MainOne hosts session on unlocking Africa’s digital potential at International Telecommunications Week

MainOne hosted the Africa Panel Session for the fifth year in a row to raise Africa’s digital profile and highlight its untapped potential at the recently concluded International Telecoms Week held in Chicago from May 8th to May 11th, 2016.

It was a gathering for discussing the needed impetus for getting the continent ready for the global information explosion already taking place in select parts of the continent, where internet consumption by individuals is beginning to compare favorably with consumption patterns in advanced economies.
Focus areas of discussion included the need for the adoption of shared infrastructure models in order to reduce the cost of retail broadband services in comparison to reductions that have taken place in wholesale pricing over the years to within less than 5% of retail broadband prices.

The expert panel strongly advocated the view that the adoption of new business and regulatory models for shared infrastructure would foster the pervasive digital explosion much needed on the African continent rather than depend on proprietary network infrastructure built by mobile companies with thin pipes to deliver voice services.

Discussants also engaged on the need to support the growth of local content as a means for growing intra-continent traffic and eliminate cross-border barriers to the exchange of information. It was equally stressed that liberalization would continue to play a major role in the development of internet proliferation in Africa with countries such as Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and South Africa used as models of advances being made in connecting more people on the continent.