COUNTRY FOCUS: ALGERIA
Chaume says there is a lot of ambition in
the country.
“While last year the fixed broadband
penetration was pegged at 40%, the plan
is to reach 80% penetration in households,”
he said.
“If they achieve this, it would not only
be impressive but also very beneficial to
the country. This will be done through a
combination of fibre and complimentary
fixed wireless technology.”
Pierre Chaume, Market Unit Head for
Nokia Africa
Nokia is involved in most of the network
optimisation projects in Algeria, focusing on
a range of different technologies.
“Between 2013 and 2015, Internet
penetration was around 40%, but by 2017
that figure had increased to more than 75%.
So, services are really booming. Additionally,
the CAGR on mobile data is huge and is
expected to continue to grow over the next
three to four years.” “We have a very important presence in
Algeria when it comes to the optical next
generation backbone,” added Chaume.
While growth in fixed broadband services
has been slow, remaining in single digits, “We are also actively involved in IoT. While
this is still a relatively small market now,
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INTELLIGENTCIO
“We are also shifting our focus to new
applications, customer experience and
data monetisation.
we believe that in the future it will be very
important, particularly when it comes to
smart cities. Nokia has had a long presence
in Algeria and we have an intimate
relationship with the local players.
“With the country’s ambition and the
potential in the market, both from
a fixed and mobile access perspective,
the shift to supporting applications and
improving the customer experience, we
see enormous potential for growth for us as
an organisation.”
Nokia is also actively participating in the
4G densification and expansion in terms
of geographical reach with more than one
service provider in Algeria.
“We have a strong local technical
competence in Algeria.” said Chaume.
“The history we have, the local presence and
the potential we see makes me believe that
the decision we took to reinforce the local
competence was well worth it and we will
continue investing in growth and our resources
in the Algerian market.” n
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