For communications professionals in north, west, east & central Africa NORTHERN AFRICAN

WIRELESSCOMMUNICATIONS FEBRUARY/MARCH 2021 Volume 19 Number 6

l Satellite: a thing of the past or technology for the future? l The growing importance of FWA and Wi-Fi on the move l Sanjeev Verma of Squire Technologies on mobile fraud

NAWC 2103 p1 (Cover).indd 1 07/04/2021 18:03 NEWS

4 SOUTHERN AFRICAN WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS January/February 2019

NAWC 2011 p2.indd 4 09/11/2020 18:16 NORTHERN AFRICAN CONTENTS

WIRELESSCOMMUNICATIONS FEBRUARY/ 5 NEWS u MARCH 2021 Connecting with Africa u Algerian minister says ‘5G not a priority’ Volume 19 u TheAngle and ABS extend partnership Number 6 u South Sudan launches first ever 4G internet u Nexign helps CSPs 5 NEWS u Kenyan auditor raises concerns over fibre u Safaricom launches commercial 5G network 18 FEATURE u Tunisia launches first home-made satellite u TE and Libyans discuss joint cooperation Liquid Intelligent Technologies is u MTN Uganda and NITA launch health app a pan-African technology group with u Outages affect WIOCC clients across Africa capabilities across 14 countries, primarily u Expresso Senegal gets 4G green light in Sub-Saharan Africa. Established in u seeks help from international partners 2005, Liquid has firmly established 13 WIRELESS BUSINESS itself as the leading pan-African digital WIOCC names new sales manager infrastructure provider with an extensive 24 FEATURE network spanning over 73,000 KM. Liquid 18 FEATURE Intelligent Technologies is redefining Shaping the future of satcoms Network, Cloud and Cyber Security offerings through strategic partnerships 22 INDUSTRY VIEW Necessity is the mother of invention with leading global players, innovative business applications, intelligent cloud 24 FEATURE services and world-class security to the 28 WIRELESS SOLUTIONS Fixed wireless access and Wi-Fi on the move African continent. Under its new brand identity, Liquid Intelligent Technologies 28 WIRELESS SOLUTIONS Teltronic presents the new MCBS has eight business units,namely: Liquid Networks, Liquid Business, Liquid Sea, 31 WORLD NEWS Liquid Cloud, Liquid Cyber Security, Liquid u Caribbean Express: next stop Jamaica Home, Liquid Innovation and Liquid u Brazil regulator approves 5G spectrum Satellite. Liquid Intelligent Technologies 31 WORLD NEWS u ’s MTS launches pilot 5G network u SES supplies broadband to villages is now a full one-stop-shop technology u Wireless Logic expands global footprint group that provides tailor-made digital u Phoenix Tower and Telecom team up solutions to businesses in the public u Thaicom searches for LEO partner and private sectors across the continent. u Nokia to supply Cibicom with LTE network The Group also operates state-of-the- u Greece’s OTE Telecom targets growth u art data centres in Johannesburg, Cape IFC terminal to deliver Wi-Fi on aircraft Town, Nairobi, Harare and Kigali, with a combined potential 19,000 square metres SUBSCRIPTIONS: of rack space and 78 MW of power. Northern African Wireless Communications is a controlled circulation bi-monthly magazine. Register now for your free subscription at www.kadiumpublishing.com Readers who do not qualify under the terms of control can purchase an annual subscription Visit www.liquid.tech at the cost of £110. For more information and general enquiries please contact Suzanne to find out more Thomas at [email protected] or call +44 (0) 1932 886 537.

EDITORIAL: ADVERTISEMENT SALES: Editor: Robert Shepherd Sales: Kathy Moynihan Designer: Sean McNamara [email protected] Sub editor: Gerry Moynihan +44 (0) 1932 481731 Contributors: Martin Jarrold, Shashank Pawar, Robert Koldys, Sanjeev Production & circulation: Suzanne Thomas Verma, Kamal Mokrani, Pieter de Villiers [email protected] Tel: +44 (0) 1932 481728

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NAWC 2103 p3 (Contents) NEW.indd 3 07/04/2021 18:06 SASIA 20Q4 (Sepura Ad).indd 4 07/04/2021 11:52 NEWS Connecting Europe with Africa EllaLink, the firm behind the 6,000km optical submarine cable linking Europe and South America, said it will also connect and Morocco in a similar fashion. The company said it has “completed the marine installation of the lowest latency transatlantic cable system between Europe and Latin America.” By extension, the established infrastructure will allow for establishing a sub-nautical cable connecting Europe and Morocco. EllaLink chose Infinera and its ICE6 800G technology to run its network. This technology will provide a transmission capacity of 100 Terabits per second (Tbps) between Portugal and Brazil, reducing latency by 50% to below 60 milliseconds. “I am proud to announce that we have successfully completed the 6,000 km submarine cable installation, providing EllaLink with the robust system it needs to support the network through EllaLink chose Infinera and its ICE6 800G technology to run its network. This technology will provide a its lifetime,” said Diego Matas, transmission capacity of 100 Terabits per second (Tbps) between Portugal and Brazil chief operations officer at EllaLink. “Infinera’s ICE6 solution is an ideal the means to offer our customers added: “Deploying Infinera’s 800G in America “Infinera’s open optical fit for us, outperforming other advanced products and services solution on EllaLink’s new network solution will enable EllaLink to offer available 800G equipment. Coupled from day one, in May 2021.” will provide a superior networking new and differentiated services, with our differentiated fibre routes, Nick Walden, senior vice pres- experience to their customers when helping to ensure their customers Infinera and ICE6 will provide us ident, worldwide sales, Infinera, connecting between Europe and Lat- receive the highest level of service. Algerian minister says ‘5G is not a priority’

Algeria’s Post and Telecommuni- current facilities are 5G Ready. when the time is right we can move September 2020 for their part in cations Minister Brahim Boumzar When the time is right, we will on to other generations.” failing to reach certain standards. has said fifth generation mobile launch 5G,” he said. “When did Following the launch of 3G in Boumzar refuses to embark on technology, or 5G, is not among his we launch 4G? Between 3G and 2013, Algerians started accessing a technological race that will not department’s immediate priorities. 4G there hasn’t been a long time. 4G three years later. However, in benefit consumers. He said he fears In an interview with Alger Channel Operators should also be able to 2021 national 4G coverage is still that a switch to 5G, while 4G cover- 3 radio on Sunday (March 14), he amortise their investments. For the disappointing. Consumers have age remains weak, will accentuate said the ministry is currently focused moment the main thing is to offer complained about the poor quality the digital divide in the country and on providing good 4G to Algerians. a respectable flow to our citizens. of service. Operators Mobilis, Djez- undermine the government’s ambi- “We work pragmatically. Our First, we have to offer good 4G and zy and Ooredoo were also fined in tions for transformation 2.0. TheAngle and ABS extend partnership in MENA region

Satellite operator ABS and stitutions and energy companies - oil data services and governmental appli- tions,” said Paolo Pusterla, manag- specialised network integrator and gas. For such industries, satellite cations, key applications carried over ing director of EMEA for ABS. TheAngle have extended their remains strategic and the preferred ABS satellites and TheAngle networks. Hassaan Karim, general manager partnership in the MENA region, solution to ensure quality commu- “This renewal and expansion of of TheAngle added, “Our extensive serving customers across the ABS’ nications, notably from/to remote MENA capacity on ABS-2 confirms knowledge of the region, coupled with MENA coverage at 75 degrees East. locations and offshore facilities. the trust that TheAngle has in ABS, ABS’ solid service offerings, enable us The expanded and upgraded In general demand for satellite as its strong and reliable partner, to to provide attractive and flexible of- services focus on the provision of services in the MENA market remains support the growth of its business ferings to meet with satisfaction even secure and reliable communications robust, driven by increased activities and customer base with the most the most challenging communications services for government, military in- in the traditional verticals of corporate adapted and bespoke service solu- requirements of our customers.”

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NAWC 2103 p5-11 (News) NEW.indd 5 07/04/2021 18:03 NEWS South Sudan launches first ever 4G internet bandwidth South Sudan has introduced concerted efforts of the govern- will provide security to all mobile among countries offering advanced its first ever 4G internet service ment and Zain over the past years. operators to ensure improved mobile data services.” Abdalla that will boost connectivity in a “It’s the right time to have 4G internet service in the country. disclosed that they will be working country that previously relied on internet since government is im- Khalid Abdalla, chief executive closely with government institutions to 3G broadband width since winning plementing the peace agreement, officer of Zain South Sudan, said the roll out 4G internet services. independence from Sudan in 2011. it will make communication easy company is committed to delivering He added that Zain will migrate its Baba Medan Konyi, deputy min- among the people as we are going the highest standard customer expe- customers to the latest digital tech- ister of information and broadcast- to disseminate messages of peace rience. “We are delighted in making nology, with 4G also set to bolster ing, welcomed the launch of 4G across the country,” said Konyi dur- the best network in South Sudan even the mobile experience of 3G services internet services by Zain telecom ing the launch in the capital, Juba. better,” he said. “The 4G internet by adding additional capacity. Howev- services and said it resulted from He added that the government broad bandwidth places South Sudan er, no timeframe was given. Nexign Outages affect WIOCC clients across Africa helps CSPs The West Cable restoration solutions on alternative Europe Gateway (EIG) subsea Company (WIOCC) said its network routes for those customers most cable. In addition to cutting some Nexign, the business support system operation centre (NOC) reported in need and WIOCC completed its of the client services that had been (BSS) and Internet of Things (IoT) interruptions to numerous client restoration solutions by Friday 19. restored from SMW5, the issue also solutions provider, has completed services between and Mar- However, by February 21, WIOCC’s affected a further set of clients the large-scale digital transformation seille, on the SEA-ME-WE 5 subsea NOC again witnessed multiple across eastern and southern Africa. project that addresses the challenges cable, disrupting voice, data and client services go down on the route WIOCC staff worked through of CSPs globally, including the Mid- internet across Africa February 16. between Djibouti and Marseille, this the weekend to agree and deploy dle Eastern and African regions. WIOCC’s team began carrying out time caused by a problem on the restoration of client services. The company claims that tech- nologies and methodologies intro- duced in the Unified Billing project help CSPs of any size reduce TTM Kenyan auditor raises concerns over for new digital services by up to five times, simplify cooperation with fibre optic network management partners and optimise costs for support of billing systems. Kenya’s auditor general has voiced Having completed the Unified concerns over the country’s National Billing project for MegaFon –provider Fibre Optic Backbone (NOFBI) project of digital opportunities that operates over nebulous tendering processes. in Russia, Tajikistan, the Republic of In 2018/2019, the State Depart- Abkhazia and South Ossetia – Nexign ment of Information, Communi- said it has proven it can bring meas- cation and Technology (ICT) paid urable value to CSPs’ business and Chinese tech giant Huawei Sh1.7bn help them facilitate transformation. for the construction of the second The need to go beyond classical phase of NOFBI. Nancy Gathungu telecom services pushed MegaFon to said the taxpayers’ resources could rebuild the billing core and develop a have been lost in the project. unified billing system for all its subsid- However, she added that there iaries. The joint team of Nexign and are no details in respect to the MegaFon gradually moved eight opera- date the payments were made or tors’ subsidiaries to a single BSS. who authorised the Exim Bank to “Since CSPs in the Middle release the payments. In the report In 2018/2019, the State Department of Information, Communication East and Africa are looking for for the State Department of ICT and Technology (ICT) paid Chinese tech giant Huawei Sh1.7bn for the the way to streamline digital covering the year ended June 2019, construction of the second phase of NOFBI transformation processes, it is Gathungu said the project lacks clear that unified and centralized crucial documentation over its has been no billing done for the last and the amount payable by each. product management, as well as financing and management. five years it has been in operation,” “The government has therefore technologies like microservices and “Although the financing agree- she said in her report. been funding the operations methodologies like Fast Track are ment indicated the government The service provision framework of commercial entities without in huge demand in the market,” would sell out excess capacity com- deal with other internet service provid- recovering the cost, which amounts said Hassen Hamza, business mercially to the public and bill them ers has not been implemented, with to lack of prudent use of public development manager of Nexign. to finance the loan repayment, there no records provided detailing users resources,” added Gathungu.

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NAWC 2103 p5-11 (News) NEW.indd 6 07/04/2021 18:03 SASIA 20Q4 (Sepura Ad).indd 4 07/04/2021 14:16 SASIA 20Q4 (Sepura Ad).indd 4 04/02/2021 11:03 NEWS Safaricom launches commercial 5G network in Kenya Safaricom has partnered with gear- tourism and digital education. company and continue driving inno- Kenya’s cabinet secretary of makers collaboration with Huawei, “Safaricom is proud to be pio- vation and we expect to go into eco- information, communication and Nokia and Samsung to unveil its 5G neering this technology in Kenya,” systems such as health, education, technology, Joe Mucheru added network in Kenya. he said. “This places Kenya on agriculture, financial services and that the move has ushered in the Company chief executive the global map in leading the way enabling SME’s using technology.” 4IR by providing faster connectivity officer Peter Ndegwa said the new in enabling connectivity through Ndegwa added that the 5G to business and individuals alike. technology will allow organisations investment in the 5G infrastructure. network will allow an era of The 5G network will be available to venture into areas such as The next phase on our journey is to intelligent connectivity and will be a in Nairobi and Kisumu before telemedicine, online gaming, virtual become a purpose led technology key driver of this strategy. being rolled out nationally. TE and Expresso Senegal finally gets green Libyans light from telecom regulator for 4G

Mobile operator Expresso Senegal, a discuss joint subsidiary of Sudanese Sudatel, has finally received the green light from cooperation the telecom regulator to launch 4G. The agreement, which follows A high-level delegation from the months of drawn-out negotiations, was Libyan International Telecommu- signed last February 26, 2021, when nication Company (LITC) met with a delegation of the Sudanese telecom Telecom (TE) to discuss ways group arrived in the west African of joint cooperation in the field of nation. Led by Magdi TAHA, CEO of international communications and Sudatel, the delegation was granted an the transfer of communication traffic audience by president Macky Sall. between the two countries. “Thanks to a balanced electronic Adel Hamed, managing director communications sector, the launch and CEO of (TE) of 4G by Expresso Senegal is a received a team headed by the LITC’s great leap in the promotion of chairperson Adel Abu Faris and the digital technology as a growth two sides discussed ways of joint co- driver,” the regulator said. operation in international connectivity, Expresso obtained the 4G license a Expresso obtained the 4G license a few days after the telecom regulator including data and voice services. few days after the telecom regulator issued a formal notice to the company, accusing it of insufficient investment According to Egyptian media, issued a formal notice to the Hamed emphasised that raising company, accusing it of insufficient already launched the technology in effect on Monday, April 5 between the efficiency of the trans-boundary investment in its network. The Senegal. Expresso wants to rebuild the Moroccan Minister of Foreign terrestrial network is of strategic im- regulator even threatened to withdraw its customer base, which has been Affairs and International Coopera- portance for international connectivi- the company’s operating license. declining in recent years. tion, Nasser Bourita, and Aissata ty with neighbouring countries. The operator initially announced Meanwhile, Morocco and Sene- Tall Sall, the Senegalese Foreign This Egyptian-Libyan cooperation 4G for March 31, 2020, but the gal have agreed to cooperate in the Minister. This happened at the inau- will be reflected in improving the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted plans. ICT and digital economy sectors. guration of the consulate general of performance of international It joins Tigo and Orange, which have An agreement was signed to this Senegal in the city of Dakhla. services. It will also benefit from the TE’s submarine cable infrastructure which extends around the world, and the transfer of Tunisia launches first home-made satellite international traffic to Libya. Reports said Hamed further Tunisia has launched its first satellite, Telnet Holding office, the Tunisian com- Once in orbit, Challenge 1 will focus stressed that the coming period “Challenge 1”, from Kazakhstan on pany designer of the spacecraft. on the “Internet of Things”. will witness the provision of more board Russian Soyuz rocket 2. Saied congratulated Telnet and Tunisia said it hopes to launch 20 communication services that serve The unmanned rocket took off from indicated that Tunisia lacks nothing more in the next three years. the two peoples in the first place and Baikonour Cosmodrome, carrying 37 except a strong national will and that The African space market is now the African continent in general. This other satellites from 17 other countries its objectives are purely national and worth over US$7bn annually, accord- comes after the company’s initiative including , Japan, Ger- unwavering. Challenge 1, which was ing to the website Space in Africa, to launch the HARP maritime system, many and South Korea. President Kais launched Monday, March 22 is the which reports that it ”is likely to grow which will link Africa with Europe. Saied attended the launching from first entirely made in Tunisia satellite. over 40% in the next five years”.

