Zambia Partners with Airtel and IHS to Boost Telecom Coverage

Airtel

The Zambian government has partnered with Airtel Zambia and IHS Towers to deploy 152 telecom towers over six months, aiming to raise network coverage to 91.6% at a cost of $14 million.

Announced on April 2, the initiative is part of Zambia’s broader digital transformation agenda under the Eighth National Development Plan (8NDP), which prioritizes public-private partnerships to expand mobile and broadband infrastructure, enhance digital literacy, and drive innovation in key sectors.

Percy Chinyama of the Smart Zambia Digital Transformation Institute emphasized the role of private sector collaboration following a March meeting with Airtel Africa representatives.

The Ministry of Technology and Science reaffirmed Zambia’s commitment to universal connectivity but noted that success depends on overcoming challenges such as device affordability, high service costs, and limited digital skills. As of 2023, internet penetration stood at just 31.2%, according to the ITU.

Source: Extensia

Airtel Africa Set to Receive $100M Investment from IFC for Operations Growth

Airtel

IFC is considering a $100M investment in Airtel Africa, allocating $70M to Kenya and $30M to Rwanda for telecom expansion.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is considering a major investment in Airtel Africa to strengthen its telecom operations across East Africa, Informer East Africa has reported.

The report further mentions that the proposed funding, totaling $100 million, is expected to allocate $70 million to Airtel Kenya and $30 million to Airtel Rwanda, potentially supporting network expansion and service enhancements in both markets.

Source: TechAfrica News

GIFEC strengthens ties with AT Ghana to enhance rural connectivity

GIFEC

The acting Administrator of the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC), Dr. Sofo Tanko Rashid-Computer, has paid a courtesy call on the Chief Executive Officer of AT Ghana, Mr. Leo Skarlatos, as part of ongoing efforts to foster stronger collaboration between GIFEC and AT Ghana in addressing rural connectivity challenges across the country.

The high-level engagement centered on improving telecommunication infrastructure in unserved and underserved communities, enhancing the performance of AT Ghana sites under the Ghana Rural Telephony and Digital Inclusion Project (GRT&DIP), and exploring innovative ways to drive digital transformation.

During the meeting, the Administrator highlighted the significance of partnerships in accelerating Ghana’s digital inclusion agenda. He emphasized that GIFEC, through its various projects, has been working to bridge the digital divide by ensuring that every Ghanaian, regardless of location, has access to affordable and reliable telecommunications services. However, he noted that achieving this goal requires the active participation of key industry stakeholders like AT Ghana.

A key focus of the discussion was the operational challenges faced by AT Ghana’s sites under the GRT&DIP. The administrator called for stronger technical and infrastructural support from AT Ghana to enhance the efficiency of these sites, ensuring seamless connectivity for the thousands of people who rely on them for communication and digital services. He stressed the need for periodic assessments and collaborative interventions to optimize service delivery in rural areas.

Furthermore, Dr. Tanko Rashid-Computer reiterated the importance of sustained financial support from telecommunications companies towards GIFEC’s mandate. He urged AT Ghana to redeem its statutory 1% contribution to GIFEC, which is crucial for sustaining initiatives that expand digital access. These contributions, he noted, enable GIFEC to deploy critical infrastructure, provide ICT training, and roll out digital skills programs that empower individuals and businesses in remote areas.

Beyond rural connectivity, the discussion also touched on the government’s broader vision for digital transformation. The Administrator briefed the AT Ghana CEO on the proposed amendment to the Communications Act, which established GIFEC, aligning with H.E. the President’s vision to transform the Fund into a Digital Economy and Innovation Development Fund. This new framework will position GIFEC as a key enabler of Ghana’s digital economy by providing financial support for innovative technology-driven projects, equipping millennials and Gen-Zs with entrepreneurial skills, and fostering economic growth through digital innovation.

In response, the CEO of AT Ghana, Mr. Leo Skarlatos, expressed his company’s unwavering commitment to supporting GIFEC’s mission. He acknowledged the challenges facing the telecommunications industry but reaffirmed AT Ghana’s dedication to fulfilling its obligations, including redeeming its contributions to GIFEC. He also pledged AT Ghana support in implementing innovative solutions to enhance rural connectivity, such as deploying alternative power solutions for remote cell sites, leveraging emerging technologies to optimize network performance, and exploring new financing models for sustainable infrastructure development.

