Liquid Telecom boss sees full investment opportunities in ICT

Liquid Telecom, a multinational paler in the telecom industry with a presence in about 11 African countries and the United Kingdom, entered the Rwandan market in 2013 after taking over Rwandatel. The firm has major telecom players as its clients and is set to increase investments in the country. The New Times’ Collins Mwai caught up with the Group’s Chief Executive Officer, Nic Rudnick, who was briefly in the country for insights on their investments in Rwanda and future plans. Below are the excerpts; Liquid Telecom entered the Rwandan market around 2013 after buying into a local firm. What is your penetration strategy and impact in this market? Our vision is to build a pan-African fibre network operating as a single network that not only provides connectivity nationally, but also aimed at facilitating regional integration and increased trade across African borders. That is why we built what is now Africa’s biggest fibre network connecting 14 countries. With its headquarters in Kigali, we shall be able to connect all the other countries to Rwanda within a matter of days. That way, we have been able to ‘shrink the size’ of the continent and eliminate borders because that is one thing telecommunication network does not have. It is very much about regional and international connectivity that we are looking at developing. What was on your checklist before entering the Rwandan market? We are looking for a positive business environment; a country that is part of a regional economy - those are the top two qualities we look out for. The more important a country is important to the regional economy, the more connectivity is important to them and their neighbours. There was some excitement among some of the information communication and technology industry players – telecoms and internet service providers – on your entry into Rwanda. What was in for them? Liquid Telecom is primarily a wholesale provider, an open access network. Anyone can use our networks, including internet service providers. At the moment, we have several mobile networks across the continent using our network. Many people are utilising our network without even realising it. Our objective is to put fibre connectivity to every single business in the country, meaning that everyone should be connected to fast bandwidth and fast internet. We want people to be able to build their own businesses and promote them, not just for Rwandan firms, but multinationals that can expand in a way that is cost effective, especially for budding enterprises. By having a presence in Rwanda, we facilitate companies coming to Rwanda because they know that the connectivity is there. It also facilitates Rwandan companies to enter the region and the rest of the world. Rwanda can have its own corporations grow and develop outwards. The way to achieve that is cost-effective connectivity. Has the impact the beneficiaries were looking out for been felt yet? Our impact in the markets is only starting to be felt. We are at the moment rolling out fibre to homes, we expect to reach about 8,000 homes in the next few weeks. We are continuing with the rollout with numbers expected to double and triple, probably by the end of this year. It will be an open space network where people will be able to buy connectivity to their homes using our network or, ultimately, buy it from other service providers. The clientele covers everyone; we want everyone to have fibre in their homes, the only limitation is how fast we can build it. We are gearing up to roll out as fast as we can and we will keep building till we have the nation connected. The network for the first phase has been built; we are currently building our subsequent phases. Speaking of fibre to homes, is that a different technology from the one the government and the country at large is taking with the ongoing 4G LTE roll out? It is supplementary because 3G and 4G are wireless technologies and while they offer advantages in respect to mobility, they have disadvantages in terms of capacity. Wireless technologies are an excellent solution for places that fibre will not reach or when you are mobile. But if you are based in an office or at home, fibre has the necessary capacity and is able to deliver the price points people will be comfortable with. Liquid Telecom’s Chief Executive Officer, Nic Rudnick. (Doreen Umutesi_ Based on your expertise, how can Rwanda best achieve rollout targets of about 95 per cent of the country by 2017 at realistic costs? If you look at the history of the development of telecommunications, what has always promoted advancements and the lowering of prices is entrepreneurship and competition. I do not believe that any single technology will deliver the solution, what is needed is a number of complementary and competing technologies in order to expand coverage and give people the size they would like to have at the right price. There is always the danger of having a single monopolistic technology as a single way to develop an industry and I think that is why we have come in with a different technology. We would like to see more Rwandans coming into the technology sector, more resellers and more innovative ways of rolling out connectivity utilising a whole variety of technology. The utilisation of all technologies, fixed and wireless, will allow wider penetration at lower prices. Conversations of developing the country are incomplete without looking at regional integration. Does the telecoms industry have a role in that aspect? We have over 20,000km of network connecting the region already and have the largest fibre optic in Kenya, a substantial network in Uganda which we are building out, we have network in DR Congo and we are continuously expanding in these countries. In most instances, we add about 100 kilometres on our network every week, not just in Rwanda but in other countries as well. Because we operate our network as a single network, providing connectivity between Rwanda and neighbouring countries can be done at the same price point as if done in Rwanda alone. That way borders and economic barriers are substantially reduced. What is your assessment of Rwanda’s investment in ICT? Rwanda is admired, not only in the region, but all across the world. I have been to a number of conferences where Rwanda has been mentioned as processing the right investment climate. That said, there are a number of opportunities for investment as we continue to build fibre; there are a number of investments in digital services that the country will start to see enabled by the networks. Rwanda has a huge geographical advantage in that it is landlocked; from a telecommunications point of view, it makes it the ideal place to set up a hub for the region. All of Rwanda’s neighbours are connected by fibre, all enterprises in the region in the technology world in the future will require to be based in Rwanda as it will enable them work efficiently. There is probably no other country in the region connected to as many countries through fibre as Rwanda.Your list of clients incudes big names – Google, Apple, Linkedin, Getty Images – any chance they may follow you to Rwanda? We always promote Rwanda’s good business environment; we bring people here to see what we do and what more can be done. Our enterprise customers in the continent and across the world are aware of the advantages Rwanda offers. You have severally been ranked as one of the top 100 most influential people in the telecoms industry in the world; we can take your word to the bank, where do you see the industry headed? If you look at how things have transformed when virtually no African had a telephone to now when almost every African has a telephone, in some cases more than one, we will now see over the next 10 years another evolution with high speed internet entering people’s lives and people living digital lifestyles and enriching their lives through technology across multiple sectors.

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Liquid Telecom boss sees full investment opportunities in ICT