Regardless of world tendencies in the direction of consolidation, distinctive situations throughout sub-Saharan Africa name for infrastructure specialisation, in line with SES.
There’s a development in the direction of consolidation within the telecommunications sector, largely pushed by rising infrastructure prices and shrinking margins as knowledge overtakes voice as the first communication medium.
Within the African context, MTN Group’s latest announcement that its tower infrastructure belongings — beforehand relinquished in 2021 — can be introduced again in-house via the acquisition of IHS Towers for about US$2.2-billion is a working example. MTN cited the internalisation of margins paid to IHS as one of many advantages of the deal.
Monetary advantages however, the day-to-day chore of managing infrastructure is a process cell community operators (MNOs) would fairly not concern themselves with. That is very true on the African continent, the place points associated to backup energy, vandalism and the issue of accessing rural websites make tower administration far more difficult than in additional developed markets.
“When you communicate to most MNOs … the networks are irrelevant to them. They need to make certain they’ll present a service to their markets and that it’s worthwhile,” stated Hans Geldenhuys, director at SES Africa, in an interview with TechCentral at Cellular World Congress in Spain final week.
“So, for them to go and construct a selected core satellite tv for pc staff, handle that, after which construct infrastructure and preserve it, spend capex on it — they don’t seem to be fascinated about that.”
Stark disparities
SES is a supplier of satellite-backed managed communications infrastructure providers for MNOs throughout sub-Saharan Africa. A typical SES web site options radio tools, a photo voltaic panel for energy and a transponder/receiver connecting the location to both a low-Earth-orbit, medium-Earth-orbit or geostationary orbit satellite tv for pc. The selection to function in all three orbital planes provides SES clients the choice to deploy quite a lot of providers primarily based on their wants at particular websites, in line with Geldenhuys.
SES operates throughout the whole continent, confronting stark disparities between international locations — and infrequently inside them, too. Whereas main cities throughout the continent get pleasure from 5G connectivity, huge stretches of rural Africa stay unconnected. Roads are impassable within the moist season, the ability grid is absent and cell indicators are non-existent. Closing that hole calls for specialist expertise — engineers and logistics groups who can construct and preserve infrastructure in locations so distant that tools typically needs to be transported by rowboat.
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“Constructing out that floor community is vital. It’s not simply placing a web site down — it’s the towers, the ability and numerous different points round it. You wouldn’t imagine the extent a few of our installers need to undergo as a result of a few of these areas are so distant,” stated Geldenhuys.
Most of the distant communities the place SES builds websites are receiving cell connectivity for the primary time. Vandalism is the primary main problem. Past that, when issues do go improper, getting an engineer to the location to repair the issue is commonly a logistical ordeal in itself.
Energy is one other situation. Prior to now, diesel was used to service websites the place the grid is non-existent, however diesel requires fixed refilling. At the moment, it serves as a secondary backup to solar energy. Since serving a small village requires far much less capability than a dynamic city setting, rural excessive websites usually eat far much less energy. Every web site is constructed to spec relying on an MNO’s necessities.
“The Nigerian market is totally different to, say, the DRC, so we deal with what the requirement is to make sure that we construct the fitting answer for them utilizing the expertise obtainable to us,” stated Geldenhuys.
SES has shifted its strategy from static backhaul supplier to full-fledged managed service operator. The corporate doesn’t simply promote satellite tv for pc capability — it designs networks, procures and ships tools, manages installations, and operates the infrastructure underneath long-term service-level agreements. Within the DRC alone, SES manages greater than 900 cell websites for Vodacom, spanning terrain that ranges from city neighbourhoods in Kinshasa to river communities accessible solely by boat.
Past satellite tv for pc
It’s a mannequin that calls for specialists — not generalists who can mount an antenna, however engineers who perceive the intersection of satellite tv for pc physics, energy programs and civil infrastructure. A rugged disposition and the flexibility to get together with strangers are precious expertise, too.
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“Prior to now, we supplied entry to house on a wholesale foundation. The MNOs had been accountable for constructing out networks and sustaining them. We’ve moved far past that. We at the moment are full expertise suppliers,” stated Geldenhuys. — (c) 2026 NewsCentral Media
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