In one of the first major moves since Nippon Telegraph & Telephone (NTT) acquired Dimension Data, wholly-owned subsidiary Plessey has announced the launch of its operator-neutral operations and management (O&M) services that will be made available to wireless and cable network operators across the African continent.
This move will see Plessey assume the role of physical infrastructure developer, as well as provide a first-class managed infrastructure service on which any operator can build their services.
The company believes that supporting and enhancing infrastructure sharing in Africa will allow for the expansion of GSM and wireless networks into rural areas, as well as enhance the utilisation of infrastructure in metro areas.
Plessey specialises in the provision of passive infrastructure for service providers and GSM operators in Africa on a non-shared, shared or multi-tenanted full maintenance lease basis.
Howard Earley, Plessey CEO, says: “Plessey has over 50 years' experience in providing Radio Base Station (RBS) site-build and outside plant fibre infrastructure throughout Africa. We have excellent relationships with key operators on the ground, and have for some years been providing several components of O&M service in South Africa and East Africa. Extending our offering to include a broader value stack of managed infrastructure service to established, emerging, and embryonic Towercos and network service providers is the next logical step for Plessey.
"In the past, network operators invested in infrastructure either for their own and exclusive use, or participated to industry sharing initiatives. Today, operators are under increased pressure to reduce their operating costs and capital expenditure. This, coupled with a decreasing EBITDA, makes them open to outsourcing the management of their towers to third parties. Sharing a common infrastructure is entirely carrier neutral and does not differentiate between users, and the real benefits to operators are compelling.
”Among the benefits are reduced Capex requirements when compared to an operator that solely undertakes their own network rollout.”
In addition, Plessey monitors and maintains the network on a 24x7x365 basis. This means network operators don't carry the costs of additional support and maintenance staff.
Operators can also take advantage of Plessey's technology refresh options, and deploy hybrid energy and clean power solutions to reduce carbon footprint and long term operating costs.
Overall, they can enjoy an accelerated time to market, backed by comprehensive service level agreements (SLAs), says Earley.
He adds that Plessey's O&M services model aligns with Dimension Data's goal to become a world-leading services-led organisation.
“Dimension Data has enormous expertise and depth of skills in the services space. In addition, there appears to be deep support for the shared infrastructure model by a number of regulatory bodies throughout Africa."
According to a study by the TMT advisory firm Delta Partners, there are 200 000 towers in the Middle East and Africa. Delta expects the demand for towers in MEA to increase by 50% over the next five years, driven by factors such as the availability of undersea cable networks, terrestrial fibre networks, broadband wireless technologies and subscriber growth. About $8 billion in cumulative tower-related Capex could be saved if operators were to share towers, according to the study.
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