15 minute read
Airtel Seychelles
TELECOMS FROM PARADISE
Airtel Seychelles has brought the telecommunications revolution to the shores of the African archipelago. We speak to Managing Director, Amadou Dina, to find out more
Writer: Jack Salter | Project Manager: Lewis Bush
Situated in the middle of the Indian Ocean with less than 100,000 inhabitants, the Seychelles is Africa’s least populous sovereign nation.
These remote islands are blessed with numerous beaches, coral reefs, nature reserves, rare animals, and have been home to telecommunications company Airtel Seychelles since 1998.
Airtel Seychelles is part of the Airtel Africa group, the continent’s second largest telecoms operator providing comprehensive, affordable and innovative mobile services in a further 13 African countries.
The group aims to provide a simple, intuitive customer experience, offering an integrated suite of telecommunications solutions to its subscribers, including mobile voice and data services as well as mobile money utilities.
With more than a 50 percent share of the mobile market in the Seychelles, it’s evident that Airtel is successfully achieving its aim in the archipelago. Amadou Dina, Managing Director
From being the first company to launch prepaid mobile services in the Seychelles in 1999 to the gradual upgrading of its network to 3G and 4G connectivity, the Airtel Seychelles journey so far has been five-star.
“Airtel Seychelles is among the top four companies in the world in terms of telecommunications. We have almost 98 percent smartphone penetration and 95 percent 4G penetration in the country,” opens Amadou Dina, Managing Director of Airtel Seychelles.
The Airtel Africa group’s mobile voice business line comprises wireless voice services, international roaming and fixed-line telephone options, whilst mobile data services include data communications and other value-added offerings for mobile subscribers.
Airtel Money, meanwhile, is an increasingly important part of the group’s footprint of service offerings. A mobile commerce service that is accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week through customers’ mobile devices, Airtel Money works in partnership with local financial institutions, enabling money to be sent and received, bill payments to be made, and in certain countries, goods and services to be paid for, and funds to be deposited or withdrawn.
DATA HOSTING DREAM
As one of the Seychelles’ most innovative mobile phone operators, Airtel Seychelles has introduced many firsts in the telecommunications sector, including the likes of 4G
data services, missed call alerts, and prepaid plans.
From voice and SMS plans to devices, internet and value-added services, Airtel Seychelles’ prepaid offerings allow customers to pay or recharge their mobile plans upfront and stay in control of their spending, whilst the company’s post-paid mobile plans and roaming tariffs are paid based on usage over a period of time, often representing fantastic value for money.
For instance, Airtel Seychelles launched its I-DEAL post-paid plans in 2018, providing lower talk, text and data rates than previous plans.
“We have various products that we offer to the consumer. As well as prepaid and post-paid plans, we offer different corporate packages and dedicated internet service provider (ISP) connections,” outlines Dina.
“Recently, we have started offering data centre hosting services. This is what the future of the business is now, we have to focus on transforming Airtel Seychelles into a data hosting company.”
The Airtel House, a newly built state-of-the-art tier three data centre located on the island of Perseverance, was officially opened by Airtel Seychelles last year, which is expected to contribute towards the digital transformation that the country has embarked on and diversify the Seychellois economy.
THE AIRTEL SEYCHELLES BRAND
VISION: Connected people are inspired people. Airtel Seychelles connects people with each other, empowering them to create opportunities, dream big and live well. MISSION: To provide globally admired technologies and services that give the Seychelles an easy and dependable way to connect to the world.
VALUES:
Alive – Acting with passion, energy and a can-do attitude, driven by innovation and an entrepreneurial spirit. Inclusive – Championing diversity to anticipate, adapt and deliver solutions that enrich the lives of the communities it serves. Respectful – Sharing the joy and pain of customers by acting with humility, openness and honesty.
Ericsson
Ericsson’s relationship with Airtel Seychelles dates back seven years, as the leading operator partnered with Ericsson to deliver its first commercial LTE (Long Term Evolution) network in Africa.
The new, nationwide LTE 800 MHz network was agreed in 2014 to meet growing customer demand for mobile broadband services while delivering superior network performance. At the time, the network was expected to cover 10,000 LTE subscribers in the first phase and would greatly enhance connectivity, giving Airtel’s customers an improved smartphone experience, with faster web browsing, downloads and improved quality of service. At the time, the agreement further demonstrated Ericsson’s commitment to its long term strategic business relationship with Airtel. The deployment of the next generation mobile network across the Seychelles enabled subscribers to enjoy an enhanced mobile experience and reliable services, and facilitated new exciting opportunities for business, society and people in the country. Most recently, Ericsson and Airtel Seychelles have once again collaborated, as Airtel Africa awarded Ericsson a turnkey project to relocate and modernize their existing network and core services to a new data center in the Seychelles. Featuring a blend of legacy and virtualized network functions, the partnership will provide Airtel Africa with a new hybrid network cloud environment, bringing significant efficacy gains. The hybrid network cloud environment will increase network and cost efficiency, reduce time to deploy applications, and enable developers to innovate and bring new applications to Airtel Africa subscribers quicker. As Voice over LongTerm Evolution (VoLTE) becomes the new standard for calling throughout the world it becomes necessary for service providers to have efficient infrastructure capable of providing VoLTE services. The virtualization and cloud-based evolution of the Airtel Africa network will prepare the service provider for VoLTE and 5G network infrastructure in the near future.
