Nokia Siemens Networks explained on Wednesday the relevance of socio-economic connectivity findings for Africa at a Science with Africa Conference which held here.

Shahzad Abid, head of marketing of Nokia Siemens Networks in The Middle East and Africa, said that business and governments must make better use of their communications infrastructure to take full advantage of the economic and social benefits of information and communication technology (ICT).

Abid said that according to a new groundbreaking study, the connectivity scorecard, even the world’s best connected countries, are not exploiting communications technologies to their fullest potential and in many cases policy and regulatory activity designed to promote connectivity is not having the impact intended. The study’s results indicate an opportunity for countries to add hundreds of billions of dollars in economic benefit by rethinking how they measure and enable connectivity.

The study was conducted under the direction of Professor Leonard Waverman at the London Business Scholl and commissioned by Nokia Siemens Networks.

“The study is a call to arms for government and businesses. In a period of economic uncertainty, there are great benefits to be gained from the effective use of communications infrastructure. And as we move toward the vision of five billion people connected by 2015, policymakers and business leaders must simultaneously encourage the deployment of infrastructure and invest in the complementary assets – people – that will enable this infrastructure to be used to its maximum potential,” he said.

Michael Maltusch, Ethiopia country director of Nokia Siemens Networks, said that the Nokia Siemens Networks Village Connection, which is currently being trialed in Tanzania, is an innovative solution that helps service providers to overcome technical and commercial challenges and be the first to develop a customer base in remote villages.

“The solution reduces the operator’s cost (capital expenditure) by introducing an autonomous village site with local traffic handling capability. It also minimizes total operational expenditure as the village entrepreneur handles the customer care and provides the network service,” he said.

Abid added that it has been found from previous studies that on average ten percent increases in mobile penetration increases countries' GDP by 0.6 percent. However, motivating people to access ICT tools alone is not enough. “Concurrently, their ability to use mobile phones and computers needs to be addressed. In developing countries such as many nations in Africa, this requires an investment in education that will develop skills and deliver workforce training opportunities. Such initiatives will enable as many people as possible to participate fully in a technology driven economy,” he added.

Nokia Siemens Networks is a leading global provider of communications services. The company provides mobile and fixed network infrastructure solutions and addresses the growing market demand for services with 20,000 service professionals worldwide. The company is one of the largest telecommunications infrastructure companies with operations in 150 countries.  
 
By a Staff Reporter