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NAWC 2103 p5-11 (News) NEW.indd 8 07/04/2021 18:03 NEWS Libya seeks help from international partners to rebuild telecom sector Libya wants to regain the dynamism of its telecom sector, destroyed during the 10 years of civil war, by in- creasing the number of collaboration requests with international partners. Through the Libyan Post, Tele- communications and Information Technology Company (LPTIC), the country wants to take advantage of British expertise to develop its national telecoms sector. Faisel Gergab, chairman of LPTIC and Lydie Sheehan, country director for UK trade relations in Libya and Tunisia, discussed options in a meeting. Gergab affirmed that “LPTIC seeks to benefit from the expertise of British companies to develop the telecom sector and expand investments in the country in accordance with the company’s 2021-2023 strategic plan”. The exchanges initiated by the LPTIC with the British come a few Libya wants to regain the dynamism of its telecom sector, destroyed during the 10 years of civil war weeks after similar discussions with the US. On that occasion, Gergab merce in Libya (AmCham Libya) sector will help the LPTIC restore the Meanwhile, Swedish gear-maker spoke with Daniel Liss, the com- and a group of companies US network; improve people’s access Ericsson is partnering with LPTIC to mercial attaché of the Embassy of telecom and technology companies to telecom services, especially deploy the Ericsson Educate learning the US, Debbie Hirst, the director interested in investing in Libya. broadband and reposition the sector program in Libya and build digital of the American Chamber of Com- Developing the national telecom as a source of wealth and jobs. skills among university students. MTN Uganda and NITA launch health app

MTN Uganda in partnership with the management of the global pandemic. National Information Technology Au- “We are very proud because of thority Uganda (NITA-U) have unveiled the local capacity we have to quick- an app that will be used for geo-fenc- ly develop an app of this kind that ing and tracking Covid-19 patients that will change the way we manage the are under home-based care. Covid-19 pandemic in the country,” E-pass is intended to help the he said. “This coming at a time Ministry of Health track and geo- when the vaccine is already in the fence the movement of patients un- country is a big boost in govern- der home based care thus reducing ment efforts to curb and minimise the number of non-critical patients the spread of the pandemic.” that get admitted in hospitals. MTN Uganda played a huge Speaking at the launch of the app, role in supporting government MTN Uganda general manager for E-pass is intended to help the Ministry of Health track and geo-fence the in the fight against Covid-19, MTN Business, Ibrahim Ssenyonga, movement of patients under home based care thus reducing the number of contributing over Shs2bn in various said the new app will go a long away non-critical patients that get admitted in hospitals interventions throughout 2020. in helping the government and the Meanwhile, MTN Uganda has country to better manage resources as Ssenyonga added. “That way, the Shs460million with package including updated its youth brand Pulse with a non-critical patients can now be moni- ministry can minimize further spread, 400 smart phone handsets which will new campaign called Pulse Nation. tored from their locations of isolation. but also be able to locate some of the have been installed with the app and First launched in 2018, Pulse offers “This new app will alert the ministry contacts in the areas where the patient will be used for monitoring. customers discounts on voice and of health designated officials, in case a might have veered off to.” NITA-Uganda executive director data bundles and deals and discounts patient under surveillance goes outside Development of the app which Hatwib Mugasa said the solution as with partners like Great Burgers, of the planned location boundaries,” lasted about four months cost it will serve as a game-changer in the Jumia, Twambale and Rolex chic.

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NAWC 2103 p5-11 (News) NEW.indd 9 07/04/2021 18:03 NEWS

Martin Jarrold, chief of international Safaricom Talking satellite programme development, GVF

and Nokia debate about the necessity, and advan- but when data ‘Zoom’ing in on tages, of far greater change than pre- is analysed Finnish gear-maker Nokia a Global Digital viously conceived. Though a necessary it becomes has collaborated with Afri- consequence of the (hopefully) limited information, and can operator Safaricom to provide Ecosystem phenomenon that is the SARS-Cov2 information is the building the first 5G commercial services virus, we have undergone a profound block of the knowledge that facilitates in Kenya. The first such service in In my last column published here change in the human experience, one effective decisions and enables east Africa will use 5G Single Radio I began with the words “The which gives small illustration of the im- positive and productive action. Access Network (SRAN) technology Digital Divide remains despite portance of a much more deeply rooted Data maintains financial liquidity and 5G FastMile gateways to enable years of debate about solutions to and strategic phenomenon: our ability in markets, improves creativity in ultra-fast Fixed Wireless Access bridge it.” I was reflecting on the to gather, analyse and disseminate that maintaining and evolving supply chains, (FWA) services to subscribers across opening statement of the pre- which can be digitised. makes production of “things” more Kisumu and the western province of event description for a dialogue in We have the potential to increasingly efficient using latest manufacturing the country. Nokia president Pekka the GVF Webinar Series, organised and more accurately understand the technology advances, takes ideas and Lundmark said the company is com- in association with the Satellite complexities of the world around us develops them, and builds more robust mitted to working with Safaricom Evolution Group (https://www. – natural disaster causes and conse- cyber security to sit alongside machine to “transform the communications satellite-evolution.com/). quences, manifestations and effects of learning and artificial intelligence (AI). landscape in the country”. In this contribution I would like climate change, monitoring environ- 5G Enhanced Mobile Broadband to draw attention to a discussion mental degradation throughout the (eMBB), Ultra Reliable Low Latency facilitated by another of GVF’s biosphere, human action and inaction Communications (URLLC), and Massive webinars to consider the problem of with consequences including conflict Machine Type Communications (mMTC), Egypt issues a variation, or rather an extension, and refugee population migrations. may be expanded into not just a global of that divide… A divide with Communities and economies digital ecosystem, but a global digital 21 rights consequences and implications far will be more deeply and widely ecosystem. Data will be gathered from beyond those encompassed within enabled by the growing digital all conceivable sources by all available Egypt’s National Telecom the usual framework of discussion infrastructure. There is a much technologies and processed by all avail- Regulatory Authority about inadequate access to the greater significance now attaching able tools: satellites, drones & sensors; (NTRA) issued a list of the 21 most technologies and services of modern to the integration of 5G and satellite artificial & virtual reality; smartphone important consumer rights to which digital communications… This is what technologies into a single network apps; open source software; blockchain telecommunications companies I describe as the digitisation divide. of networks. Industries, businesses, & distributed databases; social media operating in the Egyptian market What is the digitisation divide? people and governments worldwide, feeds; IoT; AI & machine learning; cloud must oblige. The list is divided into The GVF webinar Global Transitions: facing unprecedented challenge, & edge computing; and, other! three categories of receiving com- Digital Economy, Digital Infrastructure, will accelerate in their adoption of The “product” of this global digital munication services, with the aim Connected Communities, Digital Planet digitisation to both adjust to the new ecosystem will enable more than just the of educating users on their rights set out to explore this with the help of normal and to improve preparedness formulation of Actionable Intelligence, when subscribing to the service, representatives of two GVF members, to minimise the impact of the next but foster a culture of Sustainable Deci- using it and paying for it. Further- Isotropic Networks and Telstra, joined crisis – an impact that may again be sion-Making that, in the context of trying more, the list also includes financial by the Coordinator of the Digital equally as serious for, and equally to meet the Sustainable Development obligations that companies must Transformation Task Force of the United intertwining of, people’s economic Goals (SDGs) and of trying to stem adhere to, such as shipping, bills Nations Environment Programme well-being and their health. climate change, will be the indispensable and monitoring consumption. (UNEP), with moderation by the Chief Digitisation is not itself the currency of the future Digital Planet. Technology Officer of the Satellite end point. Whilst data gathered The webinar panellists were Applications Catapult in the UK. from a massively expanded – 5G + asked what they thought still needs Whilst the early train of thought lead- satellite enabled – communications to be done to guarantee a level of TGS buys K3 ing to this theme originated out of the infrastructure will be the vital raw digitised connectivity – in developed social distancing and travel restriction material of a digitised economy and and developing economies alike – to Telecel Global Services (TGS) imperatives of pandemic lockdown, over society, what matters is the mechanism enable gathering of data for the World has acquired K3 Liberia, an time the initial thoughts, influenced by and processes by which it is turned Economic Forum Stakeholder Capitalism internet service provider that provides ideas from the UNEP, evolved into the into what is today commonly called Metrics which are designed to show FTTx, SD-WAN and fixed wireless concept of “Digital Planet”. “Actionable Intelligence”, often how companies are doing on climate technology services. TGS is a B2B/ The importance of the digital commu- represented in the form of dashboards. change action, biodiversity, etc., and B2G provider with voice, data, SMS, nications technologies behind our now Data in the Zettabyte Age will flow track contributions towards the UN SMS firewall and integrated cybersecu- having been forced to realise the full in vast volumes from the tap of the Sustainable Development Goals. If you rity services serving network operators, potential of virtual business meetings/ Internet of Things (IoT), including want to hear their perspectives, this OTT’s and wholesale operators events has been boldly underscored. devices from our own personal video recording is not to be missed. globally. K3 Liberia Telecom is the Lockdown necessitated digital ways of wireless communications (i.e., If you want to grow your nation’s largest licensed ISP specialis- working to allow people still to do their smartphones with social media, plus understanding of what the future ing in the deployment of fixed wireless jobs. Extending digitisation will help increasing biometrics-based data of the digital Earth may be, how technology to deliver voice, data, cloud recovery from the economic recession generation) to our Wi-Fi-enabled satellites contribute now and might be hosting and content services to the un- engendered by pandemic. Notions about, domestic appliances. All this data will contributing 10 years from now, and der-served enterprise, SMB, education, and gearing-up for, Digital Economy and only be of use when it is determined understand the steps needed now to healthcare, and public sectors. K3 is Digital Infrastructure, are not new but a exactly what it is for. Data may be create a pathway to this future visit headquartered in Monrovia. global socio-economic crisis has elevated just measurement, quanta, of things, https://gvf.org/webinars/.

10 NORTHERN AFRICAN WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS February/March 2021

NAWC 2103 p5-11 (News) NEW.indd 10 07/04/2021 18:03 Liquid Telecom unveils its new identity – Liquid Intelligent Technologies, as it expands to a consolidated technology group

9 March 2021 – Liquid new digital-first product offerings, Intelligent Technologies, a enabling employees and customers 2pan-African technology group, to interact with each other digitally today announces the culmination of irrespective of the time or location. its extensive business transformation By aggressively expanding into from being a telecommunications new countries, including Nigeria and and digital services provider to a the Democratic Republic of Congo, full one-stop-shop technology group Liquid Intelligent Technologies is through a group-wide rebrand. bringing its award-winning high- Over the last two decades, performance network connectivity Liquid has firmly established itself closer to more people and as the leading pan-African digital accelerating the development of the infrastructure provider with an digital workplace. Africa’s digital future extensive network spanning over Liquid Intelligent Technologies 73,000 KM. This rebrand to Liquid will expand its Managed Services is an intelligent one. Intelligent Technologies highlights offerings to drive and ensure the organisation’s expansion of successful adoption of tools to re- Our transition into an intelligent technology solutions powerhouse its Cloud business, Cyber Security imagine their customers’ businesses places us at the centre of the digital transformation of African businesses. Our extensive digital infrastructure and global technology services, and other technologies and how they work and connect. partnerships allow us to reinvent your business capabilities through added to its existing telecoms and Whether they are focused on expertise backed by African Intelligence. An intelligence that is lived, connectivity capability. enabling collaboration or utilising the not learnt. This furthers the Group’s aim of most advanced cloud applications. accelerating growth by providing As a Microsoft Gold Partner,

tailor-made digital solutions to Liquid Intelligent Technologies is BUSINESS | CLOUD | CYBER SECURITY businesses in the public and private redefining Network, Cloud and Cyber HOME | LABS | NETWORKS | SATELLITE | SEA www.liquid.tech sectors across the continent. This Security offerings through strategic AFRICA’S DIGITAL FUTURE strategic rebrand reflects Liquid’s partnerships with leading global players, bringing innovative business applications, intelligent cloud services and world-class security to the African continent. With the future of network security-driven from the cloud, Liquid Intelligent Technologies’ recently launched its Cyber Security business unit, which uniquely delivers security at its core, protecting your business’s data throughout its lifecycle. According to Nic Rudnick, Group Chief Executive Officer, Liquid Intelligent Technologies, iquid Intelligent Technologies is a pan-African technology group “Our ongoing investment in our with capabilities across 14 countries, primarily in Sub-Saharan networks and data centres across LAfrica. Established in 2005, Liquid has firmly established itself as Africa have uniquely positioned the leading pan-African digital infrastructure provider with an extensive us to utilise our infrastructure to network spanning over 73,000 KM. Liquid Intelligent Technologies is re- accelerate the availability of new defining Network, Cloud and Cyber Security offerings through strategic intelligent technologies including the partnerships with leading global players, innovative business applica- high computing power of the Cloud, tions, intelligent cloud services and world-class security to the African Artificial Intelligence and Cyber continent. Under its new brand identity, Liquid Intelligent Technologies Security to our customers. has eight business units,namely: Liquid Networks, Liquid Business, We are now excited to be Liquid Sea, Liquid Cloud, Liquid Cyber Security, Liquid Home, Liquid executing our vision of Innovation and Liquid Satellite. Liquid Intelligent Technologies is now bringing new technological a full one-stop-shop technology group that provides tailor-made digital opportunities to the solutions to businesses in the public and private sectors across the market with a highly continent. The Group also operates state-of-the-art data centres in differentiated product Johannesburg, Cape Town, Nairobi, Harare and Kigali, with a combined set supported by our potential 19,000 square metres of rack space and 78 MW of power. existing infrastructure Nic Rudnick, GCEO Liquid and digital innovation.” www.liquid.tech Intelligent Technologies

NAWC 2103 p16 (Liquid).indd 26 07/04/2021 11:40 WIRELESS BUSINESS

Somalia hands first mobile money MTN Nigeria licence to Hormuud Telecom targets $489m