Recognizing the need for continuous engagement, both parties agreed to hold further meetings to deepen collaboration and refine strategies for achieving shared goals. Mr. Leo Skarlatos assured GIFEC of their willingness to partner on future projects that align with Ghana’s digital transformation agenda, including potential initiatives that will expand broadband penetration, improve mobile network coverage, and facilitate ICT capacity-building programs in rural areas.

The GIFEC delegation at the meeting included the acting Deputy Administrator, Hon. Abdul-Aziz Mohammed; Director of Operations and Ag. Director of Administration & HR, Alhaji Yahaya Zakaria Osman; the Director of Finance, Mr. Henry Agyeman Boateng; Senior Manager and PA to the Administrator, Ms. Ruth Ayiintimii Azantilow; Head of Corporate Affairs, Mr. Fredrick Kojo Aidoo; and Mr. Vincent Owusu Amponsah.

Present for AT Ghana included Mr. Emmanuel Owusu, the Chief Technical Officer (CTO), Chief Legal & Regulatory Officer, Mr. Emmanuel Adjei, and Benjamin Bagyio Adu, Head of Communications and Media Engagement.

Source: My Joy Online


Airtel CEO Credits Focused Strategy for Financial Turnaround

Airtel

Bharti Airtel CEO Gopal Vittal attributed the company’s financial turnaround to a focused capital allocation strategy aimed at improving service quality. Speaking at MWC25 Barcelona, he said Airtel is “obsessed about experience” and is pursuing partnerships that add value for customers.

Vittal explained Airtel made a bold decision to target the top 40% of customers who generate nearly 80% of industry revenue, positioning the company for growth amid market consolidation. He described the earlier environment as a “competitive onslaught,” with revenues plunging 30% and ten operators exiting the market.

He highlighted that Airtel’s revenue share has grown from 29% to over 40% in the last 8–9 years, and its market capitalization has surged from $20 billion to nearly $120 billion.

Source: Mobile World Live

Airtel Nigeria launches AI spam alert service

Airtel

Airtel Nigeria has launched an artificial intelligence (AI) spam detection tool for customers to combat the plague of spam messages.

Dr. Bosun Tijani, minister of communications, innovation, and digital economy, and Dr. Aminu Maida, executive vice chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, both commended the launch.

The service will begin in Nigeria, targeting Airtel users on smartphones and feature phones. According to the business, there is no app installation or activation required, and it is free for users.

Airtel said the AI spam alert service will be rolled out in all 13 additional Airtel Africa countries in the coming months, protecting millions of Airtel consumers.

“This innovative service keeps you safe and secure,” said the telco.

Source: Extensia

Airtel chair pushes for tie-ups with sat players

Airtel

Bharti Airtel chair Sunil Mittal (pictured) called on governments and regulators to allow consolidation to give mobile players the incentive to invest heavily in new infrastructure and partner with satellite operators.

Mittal insisted it’s not the time to fight with each other but to work together. “We have a mission to finish the job of covering the last 400 million people,” highlighting satellite service is the solution to filling coverage gaps.

Regarding consolidation, he insisted it is time to embrace each other, share and compete in the marketplace. “Compete on the strength of your brands, your services, but don’t try to compete by building solo capital infrastructure.”

He asked: “How many fibre highways are enough? How many duplicate towers are enough?”

India had 12 operators at its peak. Spectrum was fragmented, small networks were being built, he said. “Everybody was chasing urban, lucrative areas at the cost of rural,” which disparately required coverage.

The country is now down to three, giving operators the necessary scale. “We have 4G and 5G coverage in every corner of the country.”

Mittal also urged authorities to lower taxes and allocate sufficient spectrum at affordable costs.

While average industry revenue growth is around just 2 per cent, he stated year after year operators face demands to buy expensive spectrum, putting $200 billion into capex annually.

The chair said he hopes this message will resonate with industry stakeholders, and “we will start to reset our industry”.

“This is one industry that is bearing the burden of building out the digital infrastructure across the globe. How much is this industry taking the load itself? The return on capital is just an average of 4 per cent.”

Source: Mobile World Live

Cell C 5G launch in South Africa is imminent

Cell C

Cell C is planning to launch 5G services in South Africa in the next couple of months as its financial turnaround plan gains traction.

