The growing importance of solving the unconnected challenge was apparent at this year’s AfricaCom, with the issue taking centre stage. What key lessons can we learn?
Although the issue of rural coverage and connectivity has attracted considerable attention, it has always been overshadowed by other industry concerns, such as LTE deployments and data services. Not anymore. At AfricaCom in November, it was striking to note how the topic has become mainstream.
Evidence for this came from the sheer number of presentations dedicated to the topic, both on the main stage and in fringe meetings. After having been neglected for too long, it’s exciting to see the industry turning its attention to this crucial issue.
We’ve experienced this gathering momentum first-hand, with an unprecedented number of enquiries about Vivada and how it can help accelerate rural deployment while reducing costs and providing the foundation for new services.
By now, it’s well-understood that it’s a huge challenge, but the focus is improving our knowledge. We can now see that coverage doesn’t only serve one purpose (delivering telephony services) but also spans a wide range of use cases. Data, of course, brings new social benefits, as well as access to information. It also enables remote IoT applications, and new infrastructure that is enabled to run autonomously and in a self-contained, off-grid environment, can also be used as a source of community power, using surplus energy to fuel other demands.
The list goes on – the more we look at the problem, the more potential is exposed. This is important and, what’s clear from AfricaCom is that these interests are beginning to align. It’s not just about the phone operator, it’s not just about the electricity generator, or the remote monitoring solution. All of this is relevant and must be considered in combination. A holistic view is not just helpful, it’s of fundamental importance to closing the coverage gap – such a view, based on a growing number of use cases, increases the financial viability of connectivity projects.
Will this interest translate into action? That’s the big question, of course. Our view is that the increased awareness of the problem will translate into new activities. The spotlight is now firmly on the coverage gap – under this intense beam, there’s nowhere to hide. Watch this space!
