Opinion@ITRealms:
I
am particularly pleased to present today my vision for Africa.
First
let me tell you, why Africa? For me Africa is at the heart of tomorrow, it is
an important region in the world, it is definitely a growing region and a clear
focus market for us. In the big picture, Africa is among Alcatel-Lucent’s most
promising markets – with ultra-broadband access and IP networking being very
important for the development of the continent.
These
technologies are what the African market needs in the years to come and also
what service providers and operators in Africa are already requesting from us.
Our Global “Shift Plan” strategy perfectly focuses on those technologies that
meet the connectivity challenges of the African continent.
We
see that the continent has various connectivity needs, crucial for its social
and economic development. Increasing the availability of ultra-broadband
services is essential for Africa’s future development. Becoming digital
is an important catalyst for change, for development and innovation. The
content’s infrastructure will need greater capacity to deliver high-quality
ultra-broadband connectivity to support added-value services for end users in
both urban and remote areas.
Thanks
to the investments over the last years and also thanks to Alcatel-Lucents
submarine technology, Africa is now connected to the rest of the world
through thousands of kilometers of submarine networks systems (indeed, most of
them deployed by Alcatel-Lucent). Many African countries are connected to the
terrestrial backbones and to the regional hubs, but still rural areas lack
connectivity. The focus of development and Alcatel-Lucent’s strategy for Africa
will continue to be the accelerated development of ultra-broadband access
networks in Africa, bringing connectivity to users with technologies including
LTE, DSL, GPON, Small Cells and WiFi.
In
today’s world, innovation has no borders and as a result, African countries
cannot remain locked out. The globalization of the economy and the growth of
the digital world have enhanced worldwide communications. In Africa and
around the world, Alcatel-Lucent collaborates with governments, regulators,
operators, but also with investors to promote investment in the
telecommunications sector and in particular for the development of the Internet
and ultra–broadband technologies.
This
collaborative work allows us to identify different models of implementation of
national plans, putting in place public-private projects and sharing our
leadership, experience and best practices from around the world. We believe
that the mobilization of a strong eco system of public and private stakeholders
is essential for the success of both the implementation and the execution of a
government’s broadband strategy. Broadband for all is not only a nice marketing
moto but every network has its success is the reality. I strongly believe that
universal access for all will break network barriers to improve the end user
mobile broadband experience and that is the only economical way to meet the
increasing demand for mobile broadband. Industry and service providers are
changing and they need more than a traditional technology vendor but an
innovative partner who will accompany them in the race of shaping the future –
going forward from breakthrough innovation to proven and excellent operational
capabilities in order to meet network requirements.
What
makes Africa very special for me is that this region is very rich in history,
its diversity, different cultures and environments, many strong developments in
so many countries, all not at the same speed, a lot of creativity and
innovation, but at the same time still plenty of challenges and local issues
but with one strong asset who are full of energy: the people of Africa. And
Africa’s success and prosperity relies on its people.
At
Alcatel-Lucent in the past year, we have seen tremendous growth in FTTX, VDSL,
IP, DWDM technologies as well as several LTE networks with established mobile
and fixed wireless broadband operators. LTE is becoming increasingly popular in
Africa as this technology offers an excellent alternative to fixed broadband
(which is not widely available in this region, overall, with some exceptions).
Service providers in Africa are eager to tap into the newest generation of
technologies like 4G LTE to begin to reap the benefits of today’s
ultra-broadband networks.
In Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda and
Nigeria - they have chosen Alcatel-Lucent as their partner for rolling out
their LTE networks and some of them also have asked us to manage their entire
networks in a managed services contract.
Managed
services are an important part of our business in Africa. More and more
customers ask us not only to build the networks for them, but also to take
responsibility for the network operations, on their behalf - for example in
Nigeria, Ghana and in South Africa. Our managed services solution is a
combination of the advantages of our local presence and the use of global
standardized best practices and tools; relying on our global Network Operations
Centers, combined with our team’s experience on the ground.
Professional
services are also in high demand by service providers in Africa. Alcatel-Lucent
is not just selling and installing networks for our customers, in many cases we
also work closely on business cases together, through our Bell Labs consulting
team, which uniquely combines technical and commercial expertise.
We
see Africa as a tremendous market in the next years and beyond. Currently
transport networks and ultra-broadband access networks are being deployed. In
the next two years we expect even more LTE/4G projects as well as IMS and IP
core transformation projects.
Alcatel-Lucent’s
history in Africa is also about people. Across the African continent we have
strong teams with excellent local knowledge specialized in a wide array of
technologies for both fixed and mobile communications, including fixed and
wireless ultra-broadband access, optics and IP technologies as well as
services, including deployment services as well as professional and managed
services. Our experts on the ground are working with the African ecosystem to
introduce new technologies and solutions that will help in developing and
creating social and economic value.
The
network is the foundation of our ultra-connected world. But it can become so
much more. Leveraging our expertise in IP networking, ultra-broadband access
and cloud technologies, our aim is to work with operators in Africa, give them
support and be their partners to invent and deliver tomorrow's trusted
networks, enabling them to achieve their potential and unleash their value.
This
enables us to create networks at scale that adapt to our customers’ needs, to
earn our customers' trust by delivering networks and services that anticipate
their demands, remove constraints, and create new business solutions while
sustainably growing their value. We also innovate for our customers, inventing
the future through open collaboration that pushes the limits of communications
and shapes the digital world. Alcatel-Lucent is a major player in Africa, and
we have been heavily growing in Africa over the last years, and this is a very
important market for us. Now is the time to bring this broadband revolution
closer to the people. There is a very strong demand for both wireless and fixed
ultra-broadband.
We
are here, committed and delighted to be part of this big project and working
with local, regional and international players, we will literally help
‘connect’ the African people.
*The chief executive officer of
Alcatel-Lucent group, Mr. Michel Combes, sent in this piece.
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