Nokia Mobile Networks SVP of Middle East and Africa, Mikko Lavanti, sat down with Developing Telecoms to discuss a range of topics affecting markets under his remit. Here the executive explored markets he believed will be opportunities for growth, his ambitions and what operators need to keep an eye out for over the next 12 months.

Volatile foreign exchange rates across Africa are currently hamstringing operators, with notable names such as MTN and Airtel revealing how badly their coffers were hit in recent financial results.

SES’ recent purchase of Intelsat is the latest example of major consolidation within the geostationary orbit (GSO) satellite sector, following on from mergers between Eutelsat and OneWeb as well as Viasat and Inmarsat.

Transmitting about 99% of the world’s telecommunications, submarine cables have emerged as critical infrastructure necessary for systems to function. In recent months, there have been two “extraordinary” outages that have brought submarine cable damage and protection issues to the fore.

Huawei Analyst Summit (HAS) 2024 may have been a closed event for media this year but Developing Telecoms was still in Shenzhen to soak in new developments from Huawei and scope out the vendor’s almost mythical Ox Horn Campus, a fairy-tale project from Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei.

Within the space of a month, Africa experienced two extraordinary cable disruptions that led to internet outages in at least 11 countries across the continent.

Africa is reaching a tipping point as take up of connectivity services has surged year-on-year and it is not slowing down anytime soon. Its population is huge at 1.1 billion and young, a perfect combination for a surge in data usage and opportunities for operators. But now is the time for closer collaboration among rivals and governments - and the continent’s six largest operator groups are looking to lead by example.

Now Corporation sees its rivals selling off tower assets to independent tower companies as an opportunity for its enterprise broadband provider unit Now Telecom to expand its coverage through leasing deals, and eventually launch its consumer mobile business in two years.

Orange Middle East and Africa CEO Jerome Henique (pictured) has left the door open for an eventual entry into the Ethiopian market, despite recently dropping negotiations with the government to acquire a stake in state-incumbent Ethio Telecom last year.  

Vodacom Group CTO (pictured) Dejan Kastelic said the operator is exploring a range of strategies to tackle rising opex costs and reduce its carbon footprint through innovative new technologies, including harnessing the power of hydrogen to power base stations.

With MWC24 now over, it’s time to look at the key trends that emerged from the show – and check whether they aligned with our predictions.

Mobile World Congress 2024 takes place next week, and Developing Telecoms will be at the show in Barcelona to report on the major trends that will shape the sector in emerging markets across the next year.

The spread of connectivity has transformed the economies of multiple developing markets enabling citizens from Asia, Africa and Latin America to tap into a myriad of information and services.

The telecoms sector has an indisputable impact on the environment. Operating a reliable network requires vast amounts of power, the manufacture of network equipment and personal devices produces significant carbon emissions, and the swift obsolescence of these devices generates a constant stream of e-waste.

Interest in artificial intelligence (AI) as a potential game-changer for the telecoms industry will continue to build through 2024, and in turn drive experimentation and innovation across many areas of telcos’ businesses and those of their customers.

As year-end approaches, analyst and consultancy firms, industry players and assorted commentators are once again posting their predictions for telecoms in 2024. However diverse their research interests or business focus, almost all of these forecasts share a common theme this time around - namely the expected impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the industry as a whole in the year ahead.

Since the early 2010s, connectivity has become central to the lives of people living in developed markets. It was very apparent that the internet was fast becoming life-changing technology, as it enables levers to streamline productivity and deliver entertainment in ways that were deemed unimaginable decades ago. Now at the end of 2023, we see multiple organisations and bodies calling for universal broadband access to become a basic human right.

Last week, we examined the impact of mobile money in Africa, exploring the runaway success of M-Pesa in Kenya by framing this against the broader backdrop of the continent, where mobile money has frequently been touted as the solution to financial inclusion.

Mobile money is one of the great success stories in Africa – or at least, this is the popular narrative around the technology. In this two-part series of Features, we will examine mobile money’s impact in Africa, and the extent to which it really has revolutionised financial inclusion in the continent.

Artificial intelligence has ascended to the top of minds in the telecoms sector over the past year due to its potential to transform the industry.

TM Forum president and CEO Nik Willetts (pictured) opened Digital Transformation World 2023 with a stark message for the telecoms industry, claiming it is at a “crisis point” where it faces being left behind by the “very revolution we’ve created”. 

In the final instalment of our recent series focusing on e-waste in emerging markets, we reached out to a major Asian operator to learn more about how they plan to achieve a major sustainability pledge - Thailand’s True Corp, which has announced that it aims to achieve zero e-waste to landfill by 2030.

In the first instalment of this series, we explored the scale of the issue of e-waste and some of the steps being taken to reduce it. As attitudes towards sustainability shift, policymakers take note – whether at company or government level – and in this article we’ll explore the factors pushing the industry towards sustainability.

In this new series of features, Developing Telecoms will explore the under-reported issue of electronic waste. We will explore possible solutions for addressing the issue as well as examining a case study with a leading Asian operator, but to begin, this article aims to examine the scale of the issue affecting operators in developing markets.

Shutting down 2G and 3G is ramping up across the globe as operators make way for more capacity for 4G and 5G networks. It is the inevitable cycle of progress, out with the old, and in with the new as the old saying goes.

Helios Towers is one the biggest towercos in Africa, and since its IPO four years ago the firm has dramatically expanded its footprint and portfolio. It has also strongly pushed a sustainability agenda while continuing to drive increased coverage across some of the most challenging markets in the continent. We caught up with the firm’s CEO Tom Greenwood to discuss how it has achieved this.

Despite the heavy emphasis on sustainability in 2023, it does not change the fact that global economies are growing beasts, with insatiable demand for energy as they grow. 

Those of us in the telecoms industry have sat through the same keynote speeches, listening to the same messages year after year on how enhanced connectivity will be the core to a brighter future for mankind.

Smartphone sales in India are down to their lowest level since 2019, despite the pandemic underlining the importance of connectivity in society. However, while the overall volume of shipments may have dropped, the devices in demand are increasingly more expensive high-end models.

The Philippines telecoms market is one that constantly hits the headlines and this heat stems from the historic duopoly of Globe Telecom and PLDT’s Smart Communications in the archipelagic nation.

Through acquisitions and shareholdings, the Hungarian government – led by Prime Minister Victor Orbán’s Fidesz party – is increasingly displaying its determination to boost the state’s role in the telecoms sector, arguing that it will deliver an economic boost to Hungary, strengthen its position on the global stage, and prove beneficial for consumers.

The over-arching purpose of smart cities is to improve the living standards of their people through multiple pathways, be it waste management, transportation or energy efficiency, to name a few. All of this can lead to making citizens more productive and delivering what all countries desire - economic growth.

Mobile World Congress 2023 may be done and dusted, but the agenda that emerges from the show tends to impact the industry’s focus across the following year. I’ve felt in the past that these trends have been more tangible than they were in 2023; we’re perhaps in a year of evolution rather than revolution.