Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 42 | Page 76

FINAL WORD “ IN THE COMING MONTHS, OPERATORS MUST ENSURE THEY ARE EVOLVING NETWORKS IN A PROGRESSIVE WAY, MAKING THE MOST OF NETWORK AUTOMATION TO CREATE MORE FLEXIBLE NETWORK ARCHITECTURES THAT CAN BE RUN WITH MINIMAL HUMAN INTERVENTION. Combined, this presents a stark challenge to networks across a varied range of markets; it is a challenge our industry has risen to admirably but one we can expect to endure. We have now passed the initial surge in network use. We are seeing demand peaks stabilise as citizens across the world adjust to a new normal, completely reliant on connectivity. But the restrictions we are facing have fundamentally redefined the world’s expectations of networks. Operators should prepare for significantly elevated levels of demand and crucially, uncertainty around usage patterns for some time to come. At Nokia, we have worked closely with operators to help them respond swiftly to the first phase by reducing congestion through network optimisation and upgrades, and together, we are now looking to the next phase. We see two key priorities for operators as we adjust to the changes this pandemic has brought: Scale. The COVID-19 lockdown restrictions will continue to place extreme demands on new areas of the network, particularly indoor and residential locations. Adding capacity in these new ‘hot zones’ through spectrum expansion and additional sites will help prepare for the uncertainty we face moving forward, where inbuilt scalability and flexibility will be key in both access and transport networks. In MEA, temporary spectrum allocations have been granted by local regulatory in many countries to support operators to cope with traffic surge and better serve the local community. populations across the world, unserved or underserved by broadband. Fixed Wireless Access solutions, built over LTE or 5G, are providing an effective way to expand broadband access to reach these communities in the short-term. Stimulate. The priority so far in this crisis has been to respond quickly and decisively to urgent challenges. However, the steps Mohamed Samir, Vice President of Global Services for Middle East and Africa, Nokia we take today will help pave the way towards our 5G future and towards eventual economic recovery. In the coming months, operators must ensure they are evolving networks in a progressive way, making the most of network automation to create more flexible network architectures that can be run with minimal human intervention. Telecoms will play a key role in accelerating the global Digital Transformation and the advance of 5G, providing a catalyst for the world’s Fourth Industrial Revolution and enabling advanced e-health, e-commerce, e-learning, cloud robotics and more. If we invest now, we can further strengthen our infrastructure, economies and societies to cope in the best way possible with whatever challenges future decades may bring. Despite the uncertainty ahead, there is one thing we can be sure of – as we move towards a 5G world, our networks will become even more critical to everyday life. 5G networks are likely to underpin practically all critical functions of government and industry. Ensuring resilience will be of the utmost importance; it could quite literally be a matter of life and death. To support and enable this, we will need to draw on the skills and efforts of the extraordinary teams who have helped us weather the current crisis – field engineers and operations teams who have worked 24/7 to secure and strengthen our vital infrastructure. We must thank our people and invest in them, because as advanced as our technology gets, it will only ever be as good as the people creating and supporting it. • The COVID-19 restrictions have also highlighted the challenges faced by 76 INTELLIGENTCIO www.intelligentcio.com