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Africa’s telecom industry is moving beyond connectivity, investing in intelligent infrastructure to power the continent’s digital economy.
SPECIAL REPORT | BIRD AGENCY | African telecom operators are increasingly deploying technologies that improve network efficiency, intelligence and performance rather than simply extending network reach.
A rising demand for artificial intelligence, cloud computing, video streaming and digital financial services is changing investment priorities among African telcos.
Operators are investing more in smarter, software-driven networks that can carry more traffic, consume less energy and deliver better performance for an economy that is becoming increasingly data intensive.
The latest of that investment shift comes from Tanzania, where Ericsson and Yas Tanzania announced a commercial deployment of Ericsson’s AIR 3285 radio.
According to Ericsson, the dual-band Massive MIMO technology delivers up to four times higher uplink capacity and twice the downlink capacity compared with conventional systems while reducing energy consumption and simplifying deployment through a lighter, more compact design.
“Our partnership with Ericsson on this deployment reflects our continued commitment to enhancing connectivity across Tanzania,” said Hassan Jaber, Group Chief Executive Officer of Yas. “This deployment of the technology is an important step in our journey as we introduce advanced Massive MIMO solutions to strengthen our network and better serve individuals, businesses and communities nationwide.”
Ericsson’s AIR 3285 represents the latest evolution of Massive MIMO (Multiple Input, Multiple Output) radio technology, which has progressively replaced conventional 4-transmitter, 4-receiver (4T4R) radio systems used in many 4G networks.
Earlier generations of radio equipment primarily focused on extending coverage and adding capacity through additional hardware or spectrum. AIR 3285 instead integrates 32 transmitters and receivers into a single dual-band radio, enabling operators to serve far more users simultaneously while using existing spectrum more efficiently.
The technology was introduced globally in 2025 as part of Ericsson’s new generation of programmable, AI-ready radio products, the technology delivers up to four times higher uplink capacity, doubles downlink capacity, reduces energy consumption by about 30% and lowers its embodied carbon footprint by 40% compared with conventional radio systems.
Weighing about 30 kilograms, it is also the lightest radio in its class, allowing operators to upgrade existing sites more quickly and at lower cost while preparing networks for increasingly data-intensive services.
The deployment in Tanzania highlights a trend where operators are increasingly focused on unlocking greater value from digital networks for consumers, businesses and governments.
The latest GSMA report released in late June confirms that Africa’s mobile sector is entering a new phase of development.
The highlights that mobile technologies and services contributed US$240 billion to Africa’s economy in 2025, equivalent to 7.8% of GDP, while supporting approximately 13 million jobs and generating US$45 billion in public revenues.
By 2030, the sector’s economic contribution is projected to reach US$290 billion as digital adoption accelerates across the continent. Mobile operators are expected to invest more than US$76 billion in network infrastructure between 2024 and 2030 to support that growth.
Just like Ericsson, similar investments are unfolding across the continent, although operators are taking different technological approaches to address the same challenge of making networks more intelligent and efficient.
In South Africa, MTN has modernised its core network partnering with Ericsson to deploy cloud-native packet core functions and automated software upgrades that allow critical network systems to be updated without interrupting live customer traffic.
The operator became the first globally to perform an automated in-service software upgrade on an Ericsson Packet Core Gateway with a collocated firewall and the first operator in Africa to execute the process on a live production network without disrupting 2.52 million active user sessions carrying 40 Gbps of traffic.
“Having the right technology foundation is critical,” according to Solomzi Mnyaka, General Manager for Network Services Engineering and L2 Support at MTN South Africa. He said cloud-native infrastructure enables the operator to respond more quickly to customer demand, launch services with greater agility and simplify operations through automation.
South Africa is increasingly becoming a testing ground for next-generation radio technologies.
This week, Rain and Huawei announced a large-scale commercial deployment of a multi-thousand-site sub-1 GHz Massive MIMO 5G network. Commercial results showed network capacity increasing by up to three times compared with conventional equipment while improving coverage, spectral efficiency and energy performance.
“This breakthrough enables operators to significantly improve user experience, increase network capacity, expand 5G coverage, and make more efficient use of valuable low-band spectrum. More importantly, it establishes a new blueprint for the future evolution of 5G networks worldwide,” Huawei notes in a press statement.
Elsewhere, Vodacom South Africa has also begun deploying Africa’s first Dual-Band Massive MIMO 5G radio, enabling multiple spectrum bands to be transmitted from a single device. The approach improves spectrum utilisation, reduces installation complexity and lowers energy consumption while supporting higher-capacity broadband services for homes and businesses.
Nigeria is pursuing a similar objective through a different technology path.
MTN Nigeria and Huawei recently completed the deployment of sub-1 GHz Massive MIMO technology on a live network. Following deployment, low-band LTE traffic increased by 104%, average user download speeds improved by 28%, while physical resource block utilisation fell by 8% compared with conventional systems.
Ethiopia offers another example. Ethio Telecom and Huawei rolled out North Africa’s first tri-band Massive MIMO site, where live network statistics showed 4G traffic increasing by 70% while average user network speeds improved by 68%.
The GSMA says this evolution reflects a broader change in the role of telecom operators themselves. According to GSMA Intelligence research, 79% of operators in Africa now identify becoming digital transformation partners as a primary enterprise objective, expanding beyond traditional connectivity to provide AI-enabled services, digital platforms and programmable network capabilities for businesses and developers.
The changing investment priorities also mirror Africa’s shifting digital landscape. Today, only about 9% of Africans remain outside mobile broadband coverage, while approximately 63% live within network coverage but are not yet using mobile internet.
That means the continent’s biggest digital challenge is increasingly less about building additional coverage and more about improving affordability, service quality, digital skills and the performance of networks that already exist.
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SOURCE: Bonface Orucho, bird story agency
