African telecoms are the fastest growing telecommunications sector in the world, with a total investment of $18 billion since 2001. Between 2002 and 2007, according to Ernst & Young, the industry grew by 49.3 percent as opposed to Asia which recorded a 27.4 percent growth.
This figure is significant: It is double Brazil’s telecoms growth of 28 percent and almost seven times the growth France which grew at 7.5 percent over the same time.
Yet despite such rapid investment, there is still large room for improvement, and the NGT Africa 2011 Summit, a closed door event hosted by GDS International plans to discuss the future of the African telecoms industry and possible pitfalls, whilst outlining the continued growth of the continent.
The topics will be discussed by representatives from Comium Group – Nizar Dalloul, Founder/Chairman/CEO, Essar Telecom – Saktidas Bandopadhyay, Group CTO, France Telecom (Orange) – Patrick Puges, VP Emerging Markets Technology and Safaricom – Bob Collymore, CEO among many others.
“Now that the sub-sea cables have landed on mainland Africa, the continent now has access to broadband and the various services that can be delivered via high speed internet. However, several key challenges still remain before subscribers can enjoy a reliable, safe and affordable service from ISPs and operators in the region.”
And it is those topics that will be discussed at length at the Summit.
The workshops will be split into several key areas, including Cloud computing, and its importance in cost saving; Using VSAT to expand into non-urban regions as operators look to boost revenue and penetration into urban Africa; the significance of mobile marketing and the financial possibilities of Mobile Operators; deploying broadband across the continent; international airtime, the strengthening family ties across the borders and boosting operator ARPU and WiMAX, and its magnitude to the African market.
“Cisco and SEACOM share a common goal to enable accessible broadband across Africa while lowering the cost of communication to spur growth within urban and rural communities. We’re working with SEACOM to help transform Africa by outlining process change, building networks, and then providing the application services and expertise that support key services for citizens, such as education, healthcare, public safety, economic development, and national security.
SEACOM will provide the catalyst for African consumers, business and government to realise the benefits of connectivity and collaboration across the globe.” according to CISCO Systems.
