CREATING PARTNERSHIPS, EXCHANGING IDEAS, SHARING A PASSION
Tom Tudor

Over 150 of the world’s leading mobile communications technology vendors took part in the 2006 edition of GSM>3G Africa, held in October in Cape Town.

Exhibitors and visitors at the event made the most of their time, taking every opportunity to take part in hands-on demonstrations and attend interactive presentations. This year, new online and mobile networking tools helped us all to easily make contacts and arrange meetings before, during and after the show.

Gateway took our place amongst global telecom enterprises such as Alcatel, Motorola, Blackberry, Nokia and Siemens, as well as African companies like the technology group Saab Grintek and the systems provider Africa Recharge. It was encouraging to see other African operators exchanging regionally-focused business ideas and information, supporting Gateway’s aim of ‘keeping the dollars in Africa’.

The various zones introduced to the GSM series meant there were more opportunities to focus on specific aspects of the African market at GSM>3G Africa.

With Gateway’s technical leadership in this area, The Satellite Zone was fascinating to me. Exhibitors showcased new mobile satellite communication technologies, and innovative solutions for pan-African operators.

A multinational, multidimensional event
Gateway is passionate about development across Africa, delivering the highest quality, most comprehensive and affordable international communications services possible. So we welcomed the multinational flavour of the event. In fact, the 105 operator companies at the event came from 37 African nations. In total, there were more than 2,400 participants from 76 countries worldwide. It’s clear evidence that the pan-African communications market is expanding rapidly – and we’re proud to be leading this phenomenal growth.

The issues in Africa

Africa's subscriber base is forecast to grow to 214mn by the end of 2010. Operators in some countries have begun to adopt 3G technology; operators in others are managing no more than basic mobile voice services.

The GSM World Series events are organised by Informa Telecoms & Media. Before 3GSM>Africa, Informa senior researcher Jordan Stone said, " We have a set of unique issues in Africa - a collection of markets at vastly different stages of development. Each opportunity for interaction between them is incredibly important for their coordination, especially given the pace at which new or upgraded technology is becoming available to different service providers."
3GSM>Africa gave a clear message to me - operators in Africa face unique challenges. At Gateway we have the expertise, experience and passion for pan-African connectivity to meet each and every one in the most appropriate way.