Jamal Shareef

The Next Decade of Telecommunications in Africa Africa is entering a defining moment for its digital future. Over the next 10 years, telecommunications will evolve faster than ever before, reshaping how people connect, work, and thrive. Key shifts we will see: Fiber Expansion & Connectivity: Massive investments will extend broadband access to underserved areas, unlocking new digital economies. Data Centers & Cloud Growth: As demand for local data storage and processing rises, Africa will see a surge in Tier 3 and Tier 4 facilities powering AI, fintech, and digital services. Mobile & 5G Revolution: With one of the youngest populations in the world, mobile-first services—from payments to e-health—will leapfrog traditional infrastructure. Energy & Telecom Integration: Renewable energy paired with telecom will ensure resilience, reduce costs, and improve sustainability. Cybersecurity & National Frameworks: With digitization comes responsibility—governments and businesses will increasingly prioritize secure, sovereign frameworks. Opportunities for investors and businesses are immense: from financing infrastructure to developing digital platforms, from renewable-powered telecom networks to creating inclusive services that bring millions online for the first time. The future is clear, telecommunications will not just connect Africa, it will power its economic transformation. #AfricaRising #Telecom #DigitalInfrastructure #Connectivity #DataCenters #RenewableEnergy #5G #Cybersecurity #InvestInAfrica #ScalingAfrica

144

7 Comments

Wholesale isn’t the back office of telecom. It’s the engine of digital economies. Every fiber route we connect and every interconnection we enable strengthens not just networks but the economies and industries they power. From cross-border connectivity to cloud enablement, wholesale is where infrastructure turns into impact and where regional collaboration creates real value. As leaders, our role isn’t just to build. It’s to connect. To align. To make sure every step forward in telecom opens a door for the next generation of innovators, platforms, and economies. This is how we move from infrastructure to lasting outcomes ✌️ #TelecomLeadership #WholesaleStrategy #RegionalConnectivity #DigitalInfrastructure

161

10 Comments

iPhone 17 is at its best on America’s BEST network aka T-Mobile’s 5G network with 5G Advanced enhancements – the first in the U.S. with L4S technology for an ultra-responsive performance. Think crisper FaceTime calls and faster gaming. iPhone users with T-Satellite also have early access to data for satellite-ready apps via iOS 26 software update.  https://lnkd.in/gWC_7JGi 

204

10 Comments

BAIT aims for the top - Walmart's MVNO sees 2025 as the year to become Mexico's second-largest mobile operator Walmart's mobile virtual network operator (#MVNO), BAIT, is pursuing its ambition to become the second-largest mobile operator in Mexico by the end of 2025. Currently the fourth largest player with 18.3 million subscribers and an 11% market share, #BAIT is rapidly closing the gap with AT&T (around 15% market share) and Movistar (around 14%). Industry data suggests the MVNO may have already reached the 20 million user milestone in the first quarter of 2025. Gabriel Cejudo, BAIT's CEO, stated at the Conecta Latam telecommunications forum that their goal of becoming the "second operator in Mexico" this year is achievable. This ambition is fueled by a strategy to enhance their already attractive mobile data offerings with value-added services leveraging Walmart's extensive #ecosystem, including health and e-commerce products. "In my perspective, mergers and acquisitions can help MVNOs (grow), that is a reality," Cejudo said. His statement comes at a time when it was reported that the Spanish telecommunications group Telefónica is studying the possibility of selling its Mexican subsidiary, Movistar Mexico. The potential sale of Movistar Mexico, with its approximately 23 million customers, is speculated to present an opportunity for BAIT. Acquiring Movistar could propel BAIT to over 41 million subscribers, instantly making it the second-largest operator, surpassing AT&T's roughly 24 million lines (though AT&T's network supports traffic for over 45 million due to an infrastructure sharing agreement with Telefónica). Meanwhile, BAIT is focused on organic growth. The company plans to launch postpaid plans in the first half of 2025, aiming to compete directly with the traditional players like Telcel, AT&T, and Telefónica and tap into a new revenue stream beyond its current prepaid customer base. BAIT's rapid growth has stirred #competition but has also, unsurprisingly drawn criticism from the traditional operators . AT&T has questioned BAIT's accelerated expansion, suggesting its tariffs are subsidized by Altán, the shared national network infrastructure provider BAIT relies on. Telcel has also filed a complaint against Altán on similar grounds. However, BAIT's CEO maintains that the rates obtained from Altán are the same for all MVNOs. Despite, BAIT's success as the fastest-growing MVNO in Latin America, also positions it, as a potential global leader, aiming to surpass US-based TracFone's peak of over 21 million subscribers. Walmart México is investing significantly in its digital channels and telecommunications, allocating approximately 4.598 billion pesos this year according to the company in a statement issued to the Mexican Stock Exchange. https://lnkd.in/gBQ-H_dc

