ITWeb has been selected as an official media partner for the Next-Generation Telecoms (NGT) Africa 2011 Summit to be held at the Windsor Golf Hotel & Country Club, Nairobi, Kenya from 25 to 27 January.
The Summit sets tone from the realisation that the African telecom market has explosive potential but technology and communications systems that allow operators to capitalise are often less apparent.
In that vein, the event comes at the backdrop of the African telecoms industry being the fastest growing in the world, with a total investment of $18 billion since 2001. According to Ernst & Young, between 2002 and 2007, the industry grew by 49.3% as opposed to Asia, which recorded a 27.4% growth.
This figure is significant in that it is double Brazil's telecoms growth of 28% and almost seven times the growth France, which grew at 7.5% over the same period.
Nonetheless, despite such a 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 delve into the future of the African telecoms industry and possible pitfalls, while outlining the continued growth of the continent.
The NGT Summit also takes into account that developing well-aligned business plans and successfully rolling out new technologies are the key challenges facing CIOs and CTOs across the continent.
Telecoms melting pot
According to the organisers, the event is a melting pot for the telecom sector's leading innovators to share ideas on the deployment of mobile, broadband and fixed services in a rapidly converging market.
They add that delegates benefit from a balanced array of opinion and the opportunity to shape the key themes and content of the Summit.
“Operators in all countries are developing systems to build market share in fixed network services, data, Internet broadband, VOIP mobile communications, broadcasting, convergence and more.
“The NGT Africa Summit will serve as an arena for senior level executives to engage in clear and focused dialogue with their peers to examine their technology and management objectives in a relaxed and vibrant environment,” the Summit organisers say.
The Summit will also see tech execs also engaging in four pre-selected business meetings per day with solution providers who understand their position in the market.
In regards to networking, the Summit team works closely with a committee of industry executives (end users, not vendors) who select and invite their peers from established and upcoming companies, from incumbent to breakthrough SMEs, GDS International states.
The body also explains that NGT Africa business analysts and analyst partners talk with the invited executives to discover their most pressing strategy and technology demands. “The analysts then match these demands with the leading solutions and services available in the market and invite only appropriate companies to participate.”
One-to-one business
“Each company engages in a number of executive one-to-one business solution briefings, plus panel discussions, fine dining and unlimited networking over the three-day event,” say the organisers.
The topics will be discussed by representatives from Comium Group - Nizar Dalloul, founder, chairman and CEO, Essar Telecom - Saktidas Bandopadhyay, Group CTO, France Telecom (Orange) - Patrick Puges, vice-president of 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,” GDS International notes.
The organisation also explains that it is those topics that will be discussed at length at the Summit, adding that 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.
Mobile marketing
Also on to be thrashed out at the Summit is 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,” the organisers say in a statement.
They conclude by noting that Seacom will provide the catalyst for African consumers, business and government to realise the benefits of connectivity and collaboration across the globe.
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