Virtualization To The Aid Of African Service Providers

By Christoph Fitih, Director Sales - Africa, Parallel Wireless

The The African telecom service providers face tough choices. On the one end, the service providers need to connect the unconnected to bridge the digital divide, and on the other end, they cannot ignore the upcoming 5G technology.

It is crucial to deploy network in the still to be connected areas for the social and economic growth of the region. At the same time, 5G technology comes with incredible benefits for the continent. It is an opportunity for the administration to leapfrog and use the technology to provide services to the people who don’t have access to the formal Government machinery.

The future strategy for network upgradation and expansion depends on resolving this predicament. The network needs to be agile and flexible to meet the dual objectives which are diametrically opposed.

Why Are Telcos Reluctant To Go For Rural Expansion?

Network expansion in the rural and difficult-to-reach areas is imperative to promote social inclusion and overall economic growth. Typically, these areas have lower Average Revenue Per User (ARPU). Further low literacy and low paying capability mean that the subscribers consume only the basic connectivity. This means that 2G network is enough to meet their requirement.

Africa continues to be lease connected regions in the world. To put this in perspective, mobile penetration in Africa stands at only 44% while internet penetration is just 25-30% against the global average of 43%. Around 60% of the continent’s population is still on 2G, and this trend is likely to continue for the next few years. By 2025 around 62% of users are likely to be on 3G; 30% on 4G and only 3% on 5G. So telcos need to manage multiple technology networks for quite some time.

However, the telcos are reluctant to invest in the legacy 2G network to provide connectivity in the unconnected areas. A key reason for this is that a legacy 2G network is already obsolete and will become redundant once the subscribers in the region are ready to move to a more advanced network. The traditional network equipment is also hardware-centric and so is cumbersome to deploy and manage. Further, it is arduous to upgrade this type of network. A telecom operator even ends up spending a significant amount on professional charges on a traditional 2G network adding to the overall cost of deploying and managing the network.

So What Do The Service Providers Need?
The telcos need a network which can meet both the requirements of expansion in the rural areas and also protects the future investments for 5G. A software-enabled network, which is easy to upgrade to different technologies in keeping with the changing market scenario, is the need of the hour. The network which leverages the principals of virtualization is able to meet the demands of an evolving end customer.

Software-powered network comes with self-optimization and self-configuration capabilities across all Gs, making it easy to install and manage. This encourages automation and programmability of the network.

The most significant advantage is that it brings down the cost of deployment and network management. Essentially this approach disaggregates the hardware and software elements which makes the network much simpler and easier to manage. It significantly brings down the deployment time and operational expenditure by reducing the requirement of professional services.

The most significant advantage is that it is 5G ready and a telco can leverage the benefits of 5G technologies such as network slicing, across all Gs, be it 2G, 3G, 4G or 5G. It adopts open approach and is interoperable with other vendor products.

Essentially, it will help the African service providers to plan network architecture without a worry in the world about future upgradation. It is for this reason that more and more of Africa’s service providers are adopting this technology approach.

While Vodafone and Telefonica have already conducted successful pilots of this innovative approach, MTN in Africa is planning to deploy as part of Facebook’s Open RAN Telecom Infra Project specifications. Other African telcos including Telesol in Ghana will be using this to connect people and businesses with 4G wireless services. Besides Intelsat in Uganda is using this solution to extend the coverage of 3G in the country.

Software-powered networks allow the service providers to expand 2G or 3G networks in newer areas and at the same time supports the deployment of upcoming technologies, like 5G, on their existing network.

The 5G technology enables the administration to circumvent the lack of infrastructure to provide education and healthcare services service providers in difficult-to-reach areas in a cost effective manner. Upgrading the network for 5G requires significant investments. With the help of virtualization-enabled network, the telcos can ensure that they are able to expand at peace with the knowledge that the network is ready for the future technologies.