92

3 Comments

Fascinating retail drone delivery AI use case presented by Celestica, Hedgehog, and Zipline at AI Infra Summit. Zipline is a logistics company that runs drone-based doorstep retail delivery in Arkansas and Texas, as well as healthcare delivery in Africa. You can order hot wings via Zipline in Dallas and get them flown to you. Zipline has flown 115 million commercial autonomous miles, making 1.6+ million deliveries of 18+ million products. The drones are completely autonomous from take-off to delivery and return. Drones leverage on-board inferencing, for example, to detect and avoid aircraft and power lines while flying, plus image recognition to find the right spot to do the delivery. They leverage live weather imaging data from geosynchronous satellites to figure out cold weather fronts, etc. Hedgehog is a COSS virtual private cloud solution provider to run your own on-premises data center, with a hot focus on AI datacenters. Celestica is a massive ($10B+ revenue) supplier of mostly SONiC-based open networking and other open compute hardware to hyperscalers, large enterprises, neocloud providers, and innovative players like Zipline. They're the #1 market share holder in 800G Ethernet. Bet you didn't know that. Zipline, like many, got started with public cloud GPUs. However, they wanted to go open networking and open source to get the best TCO for their AI data center CAPEX and OPEX. The Zipline presenter Florian Berchtold, is a DevOps engineer, and is not a network engineer by trade, so using the combination of Hedgehog and Celestica, along with Kubernetes, Digital Rebar, etc. gave him what he needed for an abstracted, declarative way to operate their AI data center infrastructure, using the same GitOps stack they used with AWS. They covered how AI on the edge differs in its application versus LLMs. They have battery-operated aircraft that need to make autonomous decisions based on inferences that are applied in real-time, constrained by the capabilities of a System on a Chip (SoC). So their AI datacenter that generates the learning models is working on a very focused dataset to enable this embedded use case. Anyway, fun stuff! #AInetworking #AIEdge #Dronedelivery #hotwingsbydrone

26

2 Comments

Top 10 Telecom Standards That Just Won’t Die👇... We love shiny new things. 5G, AI, quantum-this, blockchain-that. But the truth? The backbone of modern life isn’t “new.” It’s old tech that quietly refuses to die. Some of these protocols were born before most of us were — and they still run airplanes, banks, and the internet you’re scrolling on right now. 1. RS-232 (1960) Your laptop doesn’t have it anymore. But factories, labs, and satellites still whisper over RS-232 every day. Reliable. Simple. Immortal. 2. X.25 (1976) Ever used an ATM? Chances are you touched X.25. Aviation and finance love it because it just… works. 3. SS7 (1970s) Every call, every SMS, every roaming handshake on your phone? That’s SS7 humming in the background. Invisible, but essential. 4. SMTP (1970s) Email is boring until it fails. And when it doesn’t, thank SMTP. Still carrying billions of messages daily. 5. X.400 (1984) A relic — but still alive in defense and aviation. Sometimes “obsolete” is just another word for “battle-tested.” 6. TCP/IP (1983) The internet’s skeleton. No TCP/IP → no Netflix, no Zoom, no LinkedIn. Full stop. 7. DNS (1984) The internet’s phone book. Without it, you’d be typing numbers instead of names. 8. HTTP/HTTPS (1989+) The protocol of the web. First it gave us access. Then it gave us trust. And it’s still evolving. 9. Ethernet (1970s) From 3 Mbps coaxial cables to 400 Gbps fiber. Ethernet aged like wine. 10. NTP (1980s) Keeps clocks in sync across the world. Servers, stock exchanges, spacecraft — all run on this humble timekeeper. Why they survived They don’t break. They play nice with old systems. Industries bet billions on them. Replacing them would cost more than keeping them. The bigger story We chase “the next big thing.” But sometimes the real magic is endurance. Technology that lasts decades isn’t boring — it’s revolutionary in its own way. These 10 aren’t just history. They’re proof that good engineering outlives hype. 💡 Curious: which of these surprised you the most? Which “ancient” protocol do you still use in your work today?

