How Nokia Seeks to Enhance Rural Coverage Across Africa
Nokia and iSAT Africa, an integrated communications services provider, are partnering to enhance rural connectivity across the country of Liberia.
Aiming to cover approximately 200 sites across Liberia over the next three years, the collaboration between both companies aims to reduce the country’s digital divide and provide reliable and affordable network access to underserved rural communities.
The new deployment features energy-efficient technologies that are part of the Nokia Rural Connect solution, which includes Nokia’s including AirScale radio portfolio and the MantaRay Network Management System. These also include MIMO radios (Multiple Input, Multiple Output), remote radio heads and base stations.
iSAT Africa also stands to benefit from Nokia’s MantaRay Network Management solutions which are designed to deliver a more automated view of the network. The goal is to enhance both monitoring and management capabilities and address critical challenges such as limited network coverage in rural regions of Liberia.
Enabling improved and faster networks
By extending network coverage beyond major cities, the partnership between Nokia and iSAT Africa aims to drive socio-economic development in Liberia’s remote areas.
The 200-site deployment hopes to expand iSAT Africa's network reach and offer mobile network operators a cutting-edge solution that is both cost-effective and highly efficient. Ultimately, such an expansion could help rural communities access critical services, driving even more social and economic progress in the region.
“We are proud to collaborate with iSAT Africa on this important initiative to enhance connectivity in rural Liberia,” says Osama Said, Customer Team Head, West Africa and Enterprise at Nokia.
“Our Rural Connect solution ensures robust coverage in remote areas, enabling voice and data services for communities that have been historically underserved. This partnership represents a significant step toward reducing the digital divide and fostering socio-economic development.”
Other ventures across the African continent
Nokia has been partnering with communications service providers (CSPs) across Africa since the 1860s, when it helped deploy the first telegraph line in South Africa.
Now, the company seeks to provide people across Africa with the latest connectivity technologies, ranging between 1G and 5G, in addition to telegraph lines and fibre optics. Significantly, in 2020, the company partnered with Togocom to deploy the first 5G network in Togo and offer network services that support local economies and improve business opportunities across the region.
The company also worked with MTN in 2023 to accelerate the expansion of their 5G radio network across 2,800 sites in South Africa, eager to modernise their coverage. This stems from its global commitment to bolster 5G coverage.
With iSAT Africa, the partnership highlights a pledge from Nokia to drive greater digital inclusion across Africa and offer greater connectivity to those that need it.
“Our partnership with Nokia underscores our commitment to reducing the digital divide and enabling greater connectivity across Liberia,” says Said Rakesh Kukreja, Founder and Managing Director at iSAT Africa.
“The Nokia Rural Connect solution offers lean, energy-efficient, and easy-to-deploy technologies that allow us to extend coverage into underserved areas. This deployment will strengthen our position as a leader in providing Networks-as-a-Service and improve lives by enabling reliable voice and data services and connecting the unconnected.”
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