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Radisys Corp, an arm of the RIL, will extend support to NGIC to procure hardware and software support for its plan to roll out 4 G and 5G in Ghana. As a part of the deal, NGIC will seek smartphones, applications, and key network infrastructure from the RIL arm
Jio the largest telecom operator in India, with a 470 million user base and owned by Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) is entering Africa. It has tied up with Ghana’s Next-Gen InfraCo (NGIC), a state-owned enterprise, for 4 and 5 G rollout.
Radisys Corp, an arm of the RIL, will extend support to NGIC to procure hardware and software support for its plan to roll out 4 G and 5G in Ghana. As a part of the deal, NGIC will seek smartphones, applications, and key network infrastructure from the RIL arm. The Indian media is euphoric about the deal since RILs main Indian competitor -Airtel is well entrenched in Africa through its arm Airtel Africa. Corporate India views the developments as a strategy of Jio to expand its footprints beyond India. That way the competition between the two largest telecom operators of India will go beyond the Indian shores. Airtel Africa, a London-listed company has operations in about 14 countries in the continent and is an important player in mobile money, among other things, particularly in Nigeria, where, of late, it has expanded its footprint.
Broad contours of collaboration, according to some sources in the telecom sector in India, are yet to be formed. Radisys will collaborate to help NGIC build the first 4G and 5G network infrastructure across Ghana to provide affordable mobile internet.
The US-based telecommunications infrastructure firm Radisys, was acquired by Mukesh Ambani-backed Jio Platforms in 2018. It is the latest entity to join the public-private partnership between the government of Ghana, digital infrastructure provider Ascend Digital, Finnish tech and telecom firm Nokia, Swedish telecom firm Ericsson, and IT services major Tech Mahindra.
NGIC was established in 2007, to boost the country’s telecom infrastructure. In Africa, Jio will be looking at the prospect as an infrastructure provider due to its expertise in large-scale, high-volume, and low-cost core telecom infrastructure.
While NGIC has earmarked US$200 million to set up 5G infrastructure across Ghana, further investments will be made in the coming years.
Bharti Airtel, too, has a significant presence as a telecommunications infrastructure provider in Africa. However, it is not a part of the NGIC coalition.
NGIC is looking towards emulating the strategy adopted by Jio in India, the report added. The latter, launched in 2016, grew exponentially to become the sectoral leader. The growth was attributed to marketing strategies such as low-cost data services and free voice calling. The induction of Jio in the telecom space in India marked the nemesis of several other telecom players. It has also led to the amalgamation of Vodafone India and Idea to survive the pitched-up competition. Presently, Jio has the largest customer base in India with 470 million subscribers. Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea are distant second and third.
NGIC, which plans to launch operations in Ghana by 2024-end, has not released its pricing strategy so far. Analysts feel that Jio will be emulating its Indian strategy to upstage its competitors However by providing affordable mobile broadband services.
NGIC has secured the right to exclusively provide 5G services in Ghana for the next 10 years. Presently, it faces three competitors: MTN Ghana, Vodafone Ghana and state-run AirtelTigo.
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At present, RIL does not hold any equity stake in NGIC. The company’s top investors are Ascend Digital Solutions Ltd. and K-NET, two African telecom companies, who hold a combined stake of 55%. The government of Ghana owns 10%.
