As companies across Africa accelerate their digital transformation, China Mobile International (CMI) works with partners to build infrastructure and services to advance connectivity and help shape a brighter digital future.
Connectivity is the key to unlocking information and communications technologies to enrich people’s lives. It opens the potential of the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and cloud computing to power the fourth industrial revolution (4IR). It is a driver for economic growth and innovation. Therefore, connectivity promises to transform commerce, education, healthcare, finance, manufacturing, agriculture, transportation and more for a sustainable and equitable future.
Businesses across Africa need consistent and reliable network connectivity with larger bandwidths and low latency at lower prices. To meet these needs, carriers are actively seeking new ways to rapidly expand their capacity at a lower price point with fast delivery and deployment. CMI is at the forefront of supporting business growth with infrastructure and solutions.
Reliable Regional and Global Infrastructure
Carrier and enterprise customers across Africa benefit from reliable, scalable and resilient networks through connectivity to CMI’s extensive global infrastructure. This includes over 80 cable resources, 10 of which are self-built, with a network capacity of over 117T. CMI has over 220 Points of Presence (PoPs) around the world, as well as 80-plus cloud PoPs, creating a strong global network to provide direct internet access and internet transit services for regional customers.
CMI is also the only Asian operator participating in 2Africa, the world’s largest subsea cable project. It will bring seamless international connectivity to 3 billion people, representing 36% of the global population. With 2Africa, CMI will be able to connect its 32 PoPs around the Arabian Sea, including key locations such as South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria, with its local ring in Europe, self-owned data centers in London and Frankfurt, and subsea cable resources to Asia — extending Africa’s connectivity to Europe, Asia and the rest of the world.
Enriching Carriers’ Capabilities With iConnect
In addition to reliable infrastructure, carriers nowadays demand holistic and intelligent solutions to manage their business and provide comprehensive services to users. Our offering extends from traditional data services, such as connectivity, Internet Data Center (IDC) and Dedicated Internet Access (DIA), to value-added services worldwide.
CMI’s integrated suite of innovative carrier solutions, iConnect, helps carriers meet evolving customer expectations for fast, agile and integrated solutions. It features all-inclusive services from Voice, SMS, Mobile, Data, IoT and Professional Services, giving our carrier partners comprehensive services and reliable connectivity. The new iConnect Customer Portal further provides “portal as a service” to over 950 carrier customers. With a one-stop access to iConnect’s full range of services and a 24/7 self-service platform, it enhances agility and customer experience by delivering reports with business visualization tools and real-time business data.
Deploying Smart Solutions to Reshape Vital Industries
To support the region’s economic development and propel future growth, CMI and its partners provide state-of-the-art telecom solutions and cloud connectivity to enable carriers to take advantage of the latest technologies to advance their businesses and offer better services to customers.
Leveraging China Mobile’s network scale, CMI continually surpasses its pledge of service excellence. In addition, the demand for IoT services has soared in Africa. Built on dedicated network infrastructure, CMI’s IoT platform delivers fast, smooth and comprehensive coverage with 3G and 4G global roaming, as well as 5G where it is available. Customers in Africa can access machine-to-machine (M2M) SIM cards with connectivity and lifecycle management services, platform integration, and a variety of data, SMS and voice plans.
CMI recently partnered with Etisalat Egypt to enhance the development and deployment of IoT solutions. By exploiting each other’s complementary strengths, CMI and Etisalat Egypt will work together on the development of IoT solutions that facilitate the digital transformation of various industries in Egypt. The partnership also enables Etisalat Egypt and its partners to rapidly develop intelligent IoT-based solutions for smart homes, hotels, offices and other facilities.
CMI sees great potential in the Africa market where it can enable carriers to help customers use IoT in different scenarios, with optimized coverage for retail, manufacturing, farming, fleet management and more. Africa’s agricultural sector is another area where IoT solutions have outstanding potential. IoT can help track free-range cattle, manage farm equipment and monitor weather and soil conditions to provide insights into fertilizer levels and offer planting suggestions to increase yield. For example, the application of China Mobile 5G + IoT technologies for crops in fields and industrialized agriculture allows various environmental data to be collected regularly, so real-time smart environmental control can ensure crops have an optimal growing environment.
CMI is committed to enhancing the connectivity for Africa as a whole and continues to expand its presence on the continent and invest in the region’s digital infrastructure. With operating offices in South Africa since 2016 and Kenya in 2020, dedicated teams serving the region have forged strategic partnerships with local carriers and companies in anticipation of rising regional demand.