Somalia’s central bank awarded the country’s we’ve known for a long time, that Somalia is on the local first mobile money licence to Mogadishu-based moving towards being the world’s first truly Hormuud Telecom Somalia, a move aimed at cashless economy,” added Ahmed Mohamud formalising the country’s digital payments system Yuusuf, Hormuud Telecom’s chief executive. capital market and integrating it with the global financial system. Approximately 155 million mobile money trans- The operator, which began operating in actions, worth US$2.7bn, are recorded in Somalia MTN Nigeria is seeking US$489m on the local Somalia in 2002, has approximately 3.6 million per month, according to a 2018 World Bank report. capital market and has launched a new commercial subscribers in the country. The Horn of Africa Although conflict continues to disrupt the paper program to achieve its goal. nation has a population north of 15 million country, the telecom sector, dominated by the Series three and four commercial paper people, while some three million people use its competitive mobile sector where seven networks issuance (the issuance or the offer) are being mobile money platform EVC Plus. compete for customers, has flourished. arranged by Chapel Hill Denham Advisory, the The latter will now be subject to central bank More than two thirds of all payments made in operator said. regulation, which should boost confidence in the Somalia are via mobile money platforms, not least The repayment period for the series three country’s mobile money system, the governor of due to counterfeiting. This licence award could en- debt is 180 days while that of the series four the monetary authority said in a statement. courage that trend and analysts have predicted that debt is 270 days, the telco added. “In formalising our existing digital payments Somalia could soon become a cashless society – This new commercial paper issue initiated infrastructure, we are accelerating the maybe even the world’s first. by MTN Nigeria follows that in May 2020, also integration of Somalia’s financial system arranged by Chapel Hill Denham Advisory. into the global economy,” Abdirahman The proceeds of the offering will be used Mohamed Abdullahi said. for MTN Nigeria’s working capital and general More than two thirds of all corporate purposes, MTN Group said. In its 2020 payments made in Somalia are financial report, the telecom group said its Nige- via mobile money platforms, rian subsidiary’s operating expenses amounted to according to Hormuud Telecom. nearly US$2bn, up 29.02% compared to 2019. The licence will help the country Meanwhile, MTN Nigeria has acquired move towards becoming a additional 10MHZ spectrum cashless economy and tackle in the 800MHz band from widespread counterfeiting. Intercellular Nigeria. This was “The news today cements what disclosed in a press release by the company, where it was also revealed that the transaction had been signed by the Nigerian Somtel launches IPO Communications Commission (NCC), and the frequency had been assigned to Somaliland’s Somtel has begun its initial public well-positioned to take advantage of new the operator. offering (IPO) and interested parties can acquire opportunities in the telecoms sector in the The 800MHz spectrum is a technology a minimum of 20 shares for US$100 each. Horn of Africa, enhancing the lives of millions developed to enhance service delivery and also The operator largely serves the enterprise of customers whilst enabling businesses to overcome the challenges and costs of digging sector across Somalia as well as the auton- achieve their full potential in a new digital trenches and right of way issues. omous regions of Puntland and Somaliland, future,” said Abdirashid Duale, chief executive MTN Nigeria has launched a new unified offering fixed and mobile services. Additionally, officer of Somtel’s UAE-based parent customer engagement platform, EnGauge, it holds a stake in the DARE1 (Djibouti Africa company Dahabshiil Group. “Somtel will also, designed to enable small-to-medium enterprise Regional Express 1) cable system. of course, be generating many more jobs.” business owners to seamlessly administer It is understood that in addition to the However, without regulation requiring a company transactions with customers, potentially minimum amount of 20 shares, investors will to reveal financial data as well as the number or increasing their productivity significantly. It was have their purchases capped at 1000 shares. percentage of shares being offered to the public, developed in partnership with the fast-growing “With this injection of capital, Somtel is Dahabshiil could potentially offer an infinite number. African start-up, Ajua. Ethiopia ‘could scrap sale’ if offers are too low

Ethiopia has a set amount it expects to receive state minister responsible for the privatisation has publicly cast doubt over the much-anticipat- from the part-privatisation of the country’s process, told reporters. He said that has given ed liberalisation of the telecom industry, a move telecom sector and could scrap the process if the government an amount it is looking to raise that would jeopardize a broader privatisation bidders fail to meet the target. from the sale, without giving figures. plan announced by the country’s prime minister According to reports, three independent “If we get the value we expect from the bid- Abiy Ahmed in mid-2018. have calculated the value of two ding process, we will go ahead,” Tekalign said. The strategy had a range of goals: to shore up re- new licenses that would compete with state “If not, we will have another look.” serves of much-needed foreign exchange, pay down monopoly Ethio Telecom, Eyob Tekalign, the It is also the first time an Ethiopian politician state debt, improve telecom service and create jobs.

12 NORTHERN AFRICAN WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS February/March 2021

NAWC 2103 p13-15 (Wireless Business) NEW.indd 12 16/04/2021 12:04 WIRELESS BUSINESS

Tanzania joins the OAN project with Orange hires fellow east African nations NuRAN for

Tanzania has joined the project to reduce the cost Stephen Mbundi, the permanent secretary of the connectivity push of international communications in the region, Tanzanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told the sub- following pressure from its peers in east Africa. regional executive body that “the United Republic Orange DRC has penned a 10-year deal with The republic joins the One Area Network of Tanzania has concluded the consultations and Canadian vendor NuRAN Wireless to help (OAN), adopted by member countries of the is now ready to begin the process, implementation expand its rural coverage across the Democratic Community of East African States (CAE) for the of the CAE roaming framework ”. Republic of Congo (DRC). harmonisation of call rates in the sub-region. The missive comes as the country was in the Under the terms of the agreement, focused Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan sights of EAC’s Transport, Communications on NuRAN’s Network as a Service (NaaS) of- already applied the new international mobile and Meteorological (TCM) Sector Council. At fering, with the latter constructing and running roaming tariffs indicated by this initiative a meeting held from June 24 to 28, 2019 in 2000 new towers across the next 40 months. officially launched in January 2015. Kampala, Uganda, Tanzania was given until The towers will allow French giant Orange to pro- Tanzania, five years behind its neighbours, March 31 this year to make a decision on the vide 2.75G services and meet pent-up demand, had until the first quarter of 2021 to catch up. implementation of the “One Area Network”. with a particular focus for rural communities In correspondence to the EAC secretariat, Burundi is also expected to join at a later date. with populations around 5,000. The towers fall into one of four categories depending on population density and coverage requirements. Nuran’s technology uses a carri- Investment company to inject er-grade GSM base station powered by solar as part of a small-footprint (3 meters x 3 meters x 15 meters tall) remote tower. US$200m in Airtel Mobile “This contract is in line with our strategy to expand the NAAS business model across Africa,” , the telecom and mobile money and to certain customary information and said Francis Letourneau, CEO of NuRAN. “This is services provider, has signed an agreement minority protection rights. our second significant contract in Africa and with under which The Rise Fund, the global impact “In line with our vision of enhancing financial Orange after having already previously announced investing platform of alternative investment inclusion, Airtel Africa offers a unique digital our agreement with Orange Cameroon SA. firm TPG, will invest US$200m in Airtel Mobile mobile financial services platform under the The contract will run for a minimum term of 10 Commerce BV (AMC BV). Airtel Money brand,” said Raghunath Mandava, years for each site, including networking equipment The operator has a presence in 14 countries CEO of Airtel Africa. “In most of our markets as well as antennas, cabling, solar power systems, across Africa, while AMC BV is currently the there is limited access towers and related installation services. This holding company for several of Airtel Africa’s to traditional agreement features a revenue sharing struc- mobile money operations and is now intended to financial ture including a minimum guaranteed month- own and operate the mobile money businesses institutions, ly fee per site built for the first five years. across all of Airtel Africa’s footprint. and little Airtel Africa provides telecom and mobile money banking services, primarily in east, central and west Africa. infrastructure, The transaction values Airtel Africa’s mobile with less than half WIOCC names money business at US$2.65bn and The Rise of the population Fund will hold a minority stake in AMC BV upon having a bank new sales completion of the transaction, with Airtel Africa account across continuing to hold the remaining majority stake. sub-Saharan It is also the latest step in the group’s pursuit Africa. Our markets manager of strategic asset monetisation and investment therefore afford opportunities and it is the aim of Airtel Africa to substantial market International capacity wholesaler explore the potential listing of the mobile money potential for mobile West Indian Ocean Cable Company (WIOCC) has business within four years, the statement says. money services to meet named Mwesu Vunda as sales manager, Zambia The group is in discussions with other potential the needs of the tens of and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). investors in relation to possible further minority millions of customers in Africa who have little or In this newly-created position, Vunda will investments into Airtel Money, up to a total of no access to banking and financial services, and help service providers take advantage of 25% of the issued share capital of AMC BV. this demand is driving growth.” improvements in international connectivity “There can be no certainty that a transaction This transaction is subject to customary services – delivered through WIOCC’s unique, will be concluded or as to the final terms of any closing conditions including necessary hyperscale network infrastructure - enabling transactions. The proceeds from the transaction regulatory filings and approvals, as necessary them to provide enhanced connectivity solutions will be used to reduce group debt and invest in and the inclusion of specified mobile money to their enterprise and consumer customers in network and sales infrastructure in the respective business assets and contracts into AMC BV. Zambia, DRC and other neighbouring countries. operating countries,” the statement adds. Airtel Africa is headquarted in London, Vunda will work closely with cloud operators, The Transaction is expected to reach first United Kingdom, and is a subsidiary of Indian content providers, local and regional Internet Service close over the next three to four months. From telecom services company . The Providers (ISPs) and fixed and mobile telcos, tailor- first close The Rise Fund will be entitled to former’s subsidiaries, include Airtel Kenya, ing the solutions they require to meet their custom- appoint a director to the board of AMC BV and Airtel Malawi. ers’ increased bandwidth and uptime expectations.

February/March 2021 NORTHERN AFRICAN WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS 13

NAWC 2103 p13-15 (Wireless Business) NEW.indd 13 16/04/2021 12:04 WIRELESS BUSINESS

AFR-IX inks deal with Asteroid Grover joins Mombasa IXP to boost connectivity Avanti as CTO Vikas Grover joins Avanti Communications Group Global broadband connectivity provider AFR-IX across the continent. According to Swedish gear- as its new chief technology officer. Grover was telecom has signed a peering deal with Asteroid maker Ericsson’s Mobility Report June 2020, recently the founding chief information officer Mombasa IXP to boost its network in Africa. new uses, driven by the Internet of Things, (CI0) at OneWeb, where he led global networks, This is the company’s fourth IXP in the continent, streaming video, online gaming and others, will IT platforms and security. Prior to that, he was adding to Cape Town, Djibouti and Lagos. contribute to a 28% increase in mobile data the CIO and executive vice president technology Asteroid Mombasa IXP is a major gateway for traffic in sub-Saharan Africa from 2019 to 2025. planning at India. submarine fibre optic cables and is on the verge AFR-IX telecom views the addition of Asteroid Grover will succeed Scott Richardson, who will of becoming one of the main hubs for Internet IXP - through which more than 15 east African be leaving the company. traffic in east Africa. telecom operators and Internet service providers Avanti chief executive officer Kyle Whitehill, “Today, we have added Mombasa-based share traffic - as a strategic move that will said: “I am delighted to welcome Vikas to Asteroid IXP to our already growing peering enable it to increase its connectivity offering. Avanti. Vikas is an accomplished Leader in the community across the continent as part of our In late 2020, presented the Barcelona Cable Telecoms field with a background including extensive resilient and robust African network Landing Station (CLS), the first landing station Mobile and Satellite organisations. He is also coverage [...] we can provide a global ICT for international submarine cables that will be a highly regarded people leader and I have no offering, focusing on the needs of our local and located on the coast of Barcelona (Spain). doubt he will make an excellent addition to regional customers,” said Louis Carver, AFR-IX It will be the point of entry for high-capacity Avanti and our executive committee. I would telecom’s chief commercial officer. fibre-optic subsea cables arriving from Asia, also like to recognise Scott Richardson’s The deal comes against the backdrop of the Africa and the Mediterranean, providing the contribution to Avanti over his 15 years tenure, growing demand for broadband connectivity fastest connection between Europe and America. we wish him the very best for the future.” Ghana’s Airtel Africa sells towers to Helios

Airtel Africa, a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel, has for which a further US$11m of consideration is Telecom and IT sold 1,424 telecom towers in Madagascar and payable,” Airtel said. “With these latest tower Malawi to Helios Towers for around $119 million. transactions we continue to demonstrate strong Professionals The former’s subsidiaries will continue to devel- execution of our asset monetisation program.” op, maintain and operate their equipment on the The transactions will also help to improve the Union in court towers under separate lease arrangements, largely mix of its debt and increase its tenor through made in local currencies, with the purchaser. long term leases, which are largely payable in “In addition, the Group has agreed to build local currency by our operating entities, while over strike action to suit commitments with the purchaser for an reducing foreign currency debt of the group, additional 195 sites across Madagascar and Ma- according to Raghunath Mandava, chief execu- An Accra High Court has granted an interim lawi over the three years following completion, tive officer, Airtel Africa. injunction on the strike action embarked upon by members of the Telecom and IT Professionals Union (TIP), according to local media reports. Judges gave the order following an ATU partners with Ericsson to application filed by MP Infrastructure (GH) Limited, Linfra Ghana and Remie Ghana, employers of the telecom workers. improve connectivity TIP began the strike on Monday, March 15 in protest of poor conditions of service. The African Telecommunications Union has must work to meet the pressure that comes with Although they have subsequently called off joined forces with Swedish gear-maker Ericsson managing the use of spectrum resources.” the strike, their employers believe the interim to validate a set of recommendations that will The ATU and Ericsson’s recommendations to injunction will prevent them from declaring help African countries accelerate broadband develop broadband in Africa are the result of the another industrial action. connectivity, including 5G, across their territories. collaboration signed between the two parties in June TIP is made up of engineers and technicians These tools, approved by 25 countries and last year. Their aim was to connect, innovate and contracted by four sub-contractors (SBCs) who representatives of regional economic blocs in transform the continent into a knowledge economy. have been engaged by Chinese tech giant, to Africa, will guide the beneficiaries in the rational ATU said it is confident that strict manage and maintain the technical operations and efficient management of the telecom implementation of its recommendations will of MTN, AirtelTigo and Vodafone. spectrum, which is the key element for the contribute to a revival of investment in the The plaintiffs in a separate writ of summons development of broadband. telecom sector and accelerate the digital say the industrial action declared by their “Radio spectrum is a natural, scarce, and transformation of the continent, bringing employees is unlawful. They say the strike is valuable resource that is currently being used multiple socio-economic benefits. a breach of the NLC’s directive to addressing for a wide range of applications, providing many Meanehilw, Ericsson revealed it will be discussing the impasse between the two parties and economic and social benefits in the continent,” the latest developments of the 5G technology at one that will have dire consequences on said John Omo, ATU secretary-general. “As de- the 5G Middle East and North Africa 2021 Digital operations in the country. mand for spectrum continues to grow, regulators Symposium taking place virtually March 2021.

