Africa is a challenging yet a market with a massive opportunity for the telecom operators in the region.
Even as a large section of its population continues to remain out of the basic communications network coverage, service providers in the region are already gearing up for a brush with the 5G revolution.
5G technology will redefine data and voice services with its promised high-speed, low latency internet connections and deeper network coverage. It promises to open up doors for innovations across many fields – education, public safety, manufacturing, and health.
Operators don’t want to let go of the early-bird advantage as far as 5G roll-out is concerned. This explains why many states and telecom operators on the continent, despite the present challenges like poor infrastructure, low broadband penetration and ARPU, are going ahead with 5G trials and testings.
However, even as the telcos start to take baby steps towards 5G, they need to make efforts to connect the unconnected. Technology innovations promise to enable the African service providers to address the dichotomy in the communications market.
The recent collaboration between Telesol and Parallel Wireless is a case in point. The two companies will be using Converged Wireless System (CWS) and HetNet Gateway to connect Ghana’s businesses and people using 4G LTE services.
Telesol will be able to provide high speed broadband while keeping its cost under control. This kind of innovations will go a long way in bridging the digital divide and in extending the reach of mobile broadband in the country. This is especially relevant as Africa starts to take baby steps towards 5G.
5G revolution: A cursory view
For poverty-stricken Africa, state-of-the-art technology can solve many current problems. 5G can be a precursor for many more technological innovations that can lead to a better Africa.
Why do we say it could be a precursor of many more technological innovations? Well, with its high data speed – almost 100 times faster than the existing technology can provide – a latency of less than a millisecond, and deeper and better coverage, it can support to a larger number of devices, thus opening up doors for new possibilities and innovations.
The 5G use cases are enormous whether it is in the field of healthcare, agriculture, education, financial services and business and promise to revolutionize the way services are delivered to a large number of population.
Structural gaps
However, for that to happen, the operators need to address the structural gaps in the existing telecom infrastructure.
The biggest hindrance in the move towards 5G is Africa’s big digital divide. It remains one of the most under-penetrated regions in the world with even the primary 2G network yet to reach over 110 million people (as per GSMA report) in the continent.
With just 30% broadband penetration, nearly 70% of the African population does not have access to mobile broadband.
The story is not too different in Ghana, where almost one-third of its population continues to remain unconnected by the telecom network (GSMA).
Though it is still better than the rest of Africa, where mobile network penetration is merely 44%, it is slow in the adoption of smartphone with just 27% users using them.
Though telecom operators are rolling out 3G and 4G services aggressively achieving 85% and 40% coverage, respectively, 53% users are still on 2G services. There are nine telecom operators active in Ghana, but only MTN is offering 4G LTE services.
Therefore, there is little hope of 5G making any significant inroads in Ghana or Africa soon. The latest Ericsson Mobility Report shows that the Middle East and Africa would be one of the regions with the least — less than 5% of the continents entire population — subscriptions for 5G by 2023.
Even if the market is not ready for 5G, the telcos in the region need to upgrade the networks for the upcoming technologies even as they cater to the present day needs of their subscribers. They need a new and innovative approach to meet the two objectives of addressing the existing challenges and preparing the networks for the opportunities of the future.
Virtualization: A change in approach
Telecom operators have to be future-ready but at the same time think of newer ways to address the existing challenges.
The present challenge is first to connect the unconnected and then upgrade from old-generation technologies like 2G and 3G to higher technologies like 4G and 5G.
All these exercises should be seamless incurring a lower cost as telecom operators in Africa face the perennial problem of a lower Average Revenue Per User (ARPU).
Virtualisation offers to address these issues in multiple ways. Virtualization means shifting the network from a hardware-driven system to a software-driven system.
This has many advantages. It minimizes the use of bulky, expensive and energy-consuming hardware. This makes the whole system easy to operate, more cost-effective and more flexible.
New generation technologies can easily be deployed on a virtualised network without the need for system engineers to visit the site.
So while a traditional hardware driven network would be costly to operate, upgrade and expand, a virtualised network allows operators to expand to new areas of no or low coverage even while ensuring that the network can be seamlessly upgraded to new-generation technology without too much cost.
Africa being predominantly a 2G and 3G market need networks that are flexible enough to be upgraded to higher technologies as and when required without putting too much pressure on the telecom operators finances.
Virtualized 2G is part of Facebook-led Open RAN Telecom Infra Project (TIP) initiative to encourage innovation and open ecosystem in the telecom equipment space.
Telefonica and Vodafone are the two major global telcos which have deployed it and MTN in Africa plans to leverage the benefits of using equipment based on TIP specifications.
Open RAN offers significant cost advantage to the telcos enabling them to easily and quickly expand in the rural and newer areas.
This initiative brings down the cost of RAN by disaggregating the hardware and software elements. The use of white box equipment further helps in bringing down the cost of network deployment.
It is a significant step to bridge the digital divide. This would allow companies more leeway to spare resources for testing and trial of future technologies like 5G.
Ghana’s Telesol, the fastest growing LTE network in the country, has rightly decided to leverage the benefit of virtualization by going for Parallel Wireless’ Open RAN solution.
It consists of carrier-grade base station Converged Wireless System (CWS) and HetNet Gateway, which enables a much more cost-effective network in rural and other areas where ARPUs are on the lower side. It allows quicker return on investment for the service providers.
Access to mobile broadband technologies has a transformative impact on the region’s economy and overall social growth.
Africa needs disruptive technologies like 5G to address a number of challenges, including poverty, income disparity and illiteracy.
By making the existing networks ready for seamless 5G deployment in the future is a good way of making a crucial beginning. It also allows the service providers to upgrade and modernize the networks only when they are sure that the subscribers and the market are ready.
BY: Christoph Fitih, Director Sales – Africa, Parallel Wireless