17

Right-of-Way vs. Line of Sight: The Reality of Near-Net Connectivity In telecom, “near-net” doesn’t mean “easy.” Just because a building is in line of sight doesn’t mean it’s truly serviceable. The reality? Right-of-way, construction costs, permits, and obstacles make all the difference between a realistic quote and a dead deal. Take a look at this image—would you call a location at the other end of this road “near-net” just because it’s visible? Of course not. The path to getting fiber there is what matters. Network operators need to stop relying on line-of-sight assumptions and static spreadsheets. Instead, they should: ✅ Communicate reality – Show buyers precisely what’s near-net based on right-of-way constraints, not just distance. ✅ Set great expectations – Automate cost and timeline estimates, ensuring no surprises. ✅ Elevate the buyer experience – Remove friction from quoting and drive faster, more predictable deals. At Connectbase, we automate right-of-way intelligence, turning near-net into a repeatable, scalable growth strategy. Let’s stop quoting from assumptions and start quoting from reality. #RightOfWayMatters #NearNet #Fiber #AutomatedQuoting #Connectbase #capacitymiddleeast #locationtruth

52

7 Comments

Telecom 101: How 5G Impacts Lease Terms 5G isn’t just changing wireless technology — it’s reshaping the way leases are written. Property owners should be aware of a few key impacts: 📌 More equipment, more negotiations 5G often requires additional antennas and equipment. That means your lease should account for fair compensation when carriers add or upgrade gear. 📌 Access rights matter more Carriers may push for broader access to maintain and upgrade sites quickly. Clear limits protect your property and flexibility. 📌 Market terms are shifting With 5G demand growing, market rent and escalators are evolving. A lease written even five years ago may already be behind today’s standards. As technology advances, so should your lease. #5G #TelecomLeases #WirelessLeases #LeaseReview

6

2 Comments

Let’s say you live in a condo. Would every unit build its own fiber broadband line to the main road? No — we install one fiber line into the building and 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘀����𝗮𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. It’s faster. Cheaper. Smarter. Now imagine doing the same thing — but for energy. That’s what 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗗𝗖 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘇𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀 are all about. Instead of every shoplot, depot, or apartment having its own: • Transformer • Cables • Switchboard • AC-to-DC conversion unit… You build 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗗𝗖 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗯𝗼𝗻𝗲 that runs behind all the units. Then: • Solar panels feed into it • Batteries store the energy • Chargers and DC appliances use it directly • Tenants plug in, just like shared internet Everyone shares the energy — and the cost. This already exists in Europe. 🚗 At 𝗦𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗼 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝗚𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆, they built the biggest EV charging park in Europe: • Over 𝟳𝟬 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀 connected to a 𝗗𝗖 𝗴𝗿𝗶𝗱 • 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 power the whole site • The 𝗗𝗖 𝗰𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀 reduce losses and cost • Over 𝟰,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝗘𝗩𝘀 𝗮 𝗱𝗮𝘆 can charge efficiently Think of it like a big 𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁 — Each “stall” taps into a shared kitchen of solar, battery, and DC supply. 💡 Why this matters in ASEAN: In countries like 𝗠𝗮𝗹𝗮𝘆𝘀𝗶𝗮, 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗮, 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱, 𝗩𝗶𝗲𝘁𝗻𝗮𝗺, we have: • Condos growing in every city • EV adoption rising fast • Solar becoming more affordable But installing new grid connections for every building? 🚫 Expensive 🚫 Slow 🚫 Not scalable With a shared DC zone: • Capex drops by 30–60% • You install once, use many times • It’s easier to manage, upgrade, and connect to the future grid 📌 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳: Add a DC spine to your next property. Offer it like 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗘𝗩 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗿 𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗳𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗿. 📌 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘌𝘝 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘳: Pitch 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘇𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀 to malls, townships, and councils. 📌 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨: Support rules that reward shared infrastructure — not just big projects. We don’t need to build one power system per user. We need 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘇𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀 where energy flows better — and everyone benefits.

29

4 Comments

China's success stories could change everyone who wants to learn! From Chinese