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NRZ as a telecoms operator - "SteamTel"
Robert Ndlovu
July 28, 2010

The National Railways of Zimbabwe reached Bulawayo in 1897 and has been in existence even before then under different colonial names. The NRZ has a rail network that is over 3,000 km long. The rail has been at the epicenter of the economic growth and development of this country. Mining and agriculture industries which are the backbone of the Zim economy were built on this communications link - the railway line.

Now the same NRZ has capacity to spur Zimbabwe into the digital leap by giving birth to a telecoms entity that will be built on the existing National Railways of Zimbabwe infrastructure. I literally mean laying fiber optic cable underneath or aside to the rail.

Enter "SteamTel" derived from the locomotives that where powered by steam hence the birth of "isitimela" for the train. "SteamTel" which will be a commercially run telecoms business unit is long overdue and I wonder why . For a minute forget about the inevitable POTRAZ licensing reality.

Privatization

Powertel is telecommunications that was carved out of ZESA, as a separate division catering to the commercial telecommunications services. Transmedia is another off shoot from another loss making parastatal ZBC and is run along corporate rules and is doing better than its parent organization.

But the reason for setting up a railway based telecoms company does not emanate from what I have said above , but from the fact its inherent single purpose - transportation rail which was part of the then Cape to Cairo dream by the colonialists connects Mutare to Vic Falls via Harare, Kwekwe, Gweru and Bulawayo.

As a result, starting and operating a telecommunications company on the wide and extensive rail physical network should NOT be a big issue with the right planning, management and of course funding!

This is nothing new. Worldwide most rail operators provide back phone telecommunications capacity to wherever the railway line goes. In South Africa a company called Transnet runs and operates a highly profitable data , Internet and voice. The concept or logic is based on the fact that the NRZ already has nationwide infrastructure that connects the major centers in Zimbabwe. The communications division company of it then rides on back of the NRZ infrastructure in the same way that Powertel was conceived on providing communications link that ride on the ZESA electricity national grid. So Powertel did NOT have to worry about the backbone of their network since ZESA already had the grid network that transports electricity from generation points to the distribution network - electricity grid.
Same with Transmedia riding on the back of ZBC broadcasting infrastructure. In the same way NRZ can now speedily roll out a communications network that rides on the back of its own railway network. This is no rocket science.

Presently Zimbabwe has 3 GSM, 1 Fixed Line operator and more than 8 Data and Internet service Providers. So the introduction of another telecoms operator might sound unnecessary and from an end user point of view. But at a carrier level it makes more sense. This is how.

Presently the only company that provides high speed connectivity to the world wide web outside Zimbabwe by fiber is Powertel who are connected via Botswana Telecoms who then connect to the undersea cable to rest of the world. Other players setting up fiber connections to the under sea cables include Ecoweb via Liquid Telecom who are digging trenches all over and laying fiber cables that enable high speed Internet connections to you favorite site Facebook hosted in San Jose in California ! So is Africom laying fiber via Mutare to the Indian ocean.

Now presently the cost of high speed Internet is prohibitive because there is ONE player who is connected using fiber to the under sea cable and that is Powertel. Of course the other ISPs and all have their own satellite hubs to do the same. But as you might already know you can not compare satellite speeds to that of fiber. And this pare is not the purpose of this write up.

As a result if "SteamTel" lays its own fiber that follows its rail system we will have more competition much to the delight if the end user who will NOT be forced to go to one operator who has monopoly in high speed connectivity.

Layout

Now that the backbone of the core network has been defined and rolled out as fiber following the rail tracks now comes the distribution part of the data and voice services being carried by the "SteamTel" network from one part of the country to another and even to border points for exit since Zim is a land locked country. Bear in mind that NRZ already has its own radio communications network for signaling and communications that uses radio and fixed connections. This network consist of very high rise towers that sends and receives signals to different points for certain distances.

The choice of the distribution and access network is open to debate since NO one technology is suitable for all environments. Just like any network deployment , this is no different in terms of challenges , costs , skills etc. But one thing remains clear that wireless technology stands out as the most practical means to avail basic email , Internet and voice services to bulk of the population. There is no need to discuss the specific wireless technology of choice but CDMA, WiMAx, LTE amongst others are the means of bringing these services to the people - last mile connectivity since copper cables are prey to thieves and expensive to lay.

This then means and implies that the NRZ installs base stations wherever they have a railway station specifically to provide digital services such as email , Internet , fax and most importantly voice. Making calls over a fiber network is pretty easy and trivial .The average person in Zimbabwe now is familiar with SMS from their cellphone sending messages back and forth for about 10 cents per message which should really the price of a call per minute ! Incumbent operators have performed dismally when it comes to delivering true broadband connectivity .The reason for their failures range from lack of capital right through to outright incompetence and taking end users for granted.

Already as you can see the number of railway stations is a good starting point that lays out the POPs (point of presence spots). National Railways of Zimbabwe already has radio coverage in ALL areas where the railway line goes. Its that simple - literally.

Feasibility

Again as I indicated earlier on this is NOT a new concept but a proven and working model just across the Limpopo in South Africa. The digital divide in Zimbabwe is far from being bridged. The millions of mobile users in the country is a good indication and a positive development that makes it possible for people in the most remotest areas where there is cellular coverage, to send text messages to their beloved ones in London!