14 NORTHERN AFRICAN WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS February/March 2021

NAWC 2103 p13-15 (Wireless Business) NEW.indd 14 16/04/2021 12:04 WIRELESS BUSINESS

Mladen Vratonjic, chair, MasterCard’s Talking critical The Critical Communications Association (TCCA)

US$100m communications technologies. 3GPP standards Introducing the This is the challenge that is being specifications are MasterCard penned a deal with critical comms addressed around the world, as they considered to Airtel Africa to invest US$100m governments look to ensure their first be mission critical. in Airtel Mobile Commerce, the column responders have the best possible com- For devices, work is mobile money arm of the telecom munications tools with which to carry ongoing with the Global Certification operator. The initiative will position How would you define critical out their critical work. The way forward Forum (GCF) to develop a testing and the US payment company on the communications? There are many however is very much dependent on the certification process to ensure user growing African mobile money instances where needing to commu- availability of spectrum and of course devices can also be termed mission market. “We are significantly nicate is important. But truly mission the level of investment that each coun- critical whilst conforming to the 3GPP strengthening our existing strategic critical communications can mean the try or region is able to commit. standards and being interoperable relationship with Mastercard to help difference between life or death. Two examples: In the US, FirstNet with networks and other devices us both realize the full potential This is the first in a series of is the new nationwide broadband built to the same 3GPP standards. from the substantial opportunity to articles where we will take a look communications platform for data, Against the backdrop of all the improve financial inclusion across at the critical communications built for the country’s first responders work going into developing mission our countries of operation,” said landscape around the world, how and extended public safety critical broadband, the trusted Raghunath Mandava, head of Airtel it is evolving to meet the changing community. It is based on a public- narrowband networks remain in Africa. The cash injection from needs of the end-users, and the private partnership with telecoms full use, new networks are being MasterCard will benefit more than huge amount of work that goes on operator AT&T, and uses spectrum implemented and existing networks 100 million customers. behind the scenes – largely carried set aside by the US government upgraded and refreshed. TCCA works out by volunteers – to ensure that specifically for FirstNet. The existing closely with standards development critical communications networks are narrowband networks that carry organisation ETSI to ensure the TETRA robust, reliable, resilient and secure. critical voice services continued to standard is enhanced to support ‘Airtel in it It is those networks that support, be used for the meantime. In the users to 2035 and beyond. amongst others, our first responders UK, the Emergency Services Network It is estimated that the transition to win it’ - the police, medical and fire and (ESN) is being created using the from narrowband to broadband mission rescue services that we rely on to network and spectrum owned by critical networks will take perhaps more Airtel Africa plans to be the number help us in a crisis and keep us . commercial mobile network operator than ten years. It is anticipated that in one service provider across all 14 Until very recently, the networks EE. An ambitious roll-out schedule the meantime, many organisations will countries it services on the conti- that supported critical users were needed to be revised more than once use hybrid mission critical networks nent, according to chief technology specific to that sector, designed from to ensure that the ESN will be as and that it is necessary to enable officer Razvan Ungureanu. The oper- inception to meet the unique needs of trusted as the existing TETRA-based interoperability and collaboration of ator made headlines recently after mission critical users. The technologies Airwave service before that network narrowband and broadband networks concluding infrastructure acquisi- – TETRA, P25, DMR, Tetrapol – have is switched off and ESN becomes and devices. Therefore, 3GPP on the one tion agreements with Helios Towers, resilience and security built in from the first responders’ communication hand and ETSI on the other are working as well as Rise Fund investment of the very beginning, both in the platform for both voice and data. rapidly to develop a standardised US$200m in Airtel Mobile Com- infrastructure and the devices, in The US and the UK are two of the interface for their interconnection. merce BV (AMC BV). “Across my 14 hardware and in software, in order to countries that are the most advanced TCCA, on behalf of its members – end operations, more than 50% we are deliver trusted, reliable and resilient in terms of delivering critical users, government and commercial best in class, so basically number communications support. However, broadband. Other countries are at network operators, industry and more one,” Ungureanu told ITWeb Africa. they are all narrowband technologies various stages from consultation – represents all standard mobile critical and as such are limited in the type of through to procurement. communications technologies and com- data applications they can support. It is not just the networks that need plementary applications. Our members As any of us who use a smartphone to be 100% trusted. The services – design, manufacture, build, implement, MoMo in will know, in the consumer mobile com- voice, data, video – and the devices all utilise, analyse, promote, develop and munications market, the focus is firmly need to work seamlessly. To achieve deploy critical communications world- Africa on data applications. Although the past seamless services, the Third Gener- wide. We believe in and promote the year has seen a resurgence in the use of ation Partnership Project (3GPP) has principle of open and competitive mar- Half of the world’s mobile money voice calls due to the pandemic, overall been developing a set of standards for kets through the use of open standards services are in Africa, according to a the mobile networks are supporting mission-critical functions for broad- and harmonised spectrum, working with report by GSMA. As of 2020, there mostly data-centric applications, and the band networks. Currently, these are stakeholders in the critical communica- were 310 live mobile money services same evolution is coming to the critical Mission Critical Push-to-Talk (MCPTT), tions ecosystem to achieve this. and out of these, 55.2% were in communications world. mission critical data (MC Data) and Behind the scenes, there are many, the continent. Mobile money is now While voice will always remain an mission critical video (MC Video). many organisations and individuals available in most markets where essential – and the most immediate This time these are not specialised, committed to ensuring that critical access to financial services is low, – form of communications between dedicated standards for mission critical communications networks and services the report adds. Africa continues first responders in a crisis, there is systems but rather parts of the main- are the best they can be. We will en- to be the global leader in mobile a need for broadband networks to stream standards of cellular telephony, deavour through this column to show- money services, a position boosted have the capability to be mission- for 4G and 5G networks, developed case some of the initiatives, to discuss by the Covid-19 pandemic, which critical bearers for mission-critical and included on the basis of require- the challenges and the expectations, forced people to turn to digital data – to have a similar level of ments and with the support of the and to hopefully encourage more peo- services as a safer transaction reliability, resilience and security as critical communications community. ple to become involved in shaping the method than using cash. the dedicated narrowband critical When services are created to those future of critical communications.

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NAWC 2103 p13-15 (Wireless Business) NEW.indd 15 16/04/2021 12:04 Telecom Egypt plans launching HARP, a new subsea system circling the African continent Cairo, 3 March 2021: Telecom Egypt, Egypt’s first integrated telecom operator and one of the largest subsea cable operators in the region, announces its plans to launch Hybrid African Ring Path (HARP) by 2023, a new subsea system that will outline the African continent, forming the shape of a harp. It will connect coastal and landlocked African countries to Europe through the company’s widespread terrestrial and subsea infrastructure. Through HARP, Telecom Egypt will offer a wide range of capacity solutions, up to dark fiber, based on a layer two and layer three architecture that can connect multiple points on the on the Gulf of , forming a About Telecom Egypt system to one another. hybrid terrestrial and subsea fiber Telecom Egypt is the first total The system will connect Africa’s connectivity solution between telecom operator in Egypt East and West bounds to Europe, landing points in Egypt. providing all telecom services to from South Africa to Italy and its customers including fixed and along the continent’s Adel Hamed, TE’s Managing mobile voice and data services. East Coast, and to Portugal along Director and Chief Executive Telecom Egypt has a long history its West Coast. Highly reliable Officer, commented: “I am very serving Egyptian customers for terrestrial routes will connect proud of the upcoming launch of over 160 years maintaining a the landing points within South this new system, as it will provide leadership position in the Egyptian Africa, Europe, and Egypt, forming seamless connectivity services to telecom market by offering a complete ring around the the African continent by integrating its enterprise and consumer continent. The HARP system will Telecom Egypt’s current and customers the most advanced leverage its diverse and resilient planned projects to offer end- technology, reliable infrastructure subsea segments to branch out to to-end connectivity solutions. solutions and the widest network multiple potential landing points. HARP will enable Telecom Egypt’s of submarine cables. Aside from HARP’s planned routes will cross plans to establish open points of its mobile operation "WE", the the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, with presence in various new locations company owns a 45% stake in multiple ring protection topologies, in Africa and Europe to serve Vodafone Egypt. Telecom Egypt’s and will extend to include premium its enterprise and wholesale shares and GDRs (Ticker: ETEL. routes on both banks of the Suez customers. It will also support CA; TEEG.LN) are traded on The Canal. Sharm Elsheikh, located the digital transformation efforts Egyptian Exchange and the London at the southern tip of Sinai, will exerted throughout African nations, Stock Exchange. Please refer to serve as a new landing point and and expand the company’s Telecom Egypt’s full financial will be connected to coastal cities international footprint.” disclosure on ir.te.eg

SAWC 2102 p5-13 (News) RS.indd 12 03/03/2021 17:31 ON THE NETWORK

The impact of OTT on the telecom industry OTT services are growing exponentially around the world. Shashank Pawar, solution consultant at Tecnotree, explores the impact on Africa

he African telecommunication Loss of revenue OTT conundrum. The African multi- AI-ML techniques can save a lot industry, like the region itself, channel market is dynamic, reflect- of operational costs and can also Thas been changing at an accel- Although telcos across Africa are ing the ongoing rollout of 4G and 5G overcome issues around legacy erated rate. The continent grew at actually generating revenues from mobile networks. Also, investments systems. This will create a win win 8.7% CAGR in real GDP terms be- data subscriptions, it has not offset in terrestrial backbones, subma- situation for both parties where OTTs tween 2000 and 2010 and, despite the drastic fall in the purchase rine cables and satellite capacity can use the CSPs infrastructure and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, of traditional telecom services to fulfil future needs and reduce CSPs will have an attractive and forecasts suggest sub-Saharan Afri- like voice and messaging (SMS). transmission and backhauling costs diverse portfolio to offer. ca will continue at 2.7% in 2021. Nowadays, consumers from Kenya are ongoing. Some of the resulting Changing demographics and to Nigeria not only expect good opportunities are outlined below. Develop their own OTT improving business environments connectivity, but better services in platform across the continent are contribut- terms of faster on-demand content Improved customer ing to rising household consump- and apps, efficient messaging and experience As business across Africa changes, tion, which is predicted to reach communication. As a result, the business models are also adapting; $2.5 trillion by 2030. With that, trends show that African telecom African CSPs should consider shifting including the telecom industry there has been an explosion of a operators’ voice and SMS revenues their focus towards emulating the where operational efficiency continent-wide middle class, which have drastically reduced at an positive customer experience OTT coupled with desirable products has increased not only mobile accelerated rate and are predicted players deliver - which has allowed and services have become an adoption, but also the associated to continue to do so. them to flourish. Traditional telecom absolute necessity for providers. digital products and services. Africa services have lacked the “wow” As their customers have grown is currently the fastest-growing mo- Increased infrastructure cost factor, and this has been a pain point and increased their wealth, their bile telecom market in the world. for their consumers. Across Africa, preferences moved to internet, Since 2000, an annual increase In addition to revenue loss, African CSPs must become more customer smartphones, high speed networks of approximately 30% in mobile CSPs are being forced to invest in centric and leverage their existing and digital services – creating the phone connections has led Africa extra capacity as they continue to face infrastructure to provide digital environment for OTT to thrive. So, to become the world’s second-larg- network congestion from a surge in experiences to their customers with as part of this new paradigm, CSPs est mobile market behind Asia. In VoD. With an exponential increase in cross domain services like OTT, across the region should look into response, telcos like MTN Group, demand for videos, telecom operators fintech etc. They must drive their building their own platforms to meet Airtel Africa and Orange have had across the continent are experienc- business models based on market the demands of customers. MTN to change their core product and ing an unexpected strain on their maturity, customer preferences, Group, Airtel Africa combined have service infrastructures. networks; CSPs are actually spending economic trends and new 412.9 million mobile subscribers One of the main issues they more to maintain and upgrade their technologies to stay relevant. on the continent, more than 53% have had to respond to is the infrastructure without any increase of total network subscribers on the growing adoption of over-the- in their revenue. This has now forced Collaborations and continent. With such a high level of top (OTT) services. As increased them to adopt new business models partnerships penetration, there are potentially broadband penetration and and revenue streams based on data. high opportunities for any CSP than internet sweep key demographics As previously mentioned, it will be can create such an innovation. across the region, the popularity of Lack of regulatory difficult for CSPs to survive solely OTT services has exploded. While framework on the revenue from traditional telco Conclusion these largely involve VoD (video on services. Therefore, partnership demand) (Netflix, Prime Hotstar, Another critical factor is the lack is the key; CSPs can link with OTT The threat is real to CSPs from OTT etc), it also covers a broad range of regulatory framework for OTT services providers on new revenue players and it must be dealt with. of audio and messaging platforms players across the region. Although sharing models. For the OTT, they Creating high quality content and like WhatsApp and Skype. CSPs deliver the OTT content and gain access to the CSPs’ huge services along with hight network However, a growing issue is services through their network, they subscriber base with zero acquisition capacity infrastructure can suffice to that these services have taken have no authority over the content. cost, while the CSP gains healthy the ever-changing dynamics of mar- over traditional messaging and This may compromise with the returns in terms of new revenue ket and customer behaviour. While calling, which were once the main privacy of the consumer and also streams, massive boosts in data innovation is key, the major drivers revenue stream for telcos across impact the core services of the op- consumption, content rich services of business sustainability will be the Africa. As a result, operators find erator, depending on what country and improved customer experience. digital customer experience. As the themselves in increasing danger in they receive the information and the However, the partnering of OTTs main connectivity providers, CSPs this altered business landscape; rules / political infrastructure that and telcos can be challenging in enjoy huge subscriber bases and one that finds OTT players, who exists in that country. absence of a common service if they can be leveraged by either survive on telco infrastructure to platform. The bundling of services partnering with OTT players or de- deliver content and services to end So how can operators (telco & OTT) with manual veloping their own OTT platforms to customers, now sucking up those across Africa respond? integrations may be a tedious task, deliver content and experience, then same operators’ revenue streams. but this is an opportunity for digital CSPs will be able to sail through this This has manifested in a number However, as with all challenging technologies and platforms. Utilising wave of digital change and ride the of different ways. situations, there are solutions to this API platforms, cloud services and ongoing wave of African growth. n

February/March 2021 NORTHERN AFRICAN WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS 17

NAWC 2103 p17 (OTN).indd 17 07/04/2021 11:40 FEATURE: SATELLITE

Shaping the future of satcoms Satellite has played vital role for decades, whether it’s for communication or entertainment - but is it in danger of being left behind? Robert Shepherd asks the experts

atellite has attracted many favourable method of communication is moving at speed a technology belonging to a different era, is it column inches of late. From Starlink, in military and defence applications and going to be playing catch up for a long time? SpaceX’s much-hyped satellite internet broadband IP services, to name a few. However, “Is it?,” asks Robert Koldys, VP marketing, Sservice to China’s mission to dominate space the challenge has been that these advancements strategy and business development at Telecom26, internet, you’d be forgiven for thinking that have coincided with performance gains enjoyed a Swiss-based cross border mobile operator. “I the technology is going through a renaissance. by other telecommunications systems. don’t agree at all. Just because it’s been around Indeed, the opportunities afforded by this So, with satellite having long been viewed as for decades doesn’t mean it’s not as relevant as

