Monday 28 November 2016

5G’ll speed up skill development in Nigeria –Wuilmet

Wuilmet
The Head, Customer Marketing and Communications, Nokia, Mr. Joachim Wuilmet, speaks to OZIOMA UBABUKOH on the development of Fourth and Fifth Generation (4G & 5G) technology, among other issues

Fourth Generation (4G) technology development has commenced in Nigeria; what is the sustenance level?

Generally, 4G is fast changing the lifestyle of people. In other climates where 4G has been introduced, the uptake does not happen overnight. In some countries, the uptake is over estimated; but the delays are usually due to constraints. One of such is the spectrum. Of course, the regulator knows how best to handle it. Sometimes, it is a question of whether spectrum is available or not; while in some climates, it is the pricing issue. It is usually a cumbersome exercise looking at the development of industries. But, we always leverage previous investments in other environments. For instance, many operators have spent huge amount on 3G licences and now they want to expand to 4G. Therefore, they hope to recoup the investments on 3G licence through 4G operations. Of course, it also lies with the individual business case for the operator. While 4G is changing lifestyle with more demand for data, for instance, prices are coming down to bring people en mass to 4G. I have no doubt, the demand is there and prices will keep coming down. So, operators have different approaches to this. With new players like Smile and ntel, the competition will get stiffer, but the customers will experience better quality of service.

The biggest challenge for the operators is not to introduce 4G; which is actually a super 3G; rather to migrate people from 2G to 3G. Once people start choosing data on 3G, definitely they will migrate to 4G with ease. Through 4G, they get the best out of their customers. But, 2G to data services is troublesome. People on the street actually want this data; they want the service. That is why we say ‘do not promote the technology, rather the service. Now, it is important to understand that companies are now talking about shared infrastructure (co-location) to make sure the investments are feasible to everybody. Specifically, Nokia in the United Kingdom tried putting together a model for one of the operators, which is something we can try replicating in Nigeria. The operators have a lot to do, the regulators have their beats, and we at Nokia are ready, leveraging our best practices, globally.

What plans do you think could boost skills set development in Nigeria with emphasis on new technologies?


It is important for any emerging ecosystem like Nigeria to be very serious with skills set development. As a corporation, Nokia is ready to work with other Ordinary Equipment Manufacturers and operators to achieve this goal. That is why we organise events where we explain to people about technologies coming tomorrow; the challenges on ground. For us, we have a young team on the ground that is competent and skilled to transfer the knowledge to others. We are here to develop and support, especially, our customers. There are different ways we engage with them: some will prefer just skill development through training, while others will prefer to operate or upgrade networks experience for them.

How is Nokia aligning with government’s Information Technology agenda in Nigeria like the Smart City project?

Part of the road show is aimed at creating awareness on smart city and public safety. As I mentioned earlier, we are expanding to government and enterprise space. We have new partners; we are engaging government and enterprises to share the ideas and partners to deliver as we have done in other parts of the world like the Middle East and Europe. The challenges in Nigeria speak to the opportunities and solutions we can help government with. To the operators, we are already playing with them, helping to improve quality of service and operations.

Should recession persist up until the first quarter 2017, some companies would be adversely affected. What is your company’s plan for this period?

I thought you would say if we would move out of Nigeria. We have no such plan. But like in all challenging times, every company does responsible things to ensure as much as possible you continue to serve the customers and ensure it does not harm your operations. Beyond recession, globally, we have a target on how to synergise because of the acquisitions that were made. We need to create synergies with clear targets on how to achieve that. Recession is not a long time thing; it is just like mountains and valleys to be descended and ascended. The bigger question is: are we here to stay? The answer is yes. What we see now, despite the recession, people are serious about doing business in Nigeria. We have signed new business and expanding the team to handle that segment too.

 What is your view on the revisited Mobile World Congress in Lagos?


Normally, the global Mobile World Congress happens in Barcelona, Spain, every year where we showcase our technologies and portfolio to the global stage. But, we realised that most Nigerian customers do not attend to have the feel of what we have to showcase at the Barcelona event. Therefore, we decided to have a localised session where the same globalised and best in class technologies and solutions for enterprises and operators within the local settings will be showcased. So, it is more of our customers having the opportunity to come and feel the demo themselves, ask questions and really understand the strength and portfolio that Nokia has to offer.

What will you say about the showcased technologies?

Nokia, before now, had acquired Alcatel, Motorola, and Siemens. So it is fusion of many good companies that have now become strong global brand. Our portfolios cut across IP optics, fine broad portfolios and analytics applications. Obviously, we also have the radio side of our business and fixed networks; layered below it are the services, the key strength of Nokia. Across the five broad areas, we rank one or two globally. Even the Gartner reports back the facts from planning base, how the market is thriving. It is something we are also planning to offer here in Nigeria. In addition, we are talking about new technologies like the Internet of Things (IoTs), the cloud revolution, 5G; we are leaders in those areas. The brand is notable for handset business, but we are now working more on the network side. With certain acquisitions we are making too, we are going to play in the digital health space and others. So, the end-to-end portfolio is very compelling.

Since Microsoft acquired the mobile devices, how is Nokia playing now, especially in Nigeria?

Nokia Networks customer base has been growing in Nigeria. If you take the new Nokia, Alcatel and Nokia combined, we are working with all the operators; be it MTN customers, Glo and Airtel. On the government and enterprise segments, we are also expanding our footprints. With the calibre of Nokia officials at this roadshow, it is a testament to what we are trying to do in Nigeria. We have 400-man workforce in Nigeria with offices in Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt. We are pretty much entrenched in the system. However, we are now enlightening customers and making the market to become more aware of what we are offering.

--Roluyo Hammed and Rabiu Wasiu contributed reporting.

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