By: Todd Ashton the Vice President and Head of Ericsson South & East Africa and Rostand Njomgang Head of Networks Solutions at Ericsson South and East Africa.
Being part of a continent that holds tremendous potential for growth, African countries have significant opportunities to accelerate their digital adoption and leapfrog into a new era of socio-economic prosperity.
From new technologies that make it easier to conduct business, to increasing productivity and efficiency while encouraging an inclusive society; embracing new ways of enabling positive change will boost livelihoods, promote financial inclusion and improve access to health, education and government services. Indeed, ICT and particularly mobile broadband technology are accelerators for achieving the United Nation’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals that aim to end to extreme poverty and hunger, while improving access to health care and education, protecting the environment, and building peaceful, inclusive societies. At Ericsson, we believe that Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is the catalyst for digital transformation, with mobile networks being the crucial ingredient in increasing Africa’s economic competitiveness in the global arena. While we have witnessed impressive market developments in recent years, Africa’s ICT sector still has growth potential compared to leading economies. Of the 10 countries in the world with the lowest internet adoption, eight are in SubSaharan Africa. With 5G still in its infancy across the continent and LTE making up only 15% of all subscriptions, mobile broadband in Africa has plenty of room for growth in order to secure sustainable development. In fact, many of the indicators demonstrate just how much mobile broadband can support sustainable growth in Africa. For example, a 10 percent increase in mobile broadband adoption will lead to a 0.6 – 2.8% increase in economic growth1; for every 1000 new broadband subscribers, 80 new jobs are created2; and a doubling of the average achieved broadband speed generates an additional 0.3% in GDP growth3 . At the same time, the indications on the continent show the scale of change required to cater for the growing demand on the continent continues to surge, mainly driven by a young and growing population, accelerated by the changes to home and working lives created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Technically speaking, serving this demand requires the right policies for licensing affordable spectrum on a long- term basis. To that end, the African Telecommunications Union and Ericsson are working together on spectrum recommendations that focus on transforming Africa into a knowledge economy through the development of technologies that boost connectivity and innovation. An MoU signed by Ericsson and the ATU will help fast-track the roll out of technology across the continent.
Policies between private and public sector stakeholders will address several challenges that will make access to technology and connectivity easier. From affordable smartphones, to lower network operating costs and creating better returns on investment (ROI) for mobile service providers which can then in turn fund new investment, it is imperative that all stakeholders in the ecosystem work hand-in-hand to fulfill these ambitions.
Mobile Broadband status in Africa
With 5G on the horizon, there is still much to be done on broadening the connectivity. For example, 4G penetration remains low in Africa at 15% as of March 2021. This figure becomes more aligned with other developing continents in urban centers, but as a whole, Africa will need to bolster infrastructure, capacity and connectivity for long-term economic development and financial inclusion across the continent. As the world moves towards Industry 4.0, higher mobile broadband adoption becomes a vital cog to most countries’ economies with telecommunications playing a central role across sectors like education, health, manufacturing and many others. The global COVID-19 pandemic has also further reinforced the need for fast and reliable broadband for all, particularly for school children in rural areas. Rural geographies present a specific challenge to the mobile industry as the business case is more long-term while the capital investment requirements remain significant. With some African countries having an urbanization as low as 20%, there is a strong need for a game changing approach if we are to accelerate the digital transformation in Africa. The Giga initiative, launched by UNICEF and ITU, aims to enable greater access to connectivity in schools and in rural areas. Ericsson’s participation with this initiative aims to provide essential data that would help achieve this goal through mapping connectivity across Africa.
Figure 2 - 4G penetration in Africa including forecast till 2025
The new radios
Ericsson recently announced the release of a new innovative radio which will help reshape the conversation when it comes to the challenges outlined above. The 6626 radio combines two frequencies and six ports in a single unit, enabling a single radio to power all three sectors on the tower.
This FDD radio offers support all standards, from 2G to 5G, while bringing very significant reductions in terms of energy consumption, weight, volume and cabling requirements. These reductions translate into immediate and significant savings for operators thus enabling a much-improved ROI.
Figure 3 - Ericsson new radio benefits
As an example, it is now possible to deploy a full 3 sectors’ site supporting 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G across two different bands by using a single radio. This is quite a remarkable feat. Additionally, the power consumption savings are significant. In a country like Kenya where electricity prices remain high, a network of about 5,000 sites would see a reduction of over 6.2M USD per year in power expenditure by migrating to these units. This in turn would reduce 4,268 tons in annual carbon emissions. To put this in context, this is the equivalent of roughly 35,600 car petrol tanks. This announcement has been met with an enthusiastic response from our customers as they aim to utilize this new radio to realize OPEX benefits in minimizing power consumption, weight on tower, and to shorten the deployment cycle. Innovative and effective solutions that benefit the environment and address the unique conditions on the continent are vital technologies Africa can utilize to bridge the connectivity gap. The demand for connectivity is evident and the need for it is imperative with education, healthcare and financial inclusion requiring solutions to bridge the digital divide. The challenges pave the way for a solution that African stakeholders are committed to in tandem with partners like Ericsson. Much work needs to be done but that requires bold ambitions and action now in order to alleviate and solve connectivity challenges across the continent.