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ever. You just have to to look at the enormous Now, we’re in 2021 and newer technologies investment in LEO satellite constellations to see Robert Koldys, are always on the horizon. One of those is 5G, that market watchers are confident. VP marketing, which has been lauded as the step towards a I suppose some may view satellite as old as strategy and business fully interconnected society. Nerenberg argues in the past it was circuit switched technology development, that satellite is perhaps more relevant than ever and the capacity was limited. Most of the Telecom26 in 2021. That’s because, she says, the demand deployments were for circuit switched voice which for internet access has never been higher and provide sub-optimal quality and performance. will only continue to grow. “No single transport With advancement in the satellite ecosystem can meet all of the need for connectivity, and (especially low orbit) and the implementation of satellite is an essential service in the network packet technology, we are seeing that many of “Is it? I don’t agree at all. Just because mix, enabling access in places where other those issues have been resolved.” technologies do not reach,” Nerenberg says. Sharyn Nerenberg, senior director, it’s been around for decades doesn’t “Aeronautical and maritime applications, which corporate marketing communications at wired technology cannot serve, are the most Hughes, the broadband satellite networks and mean it’s not as relevant as ever” obvious instances. Remote and rural places are services provider, is the first to admit that also ripe for satellite connectivity. In fact, the “unfortunately, satellite has a PR problem”, the current RVP Africa sales for Intelsat, explains GSMA predicts that 5G will cover one-third of primarily as a result of two misconceptions. how it “wasn’t long afterward”, however, that the world’s population by 2025, leaving two- “The first misconception is that satellite is satellite moved beyond sending transmissions thirds of the world unserved by 5G.” slow – which is a holdover from the early days covering the 11 moon landing in 1969 Khan adds the need for satellite services is not of the technology and not a reflection of today’s over local news stations, to transmitting news eliminated with the introduction of 5G, “as both satellite capabilities,” she says. “Today’s satellite and entertainment from around the world can work in a symbiotic relationship”, serving the technology is much more sophisticated, fast and directly into homes (mostly rural) via very large, same and different purposes. The next genera- dependable, able to support speeds of 25 Mbps clunky satellite dishes in the backyards along tion of satellites will be equipped to cater to 5G (the FCC’s definition of “broadband”) and higher with complicated tuning hardware. “Eventually platforms that enhance mobile broadband, better for consumer plans and capable of handling the large clunky home satellite systems were mission critical services, and enable the greater de- thousands of simultaneous sessions (16,000 in made smaller and easier to use, but as time ployment of IoT systems across numerous sectors. the case of the Hughes Jupiter System).” went on and as more people moved from rural “Our satellites come with the flexibility of Another key player in Asia is Yahsat, a areas to urban and suburban areas where cable catering to 5G platforms and our most recent satellite communications company based in television was available, people began to view agreement with Airbus on the Thuraya 4-NGS Abu Dhabi. Its chief commercial officer Farhan satellite as limited to government and science satellite, will be best suited for a GEO mission, Khan, says satellites “might seem outdated, projects as well as global news feeds by media maximising capabilities, cost-effectiveness, after all, it’s close to 70 years since the first companies,” he continues. “And since the launch security and reliability,” he adds. “Reducing costs satellite launched into space. of high-speed internet and the various access and increasing benefit to rural communities “The Sputnik was a surprising accomplishment technologies, including mobile broadband, high and non-urban communities which have limited for many during the late 1950’s and as a result of quality transmission of news and entertainment access to 5G connectivity. Working to serve the that success, we have plenty of satellites orbiting is available anytime, anywhere, even on the move. unserved who might not be able to migrate easily the earth’s atmosphere enabling humanity to Quickly, satellite became something viewed as to 5G. This flexibility still exists with satellites. live safer and more connected lives,” Khan says. outdated, limited largely to home internet and While the industry has anticipated this transition, “With rapid development over the past few years entertainment in places without access to cable we have taken action to ensure that 5G was in the satellite technology industry, it would be networks. This perception of satellite is outdated.” considered seriously with the evolution of our unfair to say that satellites have the same limited Indeed, satellite technology has clearly come services.” He adds that when the Thuraya 4-NGS functionalities as those launched during the a long way over the decades and Nerenberg cites satellite goes live in 2023, it will be able to cater mid-20th century. Like several small and large- HughesNet, its flagship satellite internet service, as to enterprise and government clients who have scale devices used in the past, scientists and an example. “When it first launched, HughesNet en- made the transition to 5G networks. engineers have always found ways to significantly abled service at speeds of around 5 Mbps down,” It may also come as a surprise that while 5G overhaul the functionalities of satellites to make she continues. “HughesNet Gen4 offered download is a wireless service, unlike satellite, it doesn’t them more efficient, easily deployable as well as speeds of 15 Mbps. HughesNet Gen5, our current function entirely without wires. That’s because maximising their capabilities.” service, offers download speeds of 25 Mbps. Our the fifth-generation technology depends on cell Khan further argues that “with indispensable next satellite, JUPITER 3, will enable service plans towers, which connect to the network core. functions and a growing range of services”, with speeds of up to 100 Mbps down.” “In urban and suburban areas, that satellites will support disruption on ground, She says that comparing today’s satellite with connection comes through fibre or cable,” says furthering movements like the advancement of the satellite service of the past “is like comparing Nerenberg. “In rural and hard-to-reach places autonomous vehicles and other interoperable dial-up internet access (remember 56 Kbps (e.g., islands, mountains, forests, jungles), cell devices as such which will use satellite service?) with fibre-optic cable services”, which towers are connected by satellite for backhaul connectivity to transfer data, communicate are now capable of gigabit speeds. Both are to the network core. According to NSR, more and make decisions. “Private enterprise is wired services to the home or business, but the than 70,000 wireless towers are backhauled by investing heavily in R&D and the likes of SpaceX technology is drastically different. geostationary satellite today, and that figure is are accelerating the volume of satellites to be “The second misconception about satellite is expected to grow as wireless providers extend deployed. We do not expect the trajectory to that it’s a substitute for wired technologies like their networks to serve more people in hard-to- change anytime soon, as the future is dependent cable and fibre. That is simply not the case,” reach places.” She says this is why companies on better connectivity that is not necessarily adds Nerenberg. “Where terrestrial connectivity like Hughes are working with standards dependent on terrestrial networks,” he says. is available, it is always going to be the faster bodies to ensure that satellite technology fits Intelsat I was the first commercial form of connectivity. However, where terrestrial seamlessly into the multi-transport networks communications satellite to be placed in services are not available, satellite offers the best that make up what we call “5G” service. geosynchronous orbit in April 1965. Brian Jakins, solution for high-speed, reliable connectivity.” Another satellite provider with a large Asian

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Continuous innovation has kept the JUPITER System at the forefront of the industry, from DVB-S2 and DVB-S2X to more recent innovations like return channel adaptive coding and modulation (ACM) to yield up to 30% bandwidth savings, and support of Layer 2 transport – essential for cellular backhaul implementations

footprint is Singtel Satellite, a unit of Singapore fact, our JUPITER System is the leading satellite case of failure,” he says. “It is also difficult to lay Telecommunications (Singtel). Song Lee Meng, its ground system in the world, with more than 50% the last mile fibre due to challenges on the ground. director of FSS product and marketing, explains market share. As the de facto standard for satellite Most enterprise applications are not time sensi- what technology the satellite sector introducing implementations, the JUPITER System powers tive. Therefore, satellite can be a good alternative in order to improve its performance and make broadband solutions on more than 40 convention- as the main or backup connectivity but when it more affordable to compete with small cells al and high-throughput satellites globally.” companies are located in remote places, satellite towers. “Satellite communications technologies Nerenberg argues how continuous innovation has communications can be the only option in providing have achieved remarkable breakthrough kept the JUPITER System “at the forefront of the in- ubiquitous and instant coverage in these zones.” efficiencies and increases in performance in dustry”, from DVB-S2 and DVB-S2X to more recent In fact, there are those who are of the opinion nearly a half century,” he says. “High Throughput innovations like return channel adaptive coding and that not only is satellite a viable alternative, to Satellite (HTS) can enable high performance and modulation (ACM) to yield up to 30% bandwidth fibre, but it’s actually more reliable. Nerenberg cost-effective links. In addition, the LEO satellites savings, and support of Layer 2 transport – essen- says that is most certainly the case when it will offer low latency and higher throughput in tial for cellular backhaul implementations. comes to manmade and natural disasters, to future which will introduce new capabilities for “On the horizon, we are innovating which fibre is vulnerable. “This is why satellite satcom services. One key technology that will enhancements to the system such as software- makes the ideal transport for disaster response improve satcom capabilities is flat-panel antennas defined networking, mobile edge computing, and recovery as well as critical back-up to enter- which will be ‘a game changer’ for expanding the and virtualization with a private cloud to support prise and government fibre networks,” she adds. role satellites play in connecting devices to the scalability and efficiencies,” she continues. “This “Then, I would say that we do not intend for our internet-of-things, assuming the price is right.” kind of innovation is essential to support the new satellite services to compete with fibre. They are For Nerenberg, “our aim is not to compete with class of software-defined and flexible satellites.” different - just the same way that a pick-up truck small cell towers”, but rather to deliver value as It’s often said that fibre is cheaper, faster, more and a sedan serve different needs. Both forms of part of the networking ecosystem. “To that end, reliable and carries far lower latency than satellite. transportation have their own specific benefits our equipment is in use around the world back- It sounds like a no-brainer when it’s put like that, and trade-offs. You probably wouldn’t use the hauling more than 12,000 cellular sites across but Lee Meng finds holes in the argument. sedan to haul construction debris or landscaping Africa, Asia and Latin America, powering satellite “Fibre is subject to terrestrial disruptions and equipment, or to traverse a mountainous dirt internet services for millions of people and ena- cuts, where satellite has just three potential points road or through a jungle. And the pick-up truck bling more than 40,000 community Wi-Fi hotspots of failure: the satellite, the hub and the satellite would be unwieldy and uncomfortable (not to across the same regions,” she continues. “In terminal, each of which has built-in redundancy in mention inelegant!) in a city centre. Satellite-based

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internet goes where fibre providers do not. to innovate and implement network optimiza- opportunities to continue enhancing our service It’s a view shared by Martin Jarrold, chief of tions, such as automatically saving data when – from the launch of our JUPITER 3 satellite… international programme development at satellite streaming video or using artificial intelligence to to implementing multi-transport solutions body, GVF. “Copper or fibre lines are most detect and triage potential network issues.” combining a low-latency transport such as LEO or applicable for urban areas and not economically Yahsat’s Thuraya 4 – NGS is an example wireless as a complement to the high-capacity/ viable for rural areas due to distance and of how the operator is overcoming data limit low-cost GEO service,” concludes Nerenberg. terrain,” he says. “For microwave transmission, challenges, as the satellite is designed to be Koldys adds that, “of course”, there are some line of sight and flat terrain needed to be cost- highly flexible and agile. “This is so that we can doubts about the viability of different projects, effective, with limited rural/remote application. integrate new technologies on the ground, which but there’s no reason per se to question whether Satellite is increasingly the backhaul of choice provide considerable edge, given the challenges satellites in general can’t play a significant and only solution for rural/remote deployments.” and dynamics in the industry which includes a role in delivering connectivity. “And, one only Looking ahead, data consumption is only wide spectrum of data service,” says Khan. has to look at the work of ESOA and 3GPP, for going to grow and it’s no secret that satellite Hughes is equally optimistic about what lies example, to see how satellites are integral to faces challenges in this space. ahead. “Looking to the future, we see many future 5G rollout plans,” he says. n “Short range, low satellites provide low latency and high throughput called fibre in the sky which can meet the demand for growing data con- sumption,” argues Amir Cohen, vice president of marketing and business development at Gilat Telecom. Khan says that while there are limitations, network infrastruc- ture and capabilities continue to mature and develop at such an incredible rate. Yahsat, for example, is developing ways to overcome the obstacles that are posed by satellite data limits. “We remain committed to R&D in the field of satellite communication, and the development of new features and functionalities that meet the requirements of today’s users,” he adds. “With new emerging data requirements, at Yahsat, we have been developing next generation systems that will have a wide spectrum of data services catering to throughput requirements ranging from low (20 kbps) to high (more than 1 Mbps) for various verticals and applications. To this end, our next generation satellite system has nearly doubled throughput of data products as the MSS/L-Band design offers optimised data rates.” Nerenberg agrees that the challenge “and the opportunity” for satellite providers is to serve the growing demand for bandwidth with a finite resource. She warns that serving more customers is not as easy as running a connection to new customers’ homes – it requires building and launching a new satel- lite. “That said, Hughes has been in the business of supplying satellite internet longer than any other provider, and we have learned a lot along the way,” she says. “We are constantly improving and advancing LEARN MORE AT HUGHES.COM our offerings to better serve our HughesNet customers, who have been largely overlooked by other ©2021 Hughes Network Systems, LLC. All Rights Reserved. providers. This is why we continue

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Necessity is the mother of invention Sanjeev Verma, CEO of Squire Technologies looks at how African telecoms operators are meeting the challenge of network fraud in a challenging threat landscape

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n recent years sub-Saharan Africa has been SIM swaps, which inadvertently led to SIM Swap home to several of the world’s fastest-growing frauds. Hence operators had to come up with Sanjeev Verma, economies, and the telecoms industry continues remedies to tackle the emerging fraud. CEO, Ito play a significant role in the region’s economic Africa’s approach to combatting fraud has Squire Technologies growth, with it set to contribute $185bn by 2024. always been a collaborative one, and this has seen While the environment is challenging, them work closely with other industries and verti- with lower margins, greater regulation and cals to find solutions. The high costs from vendors fragmented infrastructure, Africa’s operators delivering products and services into the region and the wider telecoms industry have proven has encouraged an innovate to prosper mindset. themselves to be incredibly agile in the face of At a major bank in Mozambique, suffering telecoms and cyber fraud. The telco landscape from increasing cases of SIM Swap fraud, is seen as another example of the collaborative in the region challenging one, at a time where (where fraudsters trick or bribe a phone and proactive approach that the industry in operators are faced with shrinking margins, companies call centre staff into switching a region takes towards reducing network fraud. increased competition from OTT providers and legitimate customers SIM card to one they Many of those working as regulators in Africa demands to invest in 5G and new technologies, control), Vodacom Mozambique offered a have come from the industry itself, and there’s the ever-present threat of fraud and its impact straightforward cost-effective solution; They a common goal to protect the whole ecosystem is a problem that looms large over operators. would setup a system that would allow the as opposed to simply focussing on competition, Understanding fraud for operators in the region bank to query phone records for any recent SIM like regulators are in Europe and the US. is about understanding the challenges they swaps associated with a bank account before Many of the leading telco’s in Africa are listed face with providing services to an incredibly they could carry out a money transfer. This on the South African stock exchange, corporate diverse part of world at a time of rapid would mean that if a SIM swap had occurred governance is tough and audits from external growth and development on many fronts, both in the last two-three days, the transfer could investors who do not have sight of what is technologically and socially. be blocked. With victims of SIM swapping happening on the ground are comprehensive and Africa is the world leader in non-contracted likely to be aware of it quickly due to the specific in terms of gauging what is happening telecommunications with 95% of being disabled, the solution proved to with the operation. It is also commonplace for subscribers on prepaid services, by far the be an enormous success and other banks and operators to have dedicated risk and fraud teams largest ratio in the world. Prepaying for mobile operators in Africa and abroad have put similar and the role of a Chief Risk Officer with overall and data sparingly, charges are relative, and carrier-checking remedies in place. responsibility of fraud prevention. much smaller, perhaps less than US10 cents As African operators have played a greater for customers to use their phone. What this role to their subscribers, as financial service What can operators do? means for operators is that vast amounts of providers, the necessity to secure their networks data is being generated, take MTN Nigeria for and protect subscriber’s money has driven inno- Fraud attacks are becoming increasingly more example who might face up to 8 trillion CDRs vation in telecoms and verticals. This has been sophisticated especially on the borders of being generated which needs to be orchestrated especially so for brands selling connected and networks where international connection with by other systems. When you consider their IoT enabled electronics into the continent. Faced services such as IOT platforms and cloud 70 million strong subscribers this amounts with a consumer base almost entirely on prepaid communications is taking place. Being aware to a huge environment where you process mobile plans there was no way to load devices of what the threat landscape is and the ways every individual transaction. In contrast an such as iPads with prepaid airtime or data bun- that fraudsters and criminals are attacking operator like AT&T in the US depend largely dles. Apple like many wrongly assumed everyone networks is the first step for operators. on their 75 million subscribers being on neatly was on some sort of contract. Here a growing API Deploying a multi-layered strategy and going defined monthly contracts. As far as billing industry offered a neat solution in airtime API’s on the offensive is crucial for them as waiting and reconciliation is concerned, in Africa, it is that could be used to add credit to devices. for attacks to happen and then working to a much more complex process. With margins As well as ensuring that international block them only proves costly. Automation being significantly slimmer it’s crucial that businesses can more easily access Africa, APIs technologies are increasingly adding value operators get things right to make money. developed to carry out security checks, account to the fight against fraud, leveraging active These BSS/OSS challenges that operators validation and KYC (Know Your Customer) APIs and passive detection that deploys both test face inevitably filter through to other areas, and are adding an extra layer of security to mobile calls and messages to seek out sources of this includes risk and fraud. As with the rest of money and assurances to telecoms. fraudulent traffic, as well as testing live traffic the world Africa suffers from the ever-increasing for anomalies and threats. Combined with threat of telecoms network fraud, which for some Fraud as a top priority big data and machine learning automation developed nations has reached epidemic levels. solutions disrupt criminal activity, and they With telecoms being such a large part of are proving to be a cost-effective solution to Innovate to prosper Africa’s economy, fraud is seen as serious fraud on the wholesale industry, specifically threat at a government level. Authorities and international wholesale fraud, and effective for Mobile money is the biggest tech invention to regulators are proactive in doing everything detecting SIM Boxes and combatting various come out of Africa and has become a catalyst that it takes to reduce tax losses, combat forms of illegal bypass fraud. for change on the continent. An attractive network fraud and reduce corruption. The loss from network fraud in Africa and diversification for mobile operators, mobile Most recently Lesotho and Zimbabwe have beyond still remains staggeringly high, costing money provides almost 20% of annual revenues. implemented new telecom oversight technology the industry and customers billions of dollars a Succeeding where the UN and traditional to monitor national and international telecoms year. But Africa is proving to be resourceful and financial institutions floundered in providing traffic. The technology promises to increase agile in the face of a challenging threat landscape. financial services to an unbanked population, revenue assurance, combat fraud and enforce The innovative and collaborative approach the mobile money inevitably caught the attention of billing integrity across telco networks. continent takes to fraud prevention, and the opportunistic fraudsters. Providing connectivity The system enables regulators to see, in real- determination to make it a top priority should be and SIM cards to far flung markets required time, what’s happening in the telecom sector, seen as an example to be set to operators and mechanisms that made it easier for people to do so that they can improve upon governance. It regulators in more developed nations. n

