Delivery of low-cost, profitable GSM Networks for cellular communications in areas previously denied these services in Africa will significantly boost social and commercial development on the continent.
Speaking at the GSM Africa conference in Cape Town today, (Thursday 26 November) Malcolm Bayes, Regional Director Africa, Nortel Networks, told delegates that new GSM technology has the capability to take cost-effective and profitable telephony services to small communities and geographically remote towns and villages.
" To place the impact of this in a South African perspective means that it will be possible to extend sustainable cellular telephony services to most of the population of 40 million people. Currently, only two million South Africans benefit from such services, " Bayes said.
" It is difficult to accurately quantify the commercial benefits of such a development, suffice it to say that the availability of sustainable and reliable telephony communications would impact significantly and positively on the economy.
"Governments in Africa, mindful of the need to promote further economic development, are also placing a high priority on providing their business communities and outside investors with top quality telecommunications services."
Bayes added that significant business opportunities would be presented by the extension of small GSM networks into rural areas which, until now, have not been particularly attractive markets due to low subscriber densities and the higher initial deployment costs of traditional GSM networks.
"The possible impact can be illustrated by the exceptional growth forecast for GSM networks in Africa. There are currently 1.7 million GSM subscribers on the continent. By the year 2002 there will be 8 million. During 1999, we expect 20 new GSM licenses to be allocated in Africa."
Bayes stressed that one of the most important benefits of GSM was the low initial investment required to offer feature-rich, rapidly deployable networks that can be easily expanded.
"These benefits make GSM technology and systems particularly suitable to the African marketplace where generally there is minimal telecommunications infrastructure and low per capita income.
"It is therefore also a prime market for provision of services on a prepaid basis, a factor which the technology caters to very effectively."
Bayes said that Nortel Networks, a major exhibitor at the conference and a global leader in the GSM infrastructure market, had developed a whole portfolio of affordable GSM Systems designed to meet the needs of African markets. Nortel Networks has designed customised solutions based on its leading radio technology that aim to meet operator`s cost requirements while offering rapid deployment and high performance operation of the networks. The Nortel Networks portfolio includes high quality base station products such as S 8000 and the latest scaleable systems such as MicroNode and PicoNode.
The PicoNode provides small capacity and low market entry costs, multiple billing options including prepayment systems, and multiple " backhaul " options by which the central computer can cost effectively retrieve all call information from the remote sites via landline, microwave or satellite.
"This system meets the difficult infrastructure requirements of the African market and overcomes barriers to profitability, which is a particularly critical factor in overall GSM network development in rural communities," Bayes said.
Nortel Networks works with customers worldwide to design, build, and deliver telephony and IP-optimized networks. Customers include public and private enterprises and institutions; Internet service providers; local, long-distance, cellular and PCS communications companies, cable television carriers, and utilities.
Nortel Networks` common shares are listed on the New York, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and London stock exchanges. Nortel Networks had 1997 revenues of US$15.5 billion and Bay Networks, a wholly owned subsidiary of Nortel Networks, had revenues of US$2.4 billion during its most recent fiscal year. The combined company`s workforce totals approximately 80,000 employees worldwide.
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