Telecom
Tariff Hike: Telcos Threaten Load Shedding, Cite Harsh Operating Conditions
Leading telecom operators in Nigeria have threatened to implement load shedding measures in response to the Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC) reluctance to address their demands for a tariff hike.
Load shedding is a deliberate shutdown of telecom services in a part or parts, generally to prevent the failure of the entire system when the demand strains the capacity of the system.
Telecom operators, citing the rising cost of operations, including the increased prices of diesel, infrastructure maintenance, and a depreciating naira, have called on the NCC to approve a tariff increase to help mitigate their financial burdens.
For instance, MTN, with a subscriber base of 79.7 million as of December 2023, reported a first loss after tax of N137 billion since its 2019 listing on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 2023. The telco incurred FX losses of N740 billion ($815.79 million at N907.1/$).
Airtel Africa, which had 50.9 million subscribers in Nigeria as of March 2024, reported a loss after tax of $89 million for its full year ended March 2024, primarily due to FX headwinds in Nigeria and Malawi. It lost $1.26 billion to derivative and FX exposures, with $770 million attributed to the naira’s devaluation.
This has led to dwindled investment in the telecoms sector, Carl Cruz, chief executive officer of Airtel Nigeria, stated, adding that, “The devaluation of the Naira moving from N420/dollar to N760/dollar in a month’s time, to about N1500/dollar today, had indeed affected telecoms industry who rely heavily on importation of infrastructure to grow the sector.’
In the same vein, Karl Toriola, CEO, MTN Nigeria, said operators are reluctant to invest, simply because of the high operating cost and the devaluation of naira, among other issues that have marred the growth of the sector.
According to him, “the telecoms sector in Nigeria is now in an intensive care unit (ICU) gasping for breath, while calling on the government to intervene. The sector is facing a lot of challenges of which if urgent action is not taken, it will dry up. The truth is that investors are not going to come to invest in the sector if the fundamental issues are not addressed. To rescue the sector from collapsing, there is a need to increase prices of telecom services.”
Despite repeated pleas, the regulatory body has remained silent on the issue, causing frustration and uncertainty among industry players.
The situation has escalated, with telecom operators warning that if the tariff hike is not granted, they may be forced to adopt load shedding—a strategy that would involve rationing network availability during certain periods. This could lead to disruptions in mobile and internet services, affecting millions of Nigerians who rely on these services for communication, business, and access to essential information.
“With the high operating cost and the delay on the part of the government to allow operators to increase prices of telecoms services, operators may adopt the method of load shedding in the sector.
“We may decide to give network to some areas, while others may not have network, just to cut down operating cost for survival of the industry,” Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, chairman, Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), told Leadership.
Meanwhile, the NCC has yet to release an official statement addressing the operators’ demands or the looming threat of service disruptions.
Telecom
MTN, Accenture Conclude OpenRAN Trial as It Eyes Network Shift
MTN Group and Accenture have concluded a proof-of-concept OpenRAN trial that the two companies co-developed.
According to a statement by Accenture on Wednesday, trials of the solution were conducted on MTN’s network in South Africa and Nigeria.
“An initial trial phase exploring OpenRAN solutions was conducted in MTN South Africa’s lab, prior to the live site deployment,” said Nitesh Singh, communication, media and technology leader at Accenture.
“This project provided us with an opportunity to share our experience with MTN through the Rakuten communications platform, and to jointly create the next-generation network that will set new standards for future mobile communications in South Africa and across the continent.”
OpenRAN standards are developed by two main industry bodies, the O-RAN Alliance and the Telecom Infra Project
Operators around the world are experimenting with OpenRAN architectures as these would help decouple the components in the parts of the network connecting a user’s device to the nearest tower, preventing vendor lock-in and potentially reducing costs.
OpenRAN standards are developed by two main industry bodies, the O-RAN Alliance and the Telecom Infra Project (TIP).
The O-RAN Alliance was founded by five companies – AT&T, Orange, NTT Docomo, China Mobile and Deutsche Telekom – and has the most comprehensive body of OpenRAN standards available.
Telecom Infra Project members include operators as well as service providers, technology partners, systems integrators and other stakeholders, including Intel and Facebook.
OpenRAN technology has seen significant boosts in investment in the US following allegations by US officials that Chinese radio equipment manufacturer Huawei places backdoors and spyware into its networking kit, allegations the company has strenuously denied.