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Fixed wireless access and Wi-Fi on the move FWA, an invaluable tool for internet connectivity in remote and built-up areas? Robert Shepherd connects with the industry to find out if this is so and how

herever you live, the average prohibitive, lower population densities in rural indeed the world, in need of enhanced quality broadband speed requirement markets often harm the fibre business case and speeds. Now, in early 2021, as the dust continues to rise and fibre access return on investment (ROI), while buildings begins to settle following the worst pandemic Wis arguably still the go-to option. It makes or things of natural beauty may prevent the any of us will (hopefully) ever have to endure, complete sense, when one considers its high installation of fibre regardless of how much the demands for speedy internet access on the bandwidth performance, low latency and money has been made available. move is becoming more important than ever maintenance, as well as durability. That said, fibre is not always available, either, before. Does FWA really offer the best way to Of course, copper and fibre deployment which means other technologies and methods meet the last mile challenge that wired networks for better broadband service is not always an of communication have to fill the void. Enter have been unable to solve? If so, how? upgrade option. Reasons include the fact that fixed wireless access (FWA), which is known to “FWA has several major benefits when municipal regulations can make fibre trenching offer high-capacity solutions for parts of Africa, compared to fixed line/fibre deployments,” says

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David Sumi, VP of marketing at wireless gigabit “There is, unfortunately, no single solution provider Siklu. “Especially in a large Kamal Mokrani, area such as Africa where many communities are blanket solution that will meet the global vice president, spread out. Fixed line deployments are almost Infinet Wireless always more expensive than FWA and take months exact requirements in all scenarios” to install versus FWA which can be up and running in weeks. It used to be that FWA was at a speed disadvantage to wireline, but with mmWave deployment; with lower population density, a systems delivering up to 10Gbps full duplex, this cable or fibre solution will be even more costly is no longer the case. For regions that lack existing and their ROI will not justify the initial investment wireline infrastructure FWA is cheaper and faster.” or on-going investment due to low ARPU.” Large swathes of Africa certainly lack Of course, the availability, indeed quality over wide expanses of land, and even into the the infrastructure Sumi mentions, which of connectivity depends heavily on where one tunnel system itself. Trains and buses are a is unsurprising when one considers the is located. When it comes to the last point of different scenario altogether and don’t really topography across the bottom half of the contact within a shopping centre, on a campus, lend themselves to FWA solutions.” world’s largest continent by land mass. on a train or bus, or even workers risking their Webb says that the last point of connectivity WiFiontheMove is a South African firm lives in a mine, different technological options are must use a technology widely available in hand- run by Justin Farnell, the company CEO and needed, according to Kamal Mokrani, global vice sets, tablets, laptops and other devices. However, founder. He says that because Africa “is so president at broadband wireless development there are only two options - cellular and Wi-Fi. huge”, the cost of running fixed fibre into most business Infinet Wireless. ”There is, unfortunately, “Both are used in places like shopping centres towns and villages just isn’t financially viable. no single blanket solution that will meet the where mobile operators are often keen to deploy “Poynting’s FIBREPOYNT have developed a FWA exact requirements in all scenarios,” he says. cellular solutions alongside the shopping centre solution that saves 50% of the OPEX costs of Our experience has shown that the challenges we owner providing Wi-Fi,” he adds. ”In locations a traditional fibre deployment, whilst delivering would need to overcome in a shopping centre, as where mobile operators are less interested in de- equivalent speeds and QOS, through patented an example, are totally different from those we ployment then only Wi-Fi is used. Many trains and beamforming RF technology.” encounter in a mining environment where signal buses now have Wi-Fi deployed within them.” The good news is “FWA is generally lower cost propagation can be affected by many geological Historically, there was no ultra-high bandwidth to deploy than wired networks such as fibre optic structures and man-made obstacles.” alternative to fibre, but high performance FWA has cable”, especially outside of rural areas where Mokrani says that when hundreds, if not emerged to fill the gigabit broadband desire when the distances between buildings increase, making thousands of retail customers, decide to go fibre is not an option. What’s more, technically, the cost of laying fibre higher, says William Webb, shopping at the same time, Infinet’s solutions there are no limitations to bands that can be chief technology officer (CTO) at Cambridge tend to focus more on relieving the well-known used to deploy FWA. In the case of LTE network Broadband Networks Group (CBNG). “Where bottleneck related to backhauling capacity, thus deployments, operators often favour 800MHz, broadband is not available due to cost then FWA offering sufficient capacity to ensure both “high 1.8GHz and 2.1GHz bands for rural and suburban can provide an excellent solution,” he continues. quality” voice calls and Internet access. areas while using 2.3 GHz and 2.6 GHz for urban “However, even with FWA there will be some re- “High-speed connectivity for passengers areas. The same strategy could be applied for gions so remote that only with government funding on a train, bus or metro present us with FWA, however, due to the possibility of mitigating will it be economically viable to connect them.” completely different challenges, but ones which the adverse effects of higher propagation loss, it is For Simon Fletcher, CTO at independent we have already been resolved in many of our feasible to also consider high carrier frequencies advisory Real Wireless, FWA “has to be a part of deployments around the world,” he continues. such as those in the 3.5GHz range where large the solution” along with options such as satellite All our wireless solutions are adaptable to the bandwidths are more readily available. that must also be considered. “However if tower specific environment we are faced with, thanks Clearly a good solution for connectivity in even infrastructure along with power and backhaul to our approach in developing Software Defined the most unforgiving of environments, but will (which could be shared) are well placed, then FWA Radio (SDR) platforms with all the flexibility they opportunities for FWA continue to open up as would give a good, scalable and robust capability offer us and our customers. For example, when operators and service providers in the region for delivering the high per-user data rates that roaming between base stations deployed along realise the benefits of LTE-based FWA? will inevitably be required and demanded by the tracks for a train or a pre-defined route for “Most definitely,” argues Farnell. “The consumers and enterprises alike,” he adds. other moving vehicles, seamless handover from current auction in South Africa of much needed Eugina Jordan, VP, marketing at OpenRAN one access point to another, whilst keeping spectrum in the 700, 800, 2600 and 3500MHz software firm Parallel Wireless, also explains latency of the data transmitted at its lowest bands will drive down LTE data and voice costs how the cost of legacy high-speed broadband level possible, is the biggest challenge for such and improve service quality. So the growth service through cable or fibre-to-the-x (FTTx) high-speed mobility applications.” prospects for the FWA sector look strong.” deployment, is a significant part of initial network These contexts all have subtly different As far as Jordan is concerned, it’s just another, deployment. “The average cost of laying fibre is principle drivers of the demand, argues Fletcher. more cost-effective way to deliver coverage. “The US$15,000 per mile,” she says. “Also, in many “A shopping centre will be primarily focussed coverage it delivers will enable not only many areas the permits for related construction work on B2C, while a mine would be more B2B as more opportunities, but also creates services like will take months. This will be a huge burden for the driving force,” he says. “The nature of the eLearning, eHealth and eCommerce that will help service providers because of initial costs that will data being transmitted wirelessly – B2B or to move the region forward,” she adds. However, not necessarily convert into revenue.” However, B2C – will determine and push the economic she says that legacy LTE-based fixed wireless Jordan says, a fixed wireless solution deployment principles that shape the network deployment solution deployment relies on a complicated “is simply based on a base station deployment” principles. While FWA can provide a good group deployment and configuration process during site and no last mile delivery investment. “In this / shared connection on which to bolt a Wi-Fi installation. “This requires a complicated prepara- scenario, service providers will cover specific access solution and would work for a shopping tion phase and expert technician presence at the geographical areas and target customers without centre, mines are a well-understood scenario, time of any new site installation,” Jordan says. any specific investment for last mile delivery often choosing to deploy a mobile micro BTS Webb says opportunities for FWA already for that specific customer. “For rural area in lower spectrum bands to maximise coverage exist, citing every home and building without a

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broadband connection. Nevertheless, he says predicts for FWA, whether LTE-based or others, deployment are certainly crucial for bridging the LTE is not the solution, because it is designed will be in emerging countries where fixed broad- digital divide between urban and rural areas,” he for mobile use and is too expensive and too low band via legacy fibre, cable or DSL is simply not continues. “There is noticeably more demand for capacity for FWA. “To put it into perspective, available today. “In developed countries, we are broadband connectivity in cities and bigger towns a mobile user tends to have a monthly data seeing strong signs that FWA technologies are than rural areas simply because that’s where most consumption of about 5GByte/month, a home giving service providers a more competitive edge companies and businesses are physically located. about 350GByte/month - 70 times more,” says over more expensive and sometimes unreliable Mobile technologies such as 4G or 5G are not Webb. “Using LTE or even 5G mobile to provide wired alternatives,” Mokrani adds. “The biggest necessarily the most trusted platforms for a bank, home broadband is like trying to use a car to opportunity we see for LTE-based FWA specifi- as just one example, to establish connectivity transport 50 people - a coach is far better suited.” cally will be for the residential market, especially between its branches and its headquarters as their In fact, Webb is rather blunt about LTE and 5G fuelled by the current Covid-19 pandemic where managers value data security much more than being used for FWA, calling it a waste of more more and more people are having to work from anything else. They would most certainly deploy costly infrastructure and due to densification and home and demanding broadband speeds so as their own private networks, such as one based on the transitory nature of mobile users coming in to stay fully operational and productive.” FWA, and not want to share best-efforts network and out of the coverage area, the user’s bandwidth Let’s look to the future. While microwave links capacity from mobile networks with other users, experience is not predictable or guaranteed. “FWA have long been the cheap and effective solution, ultimately exposing themselves to potential cyber is static and so can be designed to provide pre- some believe there is now a real danger of threats and attacks. The same principle is also dictable service which can be backed by service usurpation by mobile tech such as 5G, whilst applicable to mission critical applications such as level agreements,” he argues. “There is a great others see this in bigger towns and cities only. the fire brigade, the ambulance service and law deal of fibre deployed in African countries, making Jordan says the approach adopted by fixed enforcement agencies, all favouring a dedicated FWA more of a niche solution for urban residen- wireless service providers to network deploy- and private network for their own use only.” tial/enterprise connectivity. However, FWA will ment is based on coverage limited or capacity As far as Webb is concerned, mobile technology always have a strong foothold in rural and subur- limited scenarios. “In a coverage limited scenar- is great....for mobiles. The problem, he says, is that ban communities where the costs to lay fibre over io, service providers main objective is providing “it is not designed” for providing broadband con- dispersed dwellings remains largely prohibitive.” acceptable coverage for a specific area consider- nection to buildings. “It is both very expensive as The changes that have occurred in recent ing targeted SLA for subscribers,” she explains. a solution to fixed broadband and lacks sufficient years with the introduction of LTE, 5G and more “In a capacity limited scenario, service provider capacity, especially after providing service to mobile advanced FWA technologies have clearly been addresses limited capacity in a geographical users,” Webb adds. “There are few examples of monumental across a plethora of industry sectors. area by adding extra base stations in the specif- widespread FWA solutions using mobile technol- Mokrani says “the heightened consumer adoption ic geographical area already has coverage.” ogy and those that exist tend to require massive of mobile devices is due to the lack of adequate Jordan says that although “the classical investment in a denser network of base stations. fixed infrastructures” in many countries. deployment will start with a ‘search ring’ Better to use FWA - a technology designed for the “This has leveraged broadband wireless identification”, following site acquisition and purpose, with much more capacity and reliability.” technology providers to play a much bigger role deployment; in many rural deployments, ease of Lest we take it for granted, remember that than traditional fixed operators by relieving the deployment is the main objective for providers. incredible things happen when people connect pressure for backhauling data and voice traffic Mokrani argues that “there is no doubt that all to the internet or with each other. Whether the from the mobile operators’ base stations to types of wireless technologies have a significant location is rural or urban, domestic, international, the rest of their network,” Mokrani continues. role to play in improving broadband access in telco or cable, enterprise or residential, it sounds “Network operators of all types naturally want to all parts of Africa. “Some of these technologies like optimised gigabit broadband solutions spread the cost of installation and maintenance may still have a long way to go before they deliver the vision of global networking. FWA is of any new technology across as many services become universally accepted, with political and addressing last mile deployment challenges and applications as possible.” regulatory policies being the biggest obstacles to timely, cost effectively and with increased speed He argues that the largest opportunity Infinet ubiquitous connectivity, but their acceptance and and resilience. That can only be a good thing. n

26 NORTHERN AFRICAN WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS February/March 2021

NAWC 2103 p24-26 (Feature II).indd 26 07/04/2021 18:01 obile Mark is a leading supplier of innovative, high performance antennas to wireless companies across the globe. We’ve been in the wireless industry for over 30 years and have our roots in the Mearly Cellular trials. Today, we benefit from enhanced design capabilities and expanded production capacity – along with a greater understanding of new and emerging markets such as mining and exploration. Modern mining operations rely on a battalion of vehicles, ranging from massive extraction vehicles to modest-sized material transport trucks. These vehicles operate in tough environments where high vibration is a frequent wear and tear challenge. Mining companies throughout Africa have relied on our rugged, foam-filled mobile antennas for consistent connections. Mobile Mark’s infrastructure antennas have been used for rapid deployment and redundancy coverage for effective wireless coverage in isolated settings.

