Kathy Gibson reports – The rollout of fast fibre infrastructure is key for countries to reap the economic rewards promised by broadband.
Bob Chen, president of Huawei optical business product line, stresses that artificial intelligence (A) is here to stay, driven by rapid growth in computing power, foundation models, and AI applications.
For instance, there was a 74% growth in computing power in 2024, with foundation models of 1-trillion parameters now available for the more than 1-billion generative AI (GenAI) users around the world.
The penetration of AI terminals and applications is also booming, with a 30% growth in AI terminals and a 45% increase in AI applications.
AI terminals include devices like smartphones, televisions, and home appliances. AI applications include healthcare, fitness, gaming, diagnosis, and treatment.
“They all require a high-quality, home broadband networks,” says Chen.
The first phase to achieving this is rolling out fibre broadband; and second is upgrading the fibre to faster speeds. The third phase is providing the home network and smart apps.
“In the AI era many operators provide their own AI agents and smart services.”
The first step for countries is to enable fibre broadband coverage, provided by either government or carriers. Chen points out that more than 20 African countries have published broadband development plans. And penetration is increasing: over the last three years, South Africa has grown from 11% fibre coverage to 30%; Egypt has grown from 3% to 16%; and Kenya has grown from 7,4% to 14,8%.
“Africa’s fibre broadband connections have high growth potential,” Chen adds, with the average fibre broadband coverage in Africa at just 12% today, and 210-million homes with fibre.
Fibre broadband has always been a key engine for national economic growth and today it is more affordable than ever.
“Costs continue to decrease and operators’ return on investment (ROI) is now just two years,” says Chen. “So it is very important to accelerate fibre broadband coverage now.
“As broadband speeds increase – Africa has seen a 77% increase in download rates – operators are driving revenue growth with high-speed packages.”
With many countries still at fibre broadband speeds of 20Mbps or less, there is plenty of opportunity for growth. For a small additional investment, operators can increase speed and substantially, and drive up revenue, Chen explains.
The end goal should be home networking, he adds. In Africa, the market potential is 9-million households – but the home network market share for operators is just 5% today.
Operators can aim to install fibre to the room (FTTR) and then explore the provision of home services. “They could introduce new types of terminals with intelligent applications, and they could build their own AI agents,” Chen says. “They could also fully upgrade with partners to deliver all types of smart applications.”
Huawei has launched its Southern Africa FTTx Planning and Design Service Centre to help operators explore the home networking opportunity.