Half the world’s population does not have access to the internet, leaving roughly 4 billion people excluded from the socio-economic benefits of connectivity. 600 million cannot connect simply because they live in largely rural areas without access to mobile broadband coverage. The consequences of the digital divide have been starkly revealed by the COVID-19 pandemic, as those without broadband have been unable to work from home, attend school lessons or access healthcare services.
5G, the greatest of all technologies, is in danger. Just like all other industries, telecommunications has been also affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and the most visible impact is the delay in the deployment of the fifth generation technology. All efforts made in the past couple of years and that were planned to see fruition in 2020 have been put on hold all over the world.
The telecom industry has witnessed in the recent several years significant transformation and development in a bid to connect not only devices, but everything. As such, a new paradigm is on the market today called Open RAN, “where cellular radio networks are comprised of hardware and software components from multiple vendors operating over network interfaces that are truly ‘open and interoperable’,” as defined by Commscope.
Some may describe cybersecurity as “a bit like Alice in Wonderland” where you run as fast as you can only to stay in place. And today, if you wish to stay ahead of cyber criminals, you should run twice or ten times as fast as that.
The telecommunications sector is one of the main pillars of a country’s economy and an important source of revenues. South Africa’s telecommunications industry is gaining ground in the continent and is rapidly catching up on the digital transformation wave.
In 2019, it was made clear that blockchain is not just a hype but an exciting innovation that has gained momentum throughout the past couple of years to reach a not so bad level of adoption. New parties and companies have acknowledged it and a few central banks gave their green light even though a majority admits that they’re still trying to understand the technology. Africa’s stance on blockchain is remarkable in the sense that many countries have caught on the trend and are increasingly adopting cryptocurrencies.
A trustworthy virtual private network (VPN) is a good way to keep internet usage secure and private whether at home or on public Wi-Fi. Many users have long been familiar with various VPN services, which are necessary for the safe and free use of the internet without censorship restrictions. However, not all users who use VPN to unblock sites, know that some services cannot provide a high level of security on the internet. A VPN will navigate the information through a secure “tunnel” to hide them and encrypt communication travelling from and to the user’s device. However, a flaw in VPN encryption not only makes the VPN connection weak but also reduces the user's security and causes leaks.
A special report by Telecom Review 5G technical investigative team
As many operators around the globe have or are preparing to deploy and launch 5G networks and devices, the 3.5 GHz band has emerged as the de-facto band for most deployments, which has created economies of scale for devices and network equipment.
In the light of the coronavirus pandemic, and with fear that the virus might be spreading through cash money, many resorted to mobile money as an alternative means to execute transactions. Governments have been encouraging people to use digital payment methods to reduce person-to-person contact and curb the spread of the coronavirus. Mobile money is a very thriving industry in Africa with platforms such as Orange Money, M-Pesa and MTN’s MoMo, to name a few.
Operating systems (OS) are the interface with which users navigate their devices and are essential to the functioning of computers and smartphones. That’s why they form a major challenge for their designers in terms of customer loyalty, data flow control and ecosystem development.
