Powerline communication (PLC), or broadband over powerlines, can contribute to the African market in a positive way by bringing competition and enhanced rural connectivity, says Stephan Jay, BMP telecommunications consultant, who is working with the African Telecommunication Union (ATU).
The benefits and obstacles to rolling-out PLC in Africa were discussed in depth at a two-day PLC conference in Dakar, Senegal, this month, which was hosted by the ATU, Jay says.
PLC technology will stimulate competitive telecoms markets in Africa, which are predominantly monopolised by government-owned operators, he says. "In some markets it may be a platform that enables alternative operators to more effectively compete with the incumbent operator."
Jay says because PLC technology uses the country`s electrical grid to deliver broadband-style communication, it has a wider market reach. This allows both incumbent and challenging telecoms operators to service customers that are unreachable due to lack of telephone networks. By combing power and telecoms, he adds, it may also be a feasible platform to develop regions without key infrastructure.
He says there are already successful PLC implementations in the Tshwane Municipality of SA, as well as Senegal, where Senelec, Senegal`s electricity provider, has also started employing PLC in recent months.
The Ghanaian technology infrastructure company, Cactel Communication, has embarked on a three-month pilot PLC project at Ghana`s Legon University, which Jay says has shown potential.
Jay notes there has been difficulty in deploying PLC in many regions of Africa as in many cases the energy utilities are reluctant to become full service telecoms providers and would rather assume a role further down the value-chain. Operators or ISPs usually partner with a utility to deploy PLC networks and market the service to customers, he adds. The models for co-operation between operator and utility vary in each project.
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