Last week saw a myriad telecommunications and technology companies descend on Cape Town for the first in-person Africa Tech Festival in some time.
The event, which ran for a number of days, aimed to highlight what the current telecoms landscape is like on the African continent, and where many organisations are focusing efforts in the coming years in order to address connectivity.
One such organisation was Ericsson, a key sponsor at the event with a large presence too, it unpacked some of its next-generation technologies and solutions at Africa Tech Festival 2022, many of which hinge on the capabilities that 5G will enable.
Added to this was a highlighting of the value that radio will hold for the continent moving forward, especially when it comes to nations or territories where laying of fibre is difficult or time consuming.
Sharing this insight with us was Chafic Traboulsi, VP and head of Networks at Ericsson Middle East and Africa. Here is what he shared.
Hypertext: Ericsson is one of the headlining exhibitors here at AfricaCom. What has the company been particularly interested in showcasing to delegates and engaging in conversations around?
Chafic Traboulsi: On the floor here we are showing some really interesting innovations. Solutions related to enterprise, what kind of applications we can do with enterprises in terms of 5G.
We are showcasing some new products, with one in particular that we have developed with a good use case in the Africa market – it’s called Radio 6626. It’s a great dual-band three-sector radio, so with one radio you can cover two bands. This means you are saving space on towers, as well as power consumption which is very important.
One of the technology drivers for the company moving forward is really looking at sustainability, and for our clients, it means that they are being more sustainable as they are consuming less power, but also that they can save money too at the end of the day.
We are showcasing this, but we are also showcasing other applications for the African market like Fixed Wireless Access (FWA). What we are seeing is that this is the 5G application that is driving the most traffic. 5G speeds are fibre speeds in reality, so it’s a good fibre replacement and at the very least a good copper replacement.
It is also a great way of introducing mobile broadband to homes that are hard to reach.
Hypertext: There has been much talk of 5G in Africa this week. What are Ericsson’s thoughts on its maturity on the continent?
CT: I’d say that South Africa is leading in Africa. I think the issue has been more on the frequencies and the spectrum auction. The regulator did well in ensuring that operators have the right frequencies to provide 5G service. This is where it starts.
One of the main advantages of 5G is that it is bringing “oxygen” into the ecosystem of mobile, and the backbone is the availability of spectrum. So 5G brings our ability to use big bands of spectrum, and this is the start of the adventure.
In Africa, this is where we find ourselves, starting to roll out 5G in Nigeria for example, so it’s not at the same rate as here with countries like Tanzania and Madagascar starting now.
So all the countries that have awarded licences to the operators, the operators are now installing them. There isn’t a lot of traffic on them, but that will change once they launch CPEs (5G routers) and FWA services, and people need to have 5G phones.
Compared to the rest of the world, there are markets that have had 5G for three or four years already – South Korea, United States or the Middle East. In the Middle East for example we are starting to add another layer of 5G, so we are on the second wave in that region.
Yes, other areas are more advanced, but the gap is not like it was with previous broadband technologies.
Hypertext: What is holding back the rollout of 5G in the Southern Africa region?
CT: 5G as a technology is not very difficult to roll out.
As an example, all our radios that have been built from 2015 or 2016 can carry 5G technology. It’s not new frequencies as it’s existing radios, but when you’re going to be doing 5G standalone, you will need those frequencies to make the broadband pipe bigger.
The biggest hurdle at the moment is spectrum allocation, as rollouts can only happen when regulators assign frequencies. This is the main driver, and one of the reasons why other markets were ahead in terms of accessing 5G.
Now thankfully we are there, in SA, Nigeria and Tanzania, but there are other countries where we are way behind.
Hypertext: While 5G is the most exciting technology at the moment, would you agree that 4G is more important for the African continent right now?
CT: Absolutely.
The bulk of traffic will be on 4G for the next four years, so we need to ensure that operators have enough frequency to provide a good 4G service.
If you have a look at the conditions of the licences for Africa, there are a lot of 4G elements there, so it is not only about 5G.
That is why we help operators in terms of equipment, tuning the network, in doing reforming, so a lot of work is being done there. This year as a whole, more Africa than South Africa for us (Ericsson) has been about focusing on 4G as an engine of growth.
Hypertext: Lastly, looking at the latest portfolio from Ericsson, are there products or offerings that you are particularly excited about bringing to the African market?
CT: I think the radio we spoke about earlier will be important. This is what we are talking about specifically here at AfricaCom, and what we are truly excited about.
Ericsson is definitely at the front end of the technology when it comes to radio. We are really proud of the products we have created, and technologically speaking when it comes to form factor and power consumption, there is no comparison.
[Image – Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash]