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AWCY 20 p23 (Mobile Mark).indd 4 28/07/2020 13:56 WIRELESS SOLUTIONS

Sepura SC21 Doodle Labs’ Mesh Rider OS

Small and light, the SC21 is the next- generation, smart for the Smart Radio Platform TETRA hand-portable radio. With a wide Doodle Labs is “pleased” to release antenna. In addition, the automatic and clean interface for an enhanced range of functionality Mesh Rider OS firmware version channel selection (ACS) for interfer- user experience. By default, it pro- inherited from the 2021-03 for the Smart Radio. This ence mitigation means the Smart vides commonly used settings, and SC20 hand-portable firmware update delivers significant Radio will periodically monitor the click the “Advanced Settings” button - yet 25% smaller - it new features and performance medium and may switch over to a reveals all of the original settings. offers all the benefits improvements, including improved better operating channel. Elsewhere, Meanwhile, the Mesh Rider SDK will of a compact radio. link reliability, improved manage- the web GUI, Doodle Labs says, has allow customers to write and compile Reliable performance: With a ment tools and the customisation been revamped to provide a simple their own software to run on the best-in-class TETRA engine, the of smart radios. Starting with the Smart Radio. “We enhanced the SC21 allows you to keep communi- former, a new link monitor constantly Mesh Rider OS based on direct cating where other small handsets checks the status of the wireless link feedback from our customers to fail. Class 3 high-power RF trans- and triggers a rapid recovery in the meet their operational require- mission, coupled with exceptional event of a link loss. There is also a ments,” says Aaron Do, man- receive sensitivity, gives the SC21 pre-flight link check tool that runs ager of application engineering extended operational range. through a series of checks to test the and customer support at Doodle Powerful Audio: The SC21’s best-in- integrity of RF link quality for each Labs. doodlelabs.com class audio capability allows for rich, clear voice communication, however noisy the environment. The powerful, directional speaker projects audio to Ericsson launches 5G RAN slicing the user’s ear, providing extra clarity, and unique Water Porting technology Swedish gear-maker Ericsson’s radio resources at one millisecond connectivity, and extended reality. ensures that clarity is maintained, new 5G network slicing solution scheduling and supports multi- “Ericsson 5G RAN Slicing dynam- even in continuous, heavy rain. for radio access networks (RAN) dimensional service differentiation ically optimizes radio resources to Advanced Safety Features: The enables communications service handling across slices. This, the deliver significantly more spectrum-ef- SC21’s advanced worker safety providers to deliver customised company reckons, strengthens ficient radio access network slicing,” features offer peace of mind for lone 5G services with guaranteed end-to-end slicing capabilities for says Per Narvinger, head of product and remote workers at all times of performance, the company says. dynamic resource management area networks, Ericsson. “What makes the day or night, including auto- Now commercially available, and orchestration that ensure the our solution distinct is that it boosts mated Man-Down and Lone Worker Ericsson 5G RAN Slicing allocates high-quality end-user experience end-to-end management and orches- protection, biometric user health required by diverse use cases. tration support for fast and efficient monitoring and location tracking. Network slicing supports service delivery. This gives service User Friendly: The SC21 has a multiple logical networks for providers the differentiation and 2.4” high resolution QVGA screen different service types over guaranteed performance needed to – the largest on any TETRA hand- one common infrastructure. It monetize 5G investments with diverse portable – allowing for quick and is a key enabler for unlocking use cases. With 5G as innovation easy viewing in all light conditions, 5G revenue opportunities such platform, we continue to drive value including direct sunlight. sepura.com as enhanced video, and in-car for our customers.” ericsson.com ThinKom antenna design ‘offers flexible installation’

ThinKom Solutions has developed a line-replaceable unit (LRU) for man and CTO of ThinKom Solutions. ures less than 9cm in total height, new product variant of its VICTS aero the ACU/PS. Further, the unique Another apparent plus is the while retaining the flight-proven, satellite communication antennas, high-efficiency and low-power incorporation of the ACU into high-reliability design and product which, it claims, enables more flexi- characteristics of the VICTS phased the base of the antenna does not features for which the VICTS an- ble installation choices and allows for array fully eliminate the need for result in any increase in mounting tennas have become known. smaller distributed and embedded other bulky and power-consuming footprint and maintains the an- ThinKom says an added benefit of phased-array applications. LRUs, such as power-conditioning tenna’s highly favoured low-profile the new product variant is enabling The new product variant, which units, heat-exchanger units and ex- characteristics. The antenna meas- the transmit and receive antennas to targets government and military ternal RF/power/cooling manifolds. be co-located or alternatively mount- beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) satellite “This new design is part of ed in remotely separated plat- communication markets, integrates our strategy to become the form locations. This maxim- the VICTS antenna, antenna control preferred satellite antenna ises application flexibility in unit (ACU) and power-supply (PS) choice for smaller terms of packaging, weight electronics into a single low-pro- volume-limited and pow- balance and other airframe file small-footprint package. This er-limited platforms,” and operational consider- eliminates the need for a separate says Bill Milroy, chair- ations. thinkom.com

28 NORTHERN AFRICAN WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS February/March 2021

NAWC 2103 p28-29 (Wireless Solutions).indd 28 07/04/2021 11:41 WIRELESS SOLUTIONS

Introducing Siklu’s new Look out for... China launches Terragraph-compliant series ‘world’s first 6G’ With the Terragraph-compliant is able to self-organise into a on premise networks via copper MultiHaul TG series, Siklu says neighbourhood L2 SDN or fibre. With Siklu’s N366 test satellite it’s lowering the cost of delivering mesh and provides just connecting to other N366 services to homes, businesses and under 16Gbps of total nodes, or to the TU series China launched what it claimed to within smart city broadband IoT capacity. The MultiHaul the MultiHaul TG product be the first ever 6G experimental applications. The TG series consists TU265 acts as a client line offers, the company satellite to test communications of distribution nodes (DNs) and cli- node with dynamic beam says, the greatest flexi- from space using high-frequency ent nodes (TUs). Siklu’s N366 is an steering connecting to bility in delivering gigabit terahertz spectrum. integrated Terragraph compliant DN DNs and offers multiple connections in dense The Chinese embassy in the US that provides 360-degree coverage, ports for interface to environments. siklu.com capital Washington, DC tweeted that the country’s “6G” satellite was one of 13 aboard the Long March-6 rocket, which launched Teltronic presents the new MCBS November 6 at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre in Shanxi province. Teltronic presents the new reduction in costs and deployment troubleshooting. All this, added The 70kg 6G test satellite aims MCBS, an outdoor TETRA base time in railway environments. to its low consumption, means to verify the performance of station which, through the use In addition, it allows different significant savings in OPEX. data transmission using terahertz of SDR (Software defined radio) configurations to adapt flexibly to Similarly, the increase in spectrum and will test a number of techniques, provides up to four any number of subscribers and the number of radio resources smart city, environmental protection carriers in a single compact unit, system traffic load. available in a TETRA zone is greatly and disaster prevention applications, offering, it reckons, the highest Furthermore, operation and simplified, as it does not require such as crop and forest fire monitor- level of performance in a single, maintenance tasks are apparently any hardware upgrade or a visit to ing, according to local media reports. lightweight and compact device. simplified as the MCBS is configured the site, but only the incorporation This sixth-generation mobile access The multi-carrier technology, the and monitored completely remotely of licenses to activate new carriers. technology has already started to gain MCBS, with its 40W of from the NEBULA “With this development, Teltronic momentum as major industry players RF Power, is apparently infrastructure Network shows that we keep our commit- back a launch as early as 2030. able to offer the features Management System, ment to TETRA technology and our South Korean giant Samsung of an indoor fixed which incorporates NEBULA infrastructure, incorporat- expects the ITU-R to begin work on base station in a single a set of tools that ing into our portfolio a new product 6G in 2021, with the standard to be compact device that allow supervising its that is the result of hours of completed as early as 2028. This is prepared to operate status in real time, intense work by our R&D engineers would open the door to the earliest outdoors without monitoring the activity and offers unique performance and deployments in 10 years. requiring civil works for of the network users, capabilities in the radio communi- The challenges to 6G are many, in- its installation, which having access to cations market,” explains the com- cluding requiring 100-times the data means a significant statistics and alarm pany’s CEO, Juan Ferro. teltronic.es throughput of 5G and sub-millisecond latency, AT&T executive Mazin Gilbert said at the 6G Symposium last month. Last year, US operators Verizon, Viavi releases 2021 updates to the Test AT&T, T-Mobile US and US Cellular joined other operators under the Suite for O-RAN Specifications guise of the Next G Alliance, aiming to steer development of 6G and Viavi Solutions introduces updates to manufacturers worldwide – including plane parameters used by more establish North America as a global its industry-first Test Suite for O-RAN all Tier-1 network equipment vendors than any other solution. leader in the technology. Specifications. The O-RAN ALLI- manufacturers – Viavi boasts to have The company is also active in Japanese mobile phone operator ANCE’s specifications for open radio the most comprehensive O-RAN test specifications development, as the NTT Docomo made early moves to access networks are being adopted by platform on the market, with CUSM- editor of interoperability test specifi- develop 6G technology in January operators and equipment manufac- cations in the open fronthaul with a goal of a commercial launch turers worldwide, to reduce infrastruc- (WG4) and open interfaces by 2030 and in May, China Unicom ture costs and lower the barrier to (WG5) working groups, and and ZTE signed a strategic agreement entry for new product innovation. the co-chair of multiple to develop 6G technologies. Viavi says the test suite has been working groups at the O-RAN Studies have also contributed to augmented to include use cases ALLIANCE. “Viavi’s active a lot of progress in the 6G arena. of critical importance as O-RAN contributions have enabled The University of California that becomes adopted at scale, as it to develop partnerships claimed significant progress by well as learnings from customer with complementary solu- building a device that can speed engagements around the globe. tions from best-of-breed up the process of development and Based on its position validating vendors,” the company save substantial amounts of time network products for operators and argues. viavisolutions.com during the design phase.

February/March 2021 NORTHERN AFRICAN WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS 29

NAWC 2103 p28-29 (Wireless Solutions).indd 29 07/04/2021 11:41 NEWS

4 SOUTHERN AFRICAN WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS January/February 2019

SASIA 20Q1 p36 (YB).indd 4 03/04/2020 17:33 WORLD NEWS Caribbean Brazil regulator approves Express: next stop Jamaica 5G spectrum auction rules

The Caribbean Express, Brazilian telecom regula- giant, which currently supplies 50% three to four years in technology. a new multi-billion-dollar tor Anatel approved rules of the existing 3G and 4G networks. Two of Brazil’s main telecom submarine cable system being for a spectrum auction for 5G net- Rules for the auction expected in companies, Telefônica Brasil and rolled out by American telecom works this year and rejected calls to a few months have costly conditions Claro are pressing for a five-year development firm, Ocean Networks, curb China’s Huawei Technologies such as requiring telecom companies transition to the more advanced is making its way to Jamaica. an equipment supplier. to migrate by next year to more stand-alone networks. An 18-fibre pair subsea cable The South American country’s advanced technology with stand-alone “The stand-alone condition system linking the state of Florida president Jair Bolsonaro last year networks not based on their current requires changing the core of today’s to Panama, which is just being built criticised the Chinese company and technology. They will also have to networks and will set us back years,” out, is also being extended to the considered banning the world’s larg- cover the big northern Amazon region said Vivien Suruagy, head of Feninfra, Caribbean island’s capital, Kingston. est telecom equipment-maker from with broadband connectivity, largely a lobby representing 137,000 In the initial phase the Caribbean the country’s fifth-generation technol- using optic fibre cables laid in rivers, companies that build and maintain Express network will not only run ogy market on security concerns. as well as build a separate secure telecommunications networks. between Palm Beach, Florida and Brazil’s telecom companies network for the federal government. The rules must be approved by Balboa, Panama, but with additional insisted on a free market and Industry representatives said Brazil’s Federal Audit Court, the landing points in Cancún, Mexico complained that excluding Huawei Huawei could not be excluded from TCU, where the telecoms hope the and Cartagena, Colombia. would cost billions of dollars to Brazil’s 5G market because, cost government’s onerous conditions Ocean Networks disclosed replace the equipment of the tech aside, it would set the country back can be changed, Suruagy added. plans to build more than a dozen landing points along the route in the coming years in cities such Kingston (Jamaica), Russia’s MTS launches pilot 5G network Havana (Cuba), George Town (Grand Cayman), Puerto Barrios Russian telecom MTS the company said and added that the Huawei will enable round-the-clock (Guatemala), Puerto Lempira launched the country’s selection of participants in the pilot video surveillance over the 5G (Honduras), Bluefields (Nicaragua), first user pilot 5G network in the project using smartphones with sup- network while at the second stage, and Limón (Costa Rica). 4.9GHz band across 14 locations port for the n79 range will be carried they will provide indoor 5G coverage. The firm also said that once in , using Chinese Huawei’s out on basis analysis of data in their In late Februrary, MTS together launched, the submarine cable system telecom equipment. movement, proximity to pilot locations, with Skoltech, expanded the 5G will be the only system that can offer Subscribers using 5G-compatible internet traffic, among others. coverage in Skolkovo, deploying a dedicated dark fibre pair indefeasible smartphones will be able to connect MTS also said the number of 5G pilot network for the International right of use (IRU) in the Caribbean to 5G Internet at speeds up to 1.5 zones and consequently, the coverage Medical Cluster (MMK). market. An IRU permits customer Gbps, the firm said in a press release. will increase over time. However, no Russia adopted a roadmap to have exclusive use of fibres However, users will not be able to further information was provided. last year intending to roll out 5G throughout the term of a contract. independently connect to pilot zones, At the first stage, MTS and networks across 10 cities by 2024. SES supplies broadband to Indonesian villages

Luxembourg’s SES Net- telecommunication and information bilitas Telekomunikasi dan Informa- using the SES-12 ground station in works has signed a new accessibility agency Badan Aksesi- si’s (BAKTI) Leased Capacity Project Indonesia. The Smart Village pro- broadband deal with Dwi Tunggal ject, spearheaded by BAKTI, aims to Putra (DTP), to enable residents bridge the digital divide and bring of 158 villages in remote parts of much-needed e-government and oth- Indonesia’s West Java Province. er essential services to underserved The move will offer access to rural communities of Indonesia. crucial online resources such as “Satellite connectivity plays a educational content, as well as critical role in providing internet ac- unlocking the potential of the cess to many of Indonesia’s villages region’s digital economy. and small towns located in remote DTP will be using high- areas,” said Edi Sugianto, chief throughput capacity on the SES-12 commercial officer of DTP. “At DTP, satellite to support the Ministry of we strive to bridge the digital divide Communication and Information by providing high-quality internet to Technology’s Smart Village project these far-flung, remote communi- and fulfil the government’s universal ties and thereby allowing access to service obligation (USO). The move will offer access to crucial online resources such as educational essential e-government, e-health and SES is already serving Indonesia’s content, as well as unlocking the potential of the region’s digital economy e-learning services, among others.”

February/March 2021 NORTHERN AFRICAN WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS 31

NAWC 2103 p31-34 (World News).indd 31 07/04/2021 11:41 WORLD NEWS Wireless Logic expands global footprint LPWAN Asia coverage

Wireless Logic, the IoT con- nectivity platform provider, has further strengthened its global presence and market position with the expansion of low power wide area network (LPWAN) services across Asia, Europe and North America. The enlargement comes as a direct result of new mobile operator partnerships and the recent acqui- sition of international businesses, including Arkessa, Com4, New Line IoT and Datamobile AG. “When it comes to IoT connectivity, NB IoT and LTE-M services represent low cost, low power solutions that are highly reliable and can stay in the field for multiple years,” said Matthew Tate, The enlargement comes as a direct result of new mobile operator partnerships and the recent acquisition of CCO at Wireless Logic. “As a result international businesses, including Arkessa, Com4, New Line IoT and Datamobile AG of recent expansion, we are in a strong position to offer customers through SIMPro, our operator and applications across the globe. LTE-M ble for telematics. NB IoT is instead the local LPWAN services that they technology agnostic platform.” is optimised for higher bandwidth more suitable for static, lower-data, are asking for with direct access to As part of its LPWAN offering, and mobile applications, delivering high-density and passive sensor 75 cellular LPWAN networks in 45 Wireless Logic will provide both latency and speeds broadly equiva- applications, making it ideal for use countries across three continents LTE-M and NB IoT services for IoT lent to 3G, therefore making it suita- cases such as smart metering. Phoenix Tower and Monaco Telecom partner up

Phoenix Tower International across Europe and will demonstrate proud to be working with the mobile both markets, as well as significantly (PTI) and Monaco Telecom the neutral host independent tower network operators across the world to expanding its footprint in Europe. have joined forces to operate new model in two new markets to facilitate deploy more coverage solutions and “This transaction allows us to towers sites across Mediterranean increased coverage expansion for is pleased to partner with Monaco create a strategic partnership in island nations Cyprus and Malta. all of the wireless operators and Telecom on this transaction.” Cyprus and Malta with a leading The two companies will purchase ultimately increased connectivity PTI and Monaco Telecom have international firm, which allows over 815 existing wireless towers for the population of Malta and also established a long-term tenancy us to accelerate our investment as well as acquiring newly built Cyprus,” said Dagan Kasavana, chief agreement where the latter will plans on 5G and fibre where we are wireless towers over six years via a executive officer of Phoenix Tower occupy the sites for a minimum present,” added Martin Péronnet, build-to-suit programme. International. “As the economies of of 20 years. On completion, this CEO of Monaco Telecom. “With this latest transaction, PTI the world continue to recover from transaction will position PTI as the The deal, for an undisclosed sum, is continues to expand its presence the impacts of Covid-19, Phoenix is largest tower infrastructure provider in subject to standard closing conditions. Service provider Thaicom searches for LEO partner

Satellite service provider its website with a refundable US$99 society, we have been in the indus- LEO satellites operate 500- Thaicom is looking to deposit, putting them on a priority try for long and we know all the 2,000km from Earth’s surface, serve as a partner for any operators list to purchase the Starlink kit operators, including Starlink,” said versus traditional communication offering low Earth orbit (LEO) satel- when it becomes available. Patompob Suwansiri, deputy chief satellites, also known as geostation- lite broadband services as the firm The latter is targeting service executive and chief commercial ary satellites, that orbit at around specialises in the regional market. coverage for Bangkok in 2022, officer of Thaicom. “We are looking 36,000km. The lower orbit means The move comes after the LEO according to its website. Interested to open for partnership with any lower latency in signal transmission. satellite Starlink project under customers in Thailand can pre-order LEO satellite providers. We have Furthermore, LEO satellites are billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s the service, which will be allotted on more knowledge about the regional projected by some to have strong SpaceX has allowed interested peo- a first-come first-serve basis. market than global players do so business potential because they can ple to pre-order the service through “For a close satellite service we can support their businesses.” beam the internet all over the globe.