CEO Jorge Mendes told TechCentral in an interview on Thursday that the company is at an advanced stage of preparing to launch 5G to its subscribers – and it plans to use the technology to deliver both 5G on smartphones and to offer a range of new, 5G-based fixed-wireless broadband solutions with large data bundles that compete with fibre.

Cell C’s 5G launch plans come after a period of intense negotiations with network partners MTN and Vodacom, which operate the last-mile infrastructure that connects consumers to the company’s core network. Mendes said those discussions have progressed well and that Cell C is confident it will be able to launch a 5G offering that makes commercial sense.This is very, very exciting and is a different place from where we were 24 months ago on the technology side

He said Vodacom and MTN have proved to be good partners and that there is mutual respect between the three operators, despite the fact that they compete head-on in the marketplace for a share of consumers’ wallets.

Mendes said Cell C’s decision, taken several years ago, to shut down its own radio access network in favour of outsourcing that function to Vodacom and MTN has worked well. Not only has it significantly reduced the company’s capital expenditure, it has also greatly improved Cell C’s network quality, he said.

Cell C has spent the past 18 months deploying a Mocn – multi-operator network core – roaming system, which has allowed it to create a virtual representation of its network on top of either MTN or Vodacom’s infrastructure.

VoLTE

This, according to Mendes, has given Cell C significantly greater control over where it directs user traffic, allowing it to lower costs and be more efficient.

It is also aggressively moving voice calls off old circuit-switched technology and onto an internet protocol-based technology known as VoLTE that routes calls over 4G/LTE.

“This is very, very exciting and is a different place from where we were 24 months ago on the technology side,” said Mendes.  

Source: extensia.tech

AirtelTigo to undergo rebranding under new management

Impeccable sources have revealed that last week the Minister of Communications and Digitalization, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful personally informed workers of the company that “the deal is done” and latest by February they will know the name of the new buyer.

Meanwhile, the various agencies and partners of AirtelTigo have also been informed about the coming of the new buyer and the forthcoming rebranding of the company.

It is not clear if the brand colors will be changed or maintained, but the source says the name AirtelTigo will be completely done away with.

Meanwhile, workers are very much upbeat about the coming of the new buyer because, as the source put it, “workers have been sitting on the tenterhooks since government acquired AirtelTigo, not knowing what their fate was. But now it is clear that things will be a bit better.”

Government took over AirtelTigo in 2021 for only US$1, when the two telcos which merged to form the company, India’s Bharti Airtel (Airtel) and Sweden Millicom Cellular BV (Tigo) left the country.

Since the merger, the company has still not been doing so well on the market, as it is reportedly heavily indebted to tower companies, particularly ATC Ghana.

Last year, Globacom Ghana, another telco which had also not been doing so well on the market, migrated all of its over 800,000 customers to the AirtelTigo platform. So, now Glo customers have become AirtelTigo customers and the Glo network is now dormant, even though the company still holds its license, at least until July this year.

This also comes at a time when the National Communications Authority (NCA) only recently approved the sale of majority shares in Vodafone Ghana to Telecel Group, after a roller coaster process, in which the NCA initially claimed the deal did not meet regulatory requirements and Telecel did not have the technical and financial muscles to do the job.

Meanwhile, the runaway market leader, MTN Ghana, has been made a significant market power (SMP) with some seven measures being implemented in that regard to correct the imbalance in the market, which has been a concern to both existing and prospective investors in the space.

Industry experts hold that making MTN an SMP was one of the calculated moves to drive investor confidence in the market because several interested investors have for years been concerned about the size and continuous growth of MTN in Ghana as other telcos and ISPs (internet service providers) continued to perform abysmally.

It would have appeared that the SMP strategy has not done much to curtail MTN, so now the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), has slapped a GHS8.2 billion tax liability on MTN based on an alleged audit done by Safari Tech Ghana Limited, which claimed that MTN hid 30% revenue from government between 2014 and 2018.

MTN has disputed the claim, but it would appear that the efforts at “cutting MTN to size”, as alleged by some industry watchers, has triggered investor confidence to the point that Telecel is set to come into the market and there is a new buyer for AirtelTigo, which would be made public possibly in February.

Source: Techgh24(News Ghana)