But beyond SMS and making voice calls that are extremely over priced, it is time that the digital push moves into the next gear of availing email, Internet, fax and video services. I mean the other day driving to Bulawayo from Harare as I went past Ntabazinduna I realized that the Ecoweb fiber "line" is less than 2 miles from the community. This literally means a connection from the main line to the business center could deliver Skype and Facebook to this rural community well before some low density suburbs!

Bottom line is that use of wireless broadband technologies connected to the core network (rail fiber) will deliver digital service to areas within the coverage range of the radio equipment.

Economic Opportunities

It is not possible for me to list all the opportunities that a rail anchored communications network will bring forth. One particular line of thinking may change the complexion of smaller towns that lie along the rail network. Look here is an opportunity for smaller towns like Chegutu and Plumtree just to mention a few, to out jump over crowded Harare metro using digital power. Needless to repeat, fiber optics brings along the capacity to carry HUGE amounts data, voice and video over long distances at lighting speeds literally. So let me throw a bait with real life scenario to hammer the point home.

Consider a town like Plumtree that has now been connected to the fiber network that comes with the rail right. Now businesses based in Plumtree can now offer call center services to companies based in the US or UK. A call center is a setup where phone agents sitting in front of a computer can make and receive calls using high speed data connections like the Internet that the rail brings. The geographical location of a call center is immaterial. Hence thats why thousands of companies in the US out source their call center services to companies in India, Malasyia and now Kenya, South Africa and many more. Zimbabwe is an ideal destination for this kind of phone support service because of 2 factors. One is English language and our literacy levels. No need to expand on this. The writing is on the wall. So if the same Plumtree call center model is replicated in ALL smaller towns nationwide along the RAILWAY line with fiber reach, then who says job creation has to be in restricted to Harare alone where most people are fully employed as vendors. Smaller towns wake up and smell the fish.

The call center is just one such example real and tangible job and wealth creation. This is NO an academic matter for thesis purposes nor a political matter for campaigning.

These are long term projects and plans that must be under taken at a national level. These are NOT quick money hit and run kind of projects. These kind of plans require those in charge of resources and those who make national decisions to see beyond their eyelids. This is NOT a get rich quick scheme. Digital competence is the best opportunity that Africa has to catch up and with the rest of the world.

It is a total waste of time and money to talk about turning around the economy when people have NO access to information to effect that turn around. To market and sell their products by way of exports that generate the much needed forex , create employment and improve the average quality of lives.

Towns like Chegutu, Gwanda, Marondera, Bulawayo, Gweru, Kwekwe, Kadoma, Mutare, Rusape, Victoria Falls, Hwange etc can now setup digitally based businesses that do not require an A2 farm allocation. We cant all be farmers can we?

Partnering Option

Considering that there is already a dozen data, Internet and voice operators in Zimbabwe maybe "SteamTel" can partner or even acquire an existing licensed operator. This way we avoid having too many operators offering shoddy service at prohibitive prices.

Competition breeds competence and product improvement and eliminates complacency on part of service providers whom I must sat they are taking the public for granted. This must and will stop.

The National Railways of Zimbabwe that itself needs a major clean up, could look in in the direction of operators like: Telco Internet, Broadlands, Aquiva Wireless, Taurai Commms, Africom for a either merging, acquisition or partnering. This could form the basis of the second land line operator given the dismal service delivery by our fixed line operator Telone still being run along the tried and tested failing parastatals models of the likes of ZESA, PTC, ZBC, Zisco and NRZ.

NeoTel was born out of a merger/acquisition of TransTel a division of SA's transet for transportation.

"SteamTel" would operate as a private telecommunications network and no need to re-invent the wheel they would offer services such as wireless services, which offer broadband and narrow band, fixed wireless access, trunk radio network, radio network planning, and engineering and spectrum management services most of which they are already doing at a low level.

This way no one monster will monopolize the digital market and peg service at prices that are "morally illegal" such as 25 cents per minute per call. More about this in my next article entitled - using Internet Telephony technology to cut communications costs. Is'nt there a Universal Service Fund (USF) owned by POTRAZ for extending basic telecoms services to those without ?

This write up is by no means detailed nor a work plan BUT gives a bird's eye view of where we could be in a few years time with the right people in the right places. But naturally and quite understandably so, some current operators will not take too kindly to this kind of thinking. But again as I have said this is necessary so that ONE one network bully can siphon millions of dollars a day from poor Zimbos to make a phone call at exorbitant prices.

It is my understanding that we have an ALL inclusive government presently working together towards total economic recovery as such I don't see any reason why politics and even regulations would want to block this? How do we expect to export agricultural goods when the farmer out there does NOT even know where the external markets are because he has NO means of even sending an email to the potential buyer about the grade or price of his orange produce?

And maybe for a change this will be the first telecommunications company whose head quarters will be in Bulawayo - where NRZ headquarters is !

Comments, questions and suggestions welcome by text, email and voice. Any takers?

*Mr. Robert Ndlovu is a ICT consultant formerly based in California, USA and now offering knowledge based consultancy for African based organizations, governments and businesses in the digital inclusiveness plans - bridging the digital divide.

ndlovu@ymail.com
Skype: WozaTel
Phone: + 263 71 412 0206 / + 1 650 200 0250

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