The Road to becoming a fully Digital Operator – Insights from AfricaCom 2019

The future of technology in Africa is going to be spectacular, if the recent AfricaCom 2019 is anything to go by! The thousands of delegates, exhibitors and speakers who came together to share ideas and thoughts on the future of technology in Africa brought new perspective - our continent is past being seen as having “potential” and has entered an era of “collaboration” where we can fully explore the opportunity in Africa. 

Influential innovators and key ICT industry players came together from for three days in November to explore disruptive technologies, connectivity infrastructure, digital services, and strategy – all within a uniquely African context. For those who could not attend the event, I thought it good to share some key insights from the panel I hosted on what it takes to become a fully Digital Operator and other key insights from industry leaders during the week. 

Networking to navigate the digital age

There are many paths in an operator’s road to digitisation and several questions that one needs to answer along the way. From the introduction of new digital technologies to the definitions of technical ever-changing industry terminology that daunts even the most experienced of industry players. Operators must understand how 4.0 concepts will impact their markets and plan accordingly. As Industry 4.0 or 4IR gathers tremendous momentum as a key enabler for socio-economic development; partnerships and collaboration across the public and private sectors will be fundamental for 4IR to evolve. 

The ICT industry has largely been formed on the basis of partnerships. When one thinks of the prevalent infrastructure it becomes ever more important to leverage off partners who will help operators in the digital age. A vibrant partner ecosystem – be it application and API developers, network players, cloud organisations, standards-based forums, system integrators – all play an important role in powering the Digital Operator. 

Smaller operators need to collaborate with their larger peers. In many markets, one has seen roaming agreements between smaller and larger operators and in the digital age, this should be no different. Collaboration and partnership will be crucial to take full advantage of what the industry has to offer for economic growth. Meaningful interaction and networking have become a top priority for both African and overseas ICT firms as they are in an urgent search for the right local partners in their particular markets, causing a shift from vendor-seeking to partner-seeking in the industry.

Software-based business models – to 5G or not to 5G

As operators reinvent themselves one must think clearly about software-based business models to remain competitive. In Accenture’s Asia Pacific markets, for instance, we are seeing clients in the e-commerce arena embrace Software Defined Networks (SDN) and are leading the way to a hyper software and network virtualized world, which will soon challenge traditional operators. This will be a real Kodak moment that will catch operators off-guard if not watched closely. 

Furthermore, digital operators need to adopt an open architecture that is vendor-neutral. As was evident from the event, operators who have been first movers in Open RAN are seeing success. Likewise, if one thinks about open transparent architectures on hybrid, private and cloud environments this will be key for an open ecosystem and one the operator is not locked into but rather one in which operators help to evolve.

Whether to adopt 5G is highly relevant to the state a market is in and the resources an operator has at its disposal. As one panellist who operates in very remote parts of Africa commented; they are still operating at 2G and entering the 3G state and to them, this is what works. Of course, the industry is readying itself for 5G however it is clear that key business models and use cases will solve “the when to deploy 5G” conundrum. 

Regulators will also play an important role in answering this question. They must act fast to create an open and flexible framework, that serves the industry. It is vital that in markets where regulators have not yet allocated spectrum to operators (for 5G as an example), they should do so urgently. There is only so much re-framing that operators can do, and the net loss is the entire market, prices, QoS, and new business verticals all within the landscape that the framework will assist to resolve.

Digital culture starts at the top

An efficient operator is one that considers the inclusivity of people in all aspects. This starts with the organizational culture which can either propel an organisation forward or sadly destroy its soul. The CEO is the catalyst to embark on a digital path, and a well-thought-out strategy to move forward becomes a key pillar. As operators focus on becoming digital, cultural change becomes the lifeline of how this will evolve into the organisation. Taking into account the skills and new ways of working that will need to develop inside the organisation, cultural change becomes an important discussion at the exco and board level.

One key competitive advantage is when an operator can extract efficiencies in all that digital processes and technology bring to the table. As important as digital inclusion, we are seeing the need for digital operators to consider new and innovative products that will allow financial inclusion. Globally, many digital natives have embarked on some type of digital currency, wallet or lending products to name a few and operators must look into the business model that works for them from a financial inclusion perspective. 

The customer’s needs still remain at the centre

Lastly, the interest of the customer must always come first. Knowing the needs of the customer is one thing but to deliver them in ways the customer can engage positively and effectively with is another. 

The consumer’s cost of a mobile handset, for example, is an important determinant of success in some markets. If the handset is 20-30% of a consumer’s monthly income this poses a unique constraint, and therefore cheaper entry-level devices are bridging this divide and pioneering a “connectivity for all” mindset. For operators to create more engaging customer experiences, they need to keep customer interfaces simple and user-friendly. Those who are actively creating a strategy around digital to solve these issues must be applauded.

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