“We see the Seychelles as a financial hub, but also a high-interest tourist destination. The reason behind the investment is to turn Airtel Seychelles into a hosted data centre for the rest of the world, especially as COVID-19 has meant we can’t rely as much on travel and tourism income,” says Dina.
Local and international companies have been invited to make use of Airtel Seychelles’ data storage facility, which has been equipped with the latest ground-breaking technologies in line with the company’s mission.
“One of our priorities is to host as many organisations, both locally and globally, as we can in our tier three data centre,” Dina notes.
“We have placed this secure, strong and robust data centre into the hands of the people of the Seychelles, the business community of the Seychelles, the Indian Ocean business community, and anyone across the rest of the world. We are happy to host their data in a secure, protected environment such as the Seychelles; this is a selling point that we are focusing on.”
As the Airtel House facility is storing data from various companies, it has been built to operate in the face of any eventuality or disaster, whether it be a power failure or even an earthquake. As such, it features two independently operated transformers, two separate electrical panels, two generators and two separate battery rooms, ensuring that the data centre is always running no matter what in the event of an outage.
STAFF DEVELOPMENT
To modernise and relocate its existing network and core services to the new tier three data centre, Airtel Seychelles enlisted the help of Swedish telecommunications company, Ericsson.
The partnership with Ericsson, announced in December 2021, will provide Airtel Seychelles with a new hybrid cloud environment, bringing significant efficacy gains, increasing network and cost efficiency, reducing
application deployment times, and enabling developers to innovate and bring new applications to subscribers quicker.
The virtualisation and cloud-based evolution of the Airtel Seychelles network will prepare the service provider for VoLTE and 5G network infrastructure in the near future. In doing so, it brings Airtel Seychelles one step closer to its ambition of building a world-class network.
Above all, however, Dina recognises that Airtel Seychelles’ staff have a crucial role to play in making this ambition a reality.
“We can build a tier three data centre, we can buy all of this amazing networking equipment, but if we don’t have capable personnel, we don’t
AIRTEL SEYCHELLES’ CSR PHILOSOPHY
Operating in a complex, dynamic environment, Airtel Seychelles’ CSR programmes are executed at a local level through its employees, thereby directing contributions to areas that will have the greatest impact.
Key sectors identified include: • Education • Enterprise development • Health • Environment have anything,” he emphasises.
“Airtel Seychelles is focused on improving the capabilities and knowledge of its employees. The Seychelles is very limited in terms of skillsets because it is a very small island nation, there’s not enough universities to teach ICT, and so on.
“We prioritise in-house training based on the vision of the company. We want them to grow, and we want to guide them so that they can serve not only Airtel, but the Seychelles as a whole,” Dina continues.
SECURE CONNECTIVITY
In the coming year, a second submarine communication cable system is also expected to become operational early in 2022.
Currently, the Seychelles is only connected by one fibre-optic submarine cable system, so the second cable will provide the country with secure connectivity.
“Every single household of this country should have enough capacity to access the rest of the world, and learn what’s happening in the rest of the world, at a reasonable price,” stresses Dina.
“With multiple submarine cables for an island of 98,000 people and 28,000 households, we should be able to connect every single home and offer them something that is very affordable.”
Airtel Seychelles’ commitment to affordable connectivity ties into the company’s belief in giving back to the community. When it comes to corporate social responsibility (CSR), Airtel Seychelles aligns its business growth with the social and economic wellbeing of the communities it operates in.
More recently, to support the tourism-reliant Seychelles during the COVID-19 pandemic, a time during which travel has been restricted, Airtel Seychelles stepped in to help.
“The Seychelles was badly impacted by COVID-19 as GDP is 80
Award from the Seychelles Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI)
percent dependent on the tourism industry, so we asked the government what we could do to support the country,” Dina states proudly.
“We presented the government with a cheque for one million Seychellois rupees to help them support health workers, to buy equipment and sanitiser, anything to help with the pandemic response.”
Further, the Seychelles government was given access to the Airtel Seychelles network to communicate with the public, allowing SMS updates and notifications to be sent to the entire customer base. The Airtel Seychelles network was also opened up to the most vulnerable, with 50GB of free data provided to subscribers in order for children to access home-schooling.
“We are not out of the pandemic yet, there are still many people struggling on the island, but we want to put a smile on their face. Airtel Seychelles in loving, caring, and there for everyone,” concludes Dina.
AIRTEL SEYCHELLES
Tel: 4600600 customerqueries@sc.airtel.com www.airtel.sc
