims for outcomes.”