Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 53 | Page 51

CASE STUDY

With a national mobile penetration rate of about 125 %, Morocco is among the most developed mobile markets in North Africa . The vast majority of the country ’ s Internet connections ( 93.2 %) are over cellular connections . Currently , the fastest growing wireless provider in Morocco is inwi .

Headquartered in Casablanca , its nationwide mobile / fixed network serves more than 12.5 million users with a mix of 2G / 3G / 4G and fixed wireless access ( FWA ) services . Since its founding in 1999 , inwi has earned a reputation as a technology and innovation pioneer . Since 2017 , the carrier has been rated the number one Internet provider by nPerf . Significant investment in fixed wireless service and a optimised TDD radio deployment have established inwi as the innovator of Internet and data services . Most recently , it became the country ’ s first to deploy an innovative 28-port , all-in-one antenna from CommScope , streamlining its network and paving the way for 5G .
Consolidating antennas to grow spectrum
Large spectrum bands availability benefit inwi in capacity and traffic management but not without challenges , network complexity design increase , interference risk is higher , deployment and maintenance complications at the cell sites have multiplied .
“ Using multiple spectrum bands , especially in dense areas , presents a major challenge with regards to tower loading and space ,” explained Ali Iraqi , Technical Procurement Director , inwi .
One of inwi ’ s key objectives , therefore , was to reduce the number of antennas on the towers while also facilitating future network transition to 5G . At the same time , the telecoms provider was transitioning to radios that support Frequency Division Duplexing ( FDD ) and Time Division Duplexing ( TDD ). The FDD /

WE NEEDED A CUSTOMISED

ANTENNA SOLUTION , ONE

THAT COULD

SUPPORT A WIDE RANGE OF SPECTRUM BANDS , WAS

FAST AND EASY TO INSTALL

AND CONNECT .

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