​5G OpenRAN (ORAN) technology that enables mobile operators to open the RAN network and use multi-vendor solutions holds huge promise for business growth in Africa. It means network operators can focus capital expenditure (capex) on competitively priced open-standards equipment rather than proprietary gear.

“It enables attractive savings of about 40% on capital expenditure and 30% on operating expenditure (OPEX),” says Willem Wentzel, head of Wireless at NEC XON. “It can also be deployed in a matter of two to three days instead of up to nine months. But the realities of Africa mean that 5G ORAN will initially be limited to private corporate networks in industries like mining, manufacturing and industrial where large campuses are common. Public ORAN networks are likely to remain on 4G for the moment, given the level of investment in existing infrastructure and the prohibitive cost of 5G handsets (UE) for consumers.”

5G’s high capacity make it technically viable for the peak demands of demanding business applications
5G for cellular networks has seen a lot of interest in Africa, particularly now as the Open RAN model gains traction. Uptake of private 5G, however, has been relatively limited to fewer, more highly scaled and complex business cases. Now that’s changing because of some simple yet interesting developments. One of the major changes that has now occurred to improve 5G as a feasible solution to enterprise requirements is the sharply reduced cost, thereby creating compelling use cases.

​5G is causing a step change in Africa’s mobile networks. Operators are grappling with how to respond. Get in early? There may be expensive lessons you’ll teach your competitors at no cost to them. On the flipside, you may miss the market opportunity.  But service providers have a lot more options today to roll out 5G. Exploring these can shed light on when the best time may be.

The Open RAN (ORAN) initiative has gained serious ground in the past year. It has gained support from a slew of international vendors, including NEC. It’s also benefited from the ground-breaking Rakuten deployment.

African networks and CSPs want to expand coverage and grow the subscriber base
Mobile networks and communication service providers (CSP) in Africa need a cost-effective way to add hundreds of millions more subscribers to their networks. They do not need to add complex new services that demand the nth degree in low latency, high network throughput, and blazing speeds to support use cases that, while they may capture imaginations, offer limited commercial feasibility in Africa. This is why Open RAN adoption is accelerating. It enables cost-effective ways to integrate legacy equipment, integrate existing equipment, and share infrastructure in architectures that enable scalability, development, and innovation.