32 NORTHERN AFRICAN WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS February/March 2021

NAWC 2103 p31-34 (World News).indd 32 07/04/2021 11:41 WORLD NEWS Nokia to supply Cibicom with mission-critical LTE network

Nokia has partnered with work that will enable full 4G data vices must not only be foundationally as the supplier of critical and Danish operator and coverage across Denmark, as well sound and built to last but also prior- business-critical infrastructure, internet service provider (ISP) as mass-volume IoT connectivity. itise security, quality, and reliability,” such as waste, water, energy, and Cibicom to implement a new Building on the company’s 450mHz said Lise Karstensen, head of Nordics transportation. Smart grids and 450MHz LTE (4G) network. license acquisition in June, the at Nokia. “In addition, these sectors remote managed petrol stations are The project will ensure that key project will allow Cibicom to improve are also witnessing a growing need for just some of the areas where these mission-critical services throughout its offering to utility companies and IoT-powered remote monitoring and systems will be needed, as well as the Nordic nation have access to ensures that the service provider management solutions, increasing the “blue light” emergency services,. highly reliable and secure connectiv- is in a strong position to adapt to focus on network and service quality, Currently, Cibicom covers 98% ity as well as building preparedness changing customer requirements as well as uptime. This technology of Denmark and the deal will for mass volume IoT adoption. and offer new opportunities and ap- upgrade will make Cibicom’s network maintain that level of coverage, This deal means replacing the plication support around 5G 3.5Ghz. ready for current and future demand.” as well as provide improved existing Cibicom radio networks and “Radio networks supplying waste, Furthermore, this deployment connectivity for private households migrating them to a new frame- water, energy, and transportation ser- will enhance Cibicom’s credentials in neighbouring Greenland. Greece’s OTE Telecom targets growth MasMovil

OTE Telecom, Greece’s flat at €1.22bn (US$1.48bn) last year. for the Mediterranean country, biggest telecoms operator Revenues came in at €3.26bn, seen reopening later this year, OTE to buy out said that revenue would start growing down 1.3% year-on-year, as global said it expected a “progressive from the second half of the year as restrictions to slow down the but measured” return to better telecom rival coronavirus vaccinations gather pace spread of Covid-19 and a weak operating conditions and revenue and transport restrictions are lifted. summer tourist season hit both growth from the second half. The firm, which is 46% owned and roaming and its mobile business. The operator, which has launched Euskaltel managed by Deutsche Telecom, said With vaccinations accelerating 5G services, said it would continue core earnings (EBITDA) were almost and tourism, a key growth driver to focus on growing data usage. MasMovil has made a “friendly” takeover bid for rival Spanish telecom firm Euskaltel worth nearly €2bn, in IFC terminal to deliver Wi-Fi on aircraft a move destined to shake up the country’s competitive sector. via LEO/GEO satellites The former said it had already secured the agreement of OneWeb, the global shareholders who hold 52.32% communications network of Euskaltel’s share capital. It is powered from Space and SatixFy UK, offering €11.17 per share in cash. a multibeam antenna and terminal This deal comes at “MasMovil and Euskaltel together design specialist, are currently de- a good time for OneWeb as it form a solid and complementary veloping a new In-Flight Connectivity hoped to gain first mover ad- industrial project,” MasMovil said (IFC) terminal that will work over the at OneWeb. “This agreement vantage in the satellite broadband in a statement, adding that the OneWeb network as well as on Geo- with SatixFy represents a major space, believing the combination takeover would allow it to “reinforce stationary (GEO) satellite networks. milestone for OneWeb Aviation, of its harmonised spectrum and and boost its growth and continue SatixFy UK has formed a Joint as we plot our path to facilitating LEO constellation design would transforming the telecommunica- Venture with Singapore Technology onboard connectivity, globally, on give it technological supremacy. tions sector in Spain.” Engineering Ltd (ST Engineering), commercial airliner and corporate It secured more than US$1bn in In addition, MasMovil said its offer called JetTalk, to exclusively jets, large and small.” funding before filing bankruptcy was conditional on achieving the ac- commercialise the IFC terminal for Yoel Gat, CEO at SatixFy, added: protection last year. However, the ceptance of at least 75% of the share the commercial aviation market. “The ability to deploy multi-beam, business was rescued through a capital and obtaining all appropriate OneWeb said it is confident multi-satellite, multi-orbit in-flight takeover by Indian telco Bharti competition and regulatory authorisa- of its suitability for all aviation connectivity terminals is key in Airtel and the Department for tions. The buyer added that it would applications - commercial, SatixFy’s offerings. Aggregating Business, Energy, and Industrial maintain the Euskaltel, R, Telecable regional, business and government capacity from multiple satellites will Strategy. The UK government now and Virgin brands and maintain aviation use-cases. “OneWeb is give customers the grade of service owns a third of the company after employment at those companies. creating IFC solutions which offer they expect to get on flights. This investing £400m in the satellite MasMovil said acquiring Euskaltel a significant increase in the whole great leap forward is made possible system. It allowed OneWeb to would reinforce its position as Spain’s passenger travelling experience,” thanks to the continuous support by resume satellite launches and fourth-largest telecoms company. said Ben Griffin, VP mobility ESA and the UK Space Agency.” increase its constellation to 110. Euskaltel declined to comment.

February/March 2021 NORTHERN AFRICAN WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS 33

NAWC 2103 p31-34 (World News).indd 33 07/04/2021 11:41 WORLD NEWS

Nepal Gautam Buddha airport deploys Sepura SC20 TETRA radios Gautam Buddha International Airport has become the second airport in Nepal to deploy a TETRA communication solution, following on from Tribhuvan International Airport. The solution will be led by Sepura SC20 hand-held radios, providing the airport’s security and operations team with the standard of secure, robust, reliable communications devices required to safely manage operations. This mission critical communi- cations solution, built on Teltronic’s TETRA infrastructure, is part of the airport’s wider infrastructure upgrade. When complete the airport should ease the burden on Tribhuvan. The TETRA network will allow the airport to respond to the pressure of moving passengers, luggage and cargo at the airport site, improving This mission critical communications solution, built on Teltronic’s TETRA infrastructure, is part of the airport’s both efficiency and safety. It will also wider infrastructure upgrade. When complete the airport should ease the burden on Tribhuvan enable co-ordination between the air- port’s security and operational teams “By adopting Sepura’s SC20 in noisy airside locations,” said convinced of the need to deploy a for everyday operations and, where radios, airport staff will benefit Shiv Prakash Khemka, director of TETRA network to ensure that cov- necessary, emergency response. from the robust design, crystal clear Mahavir Shree International Pvt. erage was achieved throughout the Sepura’s regional partner in Nepal, audio and class-leading coverage Sepura said that having seen the entire airport site, including run- Mahavir Shree International Pvt, capability, making the radio suitable performance of Sepura’s solutions ways, covered walkways, passenger delivered the solution to the airport’s for those working across the airport around the world, the purchasing areas, cargo areas, hangars, under- operational and security teams. in security roles and those working team at Gautam Buddha were ground areas and parking. STC to list shares of internet services unit in IPO

Saudi Telecom Company STC said it was now in the process coms brands in the Middle East and as it reported its highest annual (STC) will list the shares of of submitting an application for the Africa, weeks after it reported its revenue for eight years. Last year, its internet services unit in an initial registration and offering of its shares highest-ever annual revenue for eight total revenues reached SR58.94bn public offering (IPO), it confirmed. to the Capital Market Authority and years. STC’s brand value increased (US$15.72bn), an increase of 8.43%. The move follows the completion of an application for the listing of its 14% to US$9.2bn, jumping five The Communications and Infor- of a feasibility study into the listing shares to the Saudi Stock Exchange. places to 13th on the annual Brand mation Technology Commission also of the Arabian Internet and Com- In February this year, STC topped Finance Telecoms 150 2021 report. announced that STC has the highest munications Services Co. the list of the most valuable tele- This improved ranking comes mobile download speed in Saudi. SpaceX’s Starlink arriving in Lebanon in 2022

SpaceX satellite internet but does establish priority for the 24 missions. The company, owned a monthly $99 subscription. constellation, Starlink, is payer in his or her region for purchas- by South African-born American Although Starlink is more expected to have active coverage in ing the it when available in the future. business magnate Elon Musk, aims expensive than most traditional Lebanon next year. According to its Starlink has already launched its to deploy thousands more. internet services today, its ease website, pre-orders are available with beta service and made it available The full Starlink Kit, which of installation, high accessibility a fully-refundable deposit of US$99. to a limited number of users in includes a small mountable dish for remote areas, low latency, and However, the deposit payment does parts of Canada and the USA. antenna, a Wi-Fi router, and impressive speeds (300 Mbps not guarantee that the Starlink ser- SpaceX has launched more than power supply, currently retails at download speed), can make the vice and relevant kit will be available, 1,000 satellites into space in over US$499. This service also requires high fees more bearable for some.

34 NORTHERN AFRICAN WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS February/March 2021

NAWC 2103 p31-34 (World News).indd 34 07/04/2021 11:41 THE LAST WORD

Q&A make it easier for busi- What’s the best piece of advice Pieter de Villiers nesses to get started in you could give someone South Africa. Money wanting to enter this industry? co-founder and CEO was never Maria (my This is a simple one. Technology is Clickatell wife) or my primary a great enabler to change the world, motivator, as we both and it can truly be transformative, What was your big career break? I had been working realized that it does as we have learned at Clickatell. There were several little breaks 18-hour days for nearly not lead to fulfillment or When we released ‘four lines of as opposed to one big break. 2 months writing Clickatell’s long-term enduring happiness. code’ that could make the internet For example, I did not follow the business plan (in those days SiMODiSA and its partners are communicate to a mobile phone we career I originally set out to do as founders still required a business working on a 1O year digital had no idea how it would change a qualified optometrist. So, I guess plan) only to have my Sony Vaio skills intervention program that many, many sectors and lead to the first break was when I made a laptop crash. I lost weeks and hopes to see the establishment mobile and digital transformation break from the path I had chosen weeks of work that I could not of 1OO+ digital skill apprentice- that ultimately became chat banking originally and did something entre- retrieve. It was really a moment ship centers around South Africa. and chat commerce. That said, preneurial by starting a technology of despair and disappointment This would be a good place to the technology sector is one of the business. What made this possible as we did not have the luxury of invest the money into. most competitive and fast-moving was that I was lucky enough to time to re-do the plan. After falling sectors out there, and you will need receive a good education, to have asleep on my laptop one evening, What’s the strangest question to be 1OO% sure you are solving a grown up in a home where I had I woke up and noticed a post it you’ve ever been asked? real-world problem as that would be access to a computer from a young note (remember those) that read Why are you still doing Clickatell? It table stakes. The rest requires hard age (technology did not scare me), “If you can dream it, you can do is a strange question, and I think it work, great people around you, and and to have had an entrepreneur, it.” It is a Walt Disney quote my comes from a place of ignorance. a sprinkle of luck in terms of timing. my father, as a role model. Other mom wrote, and while that was I am sure founders who have a breaks came in the form of timing not strictly advice, it was exactly purpose and are on a mission to What’s the best technological when we launched our business. what I needed at the time. It still punch a hole in the universe will advancement of your lifetime? It was during the height of the motivates me years later despite agree with me that it takes time Electric cars, it is about time we internet era when digital proved to new challenges arising as the and perseverance to do big things have alternatives to fossil fu- be a more scalable platform and, business scales globally. and understand that there are no el-based transport and I suspect as a result, we had a lot of traction overnight successes. So, unless our children will either own an elec- and therefore, access to capital. In If you could live anywhere, you are a serial entrepreneur who tric vehicle one day or no vehicle at many ways, there were a thousand where would it be? probably builds and sells busi- all as the landscape of self-driving little things versus the big bang the- Covid-19 has made this possible, nesses for financial reasons rather cars and uber like service evolve. ory of how we got to where we did. hasn’t it? I truly believe that if you than changing the world, which Certainly, if you live in the city hav- could live anywhere in the world is not the same as we are doing, ing a car, plus insurance plus the Who was your hero growing up? and you have been to Cape Town the question is quite frankly a silly cost and inconvenience of parking When we grow up, we go through or Stellenbosch in South Africa one. I do not think people ask Jeff makes no sense. Imagine what we various stages of awareness and it would probably be on your top Bezos (not that I am in that league can convert parking spaces into. amazement. While you may think 10 list of places to consider. Now, at all, but by way of example) why Superman is someone you want add cultural diversity, access to in- he is still at Amazon 26 years later. What’s the one thing you want to be one day for the sheer thrill ternational flight routes, food and to do before it’s too late? of flying, you actually secretly look wine, mountain biking and trail If you had to work in a different I have been blessed and privileged up to your older brother whom you running (not a golfer but that too industry, which one would it be? to have done many things in my may fight with often. As you get is spectacular), the ability to have I already made that choice when life that have been ‘on the list’ older, you realize that the strongest local impact and allocate a bonus I moved from being a qualified so to speak including seeing the person you know is your mother point for proximity to family and optometrist to technology. Op- Gorillas in Rwanda last month; or father or the person that raised friends, those two places reach the tometry is a great study direction, thanks to an adventurous wife and you, as they make several sacrific- #1 spot in my case quite easily. as it represents the intersection having the means to do so. I would es in order for you to reach your This is why we moved from the San among physics and math (think however like to do an adventure potential. If we are truly honest, our Francisco Bay Area to Stellenbosch lenses and the breaking of light motorcycle ride across parts of heroes are typically not some ficti- in 2015, and we are loving it. and biology, think the eyes and Africa with some close friends. tious character we see on a screen the brain) and chemistry. As a stu- but rather people that are in our What would you do with $1m? dent, I was challenged and fulfilled What was the best thing lives and who give of themselves We are very blessed in that in so far, my interest and curiosity about lockdown? and their time to coach and mentor through hard work and growing within the sciences. In practice, I think it is important to acknowl- us. That said it is perfectly ok to be up in a relatively privileged home however, the world is very different edge that while lockdown is abso- inspired by a Nelson Mandela, Ste- in South Africa we have what we and more retail than science, and lutely necessary to keep people safe ve Jobs, Elon Musk, Kamala Harris need, and aside from secur- therefore I decided to move into and curb the spread of this devas- or someone you look up to. ing education for our kids and a different industry: technology. tating virus, it has also hurt many, reducing debt, we would probably Now, I am closer to the sciences many businesses including some of What’s the best piece of put the money into something and technology innovation with our customers. In response to the advice you’ve been given? that will make a difference in the an amazing team who leads the question; the best part of lockdown A tale I share with many of our community and country we live efforts, and I am loving it. If you is certainly the time you get to new starters is the one where in such as SiMODiSA’s efforts to can dream it, you can do it. spend together as a family. n

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