OpenRAN pitches itself to African mobile operators as a way of cutting costs and helping rural roll-out

14 February 2020

OpenRAN may yet crack open the cosy hold that traditional equipment vendors have over mobile operators. Africa needs this to happen because cheaper data prices and wider rural roll-out relies on cutting costs. Russell Southwood spoke to Eugina Jordan, VP Marketing, Parallel Wireless about what OpenRAN offers. If mobile operators globally are moving to a more data-centric future then their business models will have to change to reflect the digital transition. In the African context, data will not produce the kind of returns voice did in the early 2000s. Something has to change and one fundamental change will be to…

Cello is looking to sell 100,000 solar powered televisions a year into Africa and sees huge long-term potential

13 February 2020

Solar powered TVs are slowly creating a whole new category of rural TV viewers in Africa. Russell Southwood spoke to Brian Palmer, CEO, Cello about its own solar powered TV and the prospects for the market. Cello is the last remaining UK manufacturer of televisions. It started 15 years ago when it “saw value as TVs changed from analog to digital. In the beginning we concentrated on small screen products for UK supermarkets (M&S). It was mot the easiest business to deal with. We’ve reached the end of DTT in the UK so we knew we had to spread our…

Sub-Saharan Africa's Broadcasting Landscape

Balancing Act is pleased to announce the publication of Sub-Saharan Africa’s Broadcasting Landscape and Nine Key Markets. The report is a joint publication with one of the continent’s leading providers of mobile-based research and insights GeoPoll.