By GIFT NDOLWANE
JOHANNESBURG – GLOBAL information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, Huawei, anticipates its Internet of Things (IoT) services will transform lives of millions in the continent.
Executives are hopeful of breakthroughs as the company works closely with operators to bring such solutions to Africa, with preparations of deployment to South Africa at an advanced stage.
“This year Huawei has made a lot of great progresses with our customers to prepare for commercial deployment in South Africa. It is our hope South Africans will benefit from IoT services soon,” says Huawei’s IoT Marketing Director, David Hoelscher.
Last year MTN and Huawei co-launched their IoT strategy and showcased three live demos at AfricaCom 2016 in Cape Town.
Michael Ma, President of Huawei Cloud Core Network Product Line, says
Africa has a huge potential in the IoT market due to its large market and rapid network growth.
“We look forward to continuing our close relationship with MTN to bring more IoT services to Africa,” says Ma.
To build a customized African IoT solution and enable operators to provide IoT as a service to verticals, Huawei is using its ‘GLocal’ ecosystem philosophy.
“GLocal means using Huawei’s global experience and engagement with leading international vendors and partnering with local players to cultivate a Local ecosystem,” explains Hoelscher.
Huawei hopes to help operators build their own GLocal ecosystems and is eager to recommend its partners in different industries to African telecos and open channels for communication between operators and vertical industries.
Meanwhile, Huawei will soon build an IoT OpenLab in South Africa to enable more innovative IoT solutions for its partners in Africa.
The facility will provide a test and certification environment.
Devices and software applications created can be “pre-certified” for interoperability and turn-key deployment by end-customers.
– Guardian