Terrestrial
Networks: Connecting Africa’s Potential
Sub
Saharan Africa is undergoing the most significant build out of telecom
transmission networks that it has ever seen. It’s a development
that will leave regions, previously bandwidth starved, with access
to more online services and business opportunities than ever before.
For the first time a significant narrowing of Africa’s digital
divide is a true possibility.
Gateway is playing a
central role in that transformation, continuing to invest in infrastructure
across the continent. Connecting over 583 million people in over
40 African countries, Gateway is working in partnership with the
continent’s leading operators and ISPs to provide telecommunications
services to as many people as possible.
By June 2009, Africa
had a total of 401,282km of terrestrial transmission network. Laid
end to end, that is enough to wrap around the earth ten times. That
might not seem a lot compared to continents like Europe or North
America, but this is the beginning of things to come. Given the
huge land mass that is Africa, the need to build out pan-African
telecommunications networks of all kinds will continue for years
to come.
The question is not how
far the network goes, but how many people it reaches. Distance does
not always tell the whole story and more fibre won’t always
address the market needs. A country like the Democratic Republic
of Congo will need a far wider terrestrial network than many others.
In Botswana, although also a massive area, a smaller network can
very successfully reach the majority of the population with the
fibre already in place - given most of the population lives in 5%
or 10% of that area. Head over to Reunion or Mauritius, however,
and there isn’t much terrestrial network at all, but take
into account the size of each island country and there isn’t
a need for miles and miles of cable in order to be able to cover
all cities and towns.
A quick tour of Africa
shows that some countries are already ahead of the game. South Africa
has by far the most terrestrial infrastructure, but Nigeria, which
already has a substantial amount, is also building a lot more now
too.
Looking ahead, there
are two major changes in Africa’s terrestrial network and
developments ahead that will drive growth.
· Cross border connectivity - There is now a good amount
of fibre networks that connect across borders. With a number of
sub-sea cables landing this is key to allowing traffic to get from
landing points to land-locked countries and others that don’t
have landing points.
· Secondary towns and cities - There is a big drive to connect
towns and cities outside the capital to the national backbone as
there are still quite a few major cities without a terrestrial network
or they are using microwave or satellite to move traffic.
The
major challenges ahead for terrestrial networks in Africa are regulatory
and commercial, especially when it comes to connecting countries
together. The presence of infrastructure is less of an issue; if
it isn’t already there it can be built.
As the landscape of African connectivity continues to expand and
develop, operators, suppliers and service providers are continually
looking at how to broaden their reach into new markets and deepen
service offerings in established ones. Connectivity will change
that world, and the development of terrestrial networks in Africa
is going to have a huge impact at every level – pan-African,
national, local, and personal – for government, business and
lifestyle. As the carrier’s carrier, Gateway can ensure that
service providers and operators have the capacity they need to meet
the increasing demand for connectivity.
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