Ericsson, the Swedish telecoms equipment vendor, is looking to establish private mobile networks for the mining industry to reinforce its presence and impact in Africa, run either independently or in collaboration with mobile operators.
This is according to Badr Ndour - Ericsson head of Networks West and Southern Africa, who spoke with ITWeb Africa on the sidelines of the Africa Tech Festival in Cape Town, South Africa, this week.
The company aims to bridge the digital divide by improving connectivity, particularly in rural areas, and is focusing on industrial sectors, such as mining, to foster economic growth.
Regarding Ericsson's entrance into the 5G space, Ndour stated: “5G is a versatile tool. It is connectivity like any other, but it's also a very strong enabler. From an end-user perspective, sometimes we just foresee it as a way to accelerate connectivity.
“It's faster than deploying cables and fibre. It's a technology that will enable you to radiate and immediately give connectivity to thousands of people immediately.
“We believe that the fixed wireless access, for example, is a huge opportunity to enable the coverage, especially when it comes to coverage areas that are typical to our continent.”
He continued: “It's also an enabler for industries. We could benefit from adding connectivity to industry, to mining, and then fast-tracking their production lines, and enhancing their automation capabilities, enabling them to be more agile and efficient in their respective types of business.”
Ericsson is also using AI technologies to enhance energy efficiency and optimise network operations, facilitating smarter planning and resource management, Ndour said.
While he was keen to look to the future, Ndour also provided a sense of Ericsson’s history and commitment to the continent.
“We started our journey here in Africa with the fixed line, in some countries as far back as the early 1900s,” he said.
“This is a continent that we connect with spiritually, historically, and we've always renewed our commitments throughout the different generations of technology, from the fixed lines. We deployed the first fixed lines in places like Kenya, in Egypt, in Morocco, when the telephony just came to be.
“And then we went through the journey of the mobile networks from the 2G, 3G, 4G, and now we are very proud to bring 5G technology to the continent,” he said.
Reinforcing the country’s commitment to the continent, he said: “We are present in almost every country on the continent in one way or another, either through our radio infrastructure, through our core network, or through our prepaid systems. We have seen the journey, how the importance of the affordability of connectivity is critical to the success of telecommunications in the continent.”
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