Ericsson Opens Operation Centre, Releases Report on Phone Usage

Ericsson, a global player in telecommunications managed services, has announced the opening of its Network Operation Centre in Nigeria.

Capabilities provided by the network operations centres will include engineering, operations and customer experience management, and Lagos and Abidjan were selected as the sites for the network operations centres due to the availability of talent, infrastructure and connectivity, and will act as hubs used to manage networks across the rest of Africa.

Although activities have started at the newly established Network Centre in Lagos, it is expected to commence full implementation of its operational activities by the third quarter of the year.

In another announcement, Ericsson said it had released a new report on the culture and usage of mobile phones in Nigeria.

Head of Region sub-Saharan Africa at Ericsson, Fredrik Jejdling, who made both announcements at a press conference in Lagos recently, said mobile phones remained the most popular means of accessing the internet and using content services in Nigeria, with 82 per cent of consumers using their devices to access the internet daily, while 45 per cent use personal computers (PCs) and 44 per cent use tablets.

According to the report, Africa is one of the world’s fastest growing mobile telephony markets, contributing 23 million of the 105 million new mobile subscriptions measured globally by Ericsson in Q4 2014 and reported in the February 2015 Ericsson Mobility Report. “To better serve both operators and end users across the continent, Ericsson is building a new network operations centre in Lagos, Nigeria, and expanding the capabilities of its existing facility in Abidjan, Ivory Coast,” the report said.

According to Jejdling, “As the country in Africa with both the largest population and the largest economy, Nigeria was the logical choice as the host country for our newest network operations centre.

Together with the expanded facility in Ivory Coast, this centre will allow us to continue a proud tradition of more than 100 years working with our customers in Africa.”

The Network Operations Centres will help operators keep pace with rapid socio-economic and technological changes in sub-Saharan Africa, a region that had 635 million subscriptions in 2014 and is expected to have 930 million subscriptions by the end of 2019.

The Ericsson report, which represents 30 million people living in metropolitan areas of the country, reveals consumer needs regarding mobile services, as well as their perception of telecom operators.

According to the report, Nigerian consumers are replacing their devices, such as mobile phones and desktops with smartphones and laptops, affording them higher internet connectivity in more locations.

Vice President and Head of Strategy, Marketing and Communications for sub-Saharan Africa, Tumi Sekhukhune, said: “The Ericsson ConsumerLab report indicates that Nigerian consumers are interested in a connected future and leading a more networked life.

With 66 per cent of the working population studied, rating the need to remain constantly updated as important, forward thinking operators need to ensure that customers remain satisfied, especially around factors related to internet services and network quality.”