The US and EU have subsequently banned Huawei equipment from mobile networks in the two regions, exacerbating the need for open standards in the access network.
“MTN is committed to exploring innovative technological solutions to reduce the costs and deliver greater value to our customers. We are confident that in time, OpenRAN holds the potential to allow us to lower the total cost of ownership … and unlock the benefits of cloud-native deployments with greater flexibility and scalability,” said Amith Maharaj, technology executive for MTN Group
Telecom
Starlink Boosts Traffic for Rural Nigerian Cell Sites 45 Percent – AMN
Africa Mobile Networks (AMN) has said that it has connected more than 100 rural base stations in Nigeria to Starlink’s LEO satellite network, which has resulted in a 45% boost in traffic on those sites.
AMN and SpaceX signed a commercial deal in July 2023 under which Starlink would provide satellite backhaul connectivity for AMN’s remote base stations across Africa.
The first AMN base station in Nigeria was fitted with a Starlink terminal in April this year in the rural village of Yebu.
Since then, over 100 base stations in other villages have been connected to Starlink, and AMN said in a statement it expects to double that number before the end of the year.
AMN said that traffic has increased by approximately 45% across all sites using Starlink backhaul, and that some sites are processing more than 25,000 voice minutes per day.
AMN also partly credited the traffic boost at those sites to its software-defined AMN Radio Node (ARN) technology, which enables the base stations to support up to five simultaneous carriers in either 2G+3G or 2G+4G configurations.
The combination of software-defined ARNs and LEO satellite backhaul enables AMN to boost base station capacity remotely with no change to the existing hardware on the site, AMN said.
Telecom
SeerBit, Zoho Partner to Simplify Payments for African Businesses
SeerBit, Africa’s trusted payment solutions provider has announced a strategic partnership with Zoho, a global technology company that provides cloud-based business software, to unlock growth for businesses across Africa.
To scale their offerings and drive growth, businesses need to effortlessly manage and receive payments from their customers in Africa.
Consequently, SeerBit noted that the partnership marks a significant advancement in simplifying financial transactions for businesses in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and other African countries who are utilizing Zoho Books.
Zoho Books is a comprehensive cloud-based accounting software that helps businesses take care of their finance, perform core accounting functions, and day-to-day book-keeping.
This key integration leverages SeerBit’s robust payment infrastructure to empower users of Zoho Books with seamless and secure payment solutions to help businesses collect payments online from their customers.
Furthermore, this partnership will enable businesses to enhance customer experience and drive growth through relevant payment options such as card, mobile money and bank transfer.
Founder & CEO of SeerBit, Omoniyi Kolade, expressed delight with the recent partnership, stating: “Our collaboration with Zoho represents a significant step in our mission to simplify payment processes for businesses in Nigeria. Of critical importance to us is ensuring that we empower businesses to achieve their primary goals – satisfying the needs of customers without the hassles of payment complexities.
“This epitomises our shared commitment to innovation and customer-centricity. We are shaping the landscape for payment processing for SaaS platforms within the African business space, while providing businesses with the tools they need to thrive in today’s dynamic digital landscape.”
Equally significant, the strategic partnership between SeerBit and Zoho ensures the availability of reliable payment solutions integrated with essential business tools and software. This collaboration empowers users to scale their enterprises efficiently at the speed of commerce and technology.
SeerBit is a Pan-African payment solutions provider that makes it easier for businesses and financial service providers to make and accept payments from their customers across Africa. Users have the advantage of enjoying flexible features to fit any business with a single integration.
The company is building a unified payment ecosystem that removes the complexity and fragmentation of the digital payment process in Africa, enabling businesses to seamlessly accept multiple payment methods and streamline online and offline transactions.
With 55+ apps in nearly every major business category, from customer experience and employee experience to enterprise collaboration, custom solutions, and business intelligence, Zoho Corporation is one of the world’s most prolific technology companies.
Headquartered in Chennai, India, Zoho is privately held and profitable with more than 15,000 employees. Zoho respects user privacy and does not have an ad-revenue model in any part of its business, including its free products. The company owns and operates its data centers, ensuring complete oversight of customer data, privacy, and security.
More than 100 million users around the world, across hundreds of thousands of companies, rely on Zoho everyday to run their businesses, including Zoho itself.
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