MCI INTERVIEW
This is working in some countries As one might expect, the most popu-
where it is driven by governments and career history lar data service in Africa is text mes-
it works well. Also, the big problem is saging, championed—as in developing
the lack of power in some of the rural » Vitalis Olunga has been the Chairman of GSM Africa for the markets—by the youth segment, which
areas. That is still a challenge and we last four years and is currently the head of International & is attracted to its relative affordability.
are trying to work out some methods Wholesale Services Department at Safaricom Limited, Kenya, As GPRS becomes more widespread,
of addressing it,” he says. after holding the post of Head of Regulatory & Public Policy Olunga says, web access and email are
Fixed GSM phones have proven for six years at the same organisation. also proving to be key data services.
workable, as well as schemes that Overall, says Olunga, the impact of
see one key figure in any given village » Prior to this he held various managerial and specialisation mobile on African societies is proving
being granted custody of a handset, positions at the former Kenya Post and Telecommunications extremely positive. While much work re-
use of which they are then able to Corporation—now Telkom Kenya Limited. mains to be done in reaching the almost
sell to their fellow villagers. As well 80 per cent of Africans that have yet to
as helping to connect people in rural » Olunga has 26 years’ experience in the telecommunication be connected, mobile operators are well
areas, such schemes help foster local industry; expert knowledge in microwave radio and positioned to tackle the challenge.
economies. transmission, satellite communications engineering, and “I would say that it’s having a posi-
The GSM Association’s Emerging cellular mobile telephony. tive impact on the way people do busi-
Markets Handset programme, which ness and share information,” he says.
saw Motorola stimulate the low cost » He has been a telecommunication industry consultant in “In the rural areas they can get access
terminal market by producing hand- ICT policy formulation; licensing and regulatory framework to information on the prices of their
sets at sub-$30 prices, has also proven developments; and leadership & management services. goods, and also information regarding
a useful boost to African penetration, education. I see that picking up—edu-
says Olunga. “It has been quite suc- » He holds a BSc (Electrical Engineering) and MBA (Strategic cating people through SMS.”
cessful. It has been one of the growth Management) from the University of Nairobi, and a There is a great deal of migration in
factors because it has lowered the multidisciplinary postgraduate in space studies from the Africa, he says, as people from the rural
entry price. Depending on the country International Space University at the Institute of Space and areas travel to towns for commerce.
and whether it has high import duties. Terrestrial Sciences, York University. Often these people live half their lives
But the Emerging Market Handsets are in the towns and cities, and half in their
of high quality, they are so much better » Olunga is a member of the Institution of Engineers of rural homelands. “Now it is easy for the
than most of the earlier handsets that Kenya and Engineers Registration Board of Kenya. people to communicate despite the fact
were targeted at Africa,” he says. that there is a lot of migration. They still
With cost and penetration such have these close links, so it’s actually
major issues in African markets, it is referring to the huge overspend that changing the lives of the people.”
unsurprising that 3G services are not operators made for licences early in The African mobile market is very
a top priority for operators (outside the decade. much a work in progress, although the
of the continent’s more developed “The approach now in Africa is sector is vibrant and the huge growth
markets) or their customers. Indeed that some of the countries [gov- potential is being exploited. Foreign
in some markets, GPRS is still be- ernments] are not charging a high investment can be expected to continue
ing rolled out. Yet deployments of licence fee for that market. It is pouring into the country and, so long
WCDMA networks are underway, starting to take off because there as the regulators keep the interests of
Olunga says. “I would say that 3G are a few countries going for the their nations own companies high on
is not being taken up so fast. One licensing, but it varies from country the agenda, this investment can help
reason that the operators may not to country. Importantly, demand for bring essential infrastructure and
have opted to go for it is because of 3G services is still not that high. So economic improvement to a region that
what happened in Europe,” he says take-up remains slow.” is poised for development. ®
For more in-depth features and interviews with some of the key executives
shaping the telecommunications industry today visit telecoms.com.
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