08 WEDNESDAY 14th NOVEMBER 2012 FEATURE | PLESSEY


WHAT OPERATORS AND SERVICE PROVIDERS ARE LOOKING FOR IS AN INFRASTRUCTURE PARTNER THAT CAN BUILD THEIR INFRASTRUCTURE AND DELIVER MANAGED SERVICES FOR THE INFRASTRUCTURE’S FULL LIFE CYCLE – IN THE SAME CONSISTENT, WORLD CLASS WAY, WHEREVER THE INFRASTRUCTURE PARTNER TOUCHES THEIR BUSINESS IN AFRICA REGARDLESS OF REGION-SPECIFIC ISSUES.


Telecommunications infrastructure in Africa is about staying power


T


he word ‘backbone’, when used in telecommunications, refers to a thicker line that carries data gathered from smaller lines that


interconnect with it. However, the non-telco expression of ‘having backbone’, means hav- ing strength and determination, being able to hold your ground in challenging situations, and sticking to a task no matter how difficult. When it comes to telco infrastructure in Africa, it’s essential to have the latter kind of backbone in order to get the former. The telecommunications boom in


Africa means that literally hundreds of existing and start-up operators and service providers want optical fibre cable in the ground and base stations erected – now. There are markets to capture and extraor- dinary profits to be made, if you can get your content and services to users before the next guy. But infrastructure is just one of those


things. It takes time. Because there are mundane things to be done, like the dig- ging of ditches, sometimes by sophisti- cated machines, but most often by people wielding picks and shovels as they perch precariously on mountainsides or roadside embankments. There are roads to be slit, without slicing


through water and electricity mains. There are site surveys to be done and property and access rights as well as municipal per- mits to be negotiated. There are concrete and steel girders to be


carried up, for instance, Mount Kilimanjaro, so that a provider’s base station can serve two countries at the same time. “One of our most interesting projects was


carried out in the Western Cape’s famous fynbos biome, which also just happened to cover some of South Africa’s oldest historical sites,” says Howard Earley, COO of Plessey, Africa’s leading turnkey telecommunications infrastructure solution provider. “So while we were working against the clock and the budget, to bring the project in on time and on cost, we were also having to dig trenches without damaging lanes of ancient oaks or disturbing the foundations of 350-year old buildings. We did it, because that is what we do – and have been doing for more than fifty years. But it took some pretty nifty project management and all the intellectual and emotional backbone we had.”


COMMERCIAL RESILIENCE The Western Cape project connected South Africa to the West African Cable System and was, therefore, crucial to increasing the country’s bandwidth and enhancing the stability and reliability of that bandwidth. So, it created a special kind of project pressure in terms of serving a national interest. A different type of pressure arises when consortia of telcos are formed around infrastructure in order for the telcos to achieve econo- mies of scale and, also, speed to network availability. “South Africa’s National Long Distance


cable, which runs from the country’s central commercial region to a subma- rine cable landing site on the east coast, has three competing owners, all of whom wanted delivery on different infrastructure specifications at the same time,” Earley says. “That’s a management challenge both for the consortium members and for us as the infrastructure providers. “Many suppliers have buckled under


the strain. But, we’re one of the oldest infrastructure providers on the continent precisely because we have a reputation for staying with a project until it’s finished. And, if that means cleaning up a river while we’re laying a cable across it, or improving the civil engineering on a bridge because we’re ducting there, or helping a commu- nity finish building a house for one of their needy residents, then that’s what we do. “In-house we have an unusual com-


bination of environmental, engineering, financial, business, telecoms, property management, procurement, supply chain management, project management, health and safety, and what, for most businesses, would be unlikely skills such as tower climbing and off-road driving. So, we are able to have both a holistic and a discipline- specific view of any infrastructure issue and, therefore, are able to solve it quickly and cost-effectively. “At the same time, we can use that range


and depth of skills into making ancillary contributions to the development of the continent – simply by looking around us to see how what we already do well can be extended a little to provide additional social and sustainability benefits to the communities we touch.”


HOLDING THE BABY In Africa, the question of having to have cor- porate backbone in order to get telco back- bone is a little more searching than in most regions, in part because of extraordinarily diverse geographic terrain as well as equally diverse regulatory conditions, and in part because of political and regional conflict. And these issues not only affect infra-


structure build, they directly impact infra- structure run and manage as well. “What operators and service providers are


looking for is an infrastructure partner that can build their infrastructure and then deliver managed services for the infrastructure’s full life cycle – in the same consistent, world class way, wherever the infrastructure partner touches their business in Africa and regardless of region-specific issues,” Earley says. “That’s possible only if the infrastructure


solutions provider has the finances and hu- man and management resources to be able to roll out fully trained and equipped teams as well as state-of-the-art facilities, such as Network Operations Centres, pretty much on demand – in any country. “And that’s only possible if the infra-


structure solutions provider has in-country offices, relationships with local and global vendors, established local sub-contractors who take ownership of service level agree- ments, and a willingness to interact with local communities so as to provide ad hoc labour-based jobs wherever possible. “In addition, where the solutions pro-


vider doesn’t have such relationships or offices, then it must have a standardised mechanism in place that enables it to very quickly replicate in a new territory the ca- pabilities it has proven elsewhere in Africa. “Again, we’ve been doing all of that for


more than half a decade. So, our commer- cial strength and our experience are our backbone. And we’re still successfully moving into new territories, to support clients as they roll-out their own strategies, saving them time and money and assuring them of the sustainability of their infrastructure.”


QUALITY BUILD CONVERTS TO EASY MAINTENANCE As Earley points out, long-term sustain- ability of infrastructure actually converts infrastructure into a pro-active contributor to a telco’s or service provider’s bottom line.


Howard Earley “Effective, appropriate infrastructure


management is a continuum, from infra- structure design to equipment and property purchase negotiations – all the way through to the ability of a repair technician to safely climb a tower. Complex as it sounds, it’s ac- tually the shortest route to market-leading content and service delivery. “Also, the way you build your infra-


structure has a direct impact on the amount of maintenance and management needed once you light it up. Everything from your choice of a base transceiver sta- tion site, for instance, to the quality of the civil works, power provision, and security play a role in how robust and sustainable your infrastructure will be. “Unglamorous as it sounds, the qual-


ity of the project management of your infrastructure build is key to your ability to cost-effectively run and manage it – or have it run and managed for you. “Everyone recognises the need for capac-


ity building in Africa. However, it takes spe- cialised skills to make your infrastructure build relevant not just to your immediate but to your evolving content and service delivery strategies. “Site audits, site evaluation, contractor se-


lection and contract administration, health, safety, and environmental assessments, and quality control can’t be left to novices. That doesn’t mean, however, that your project manager shouldn’t also transfer knowledge to local contractors and labourers and build relevant, experienced capacity - and eco- nomic backbone - in that way.”


AFRICACOM DAILY 2012 I http://africa.comworldseries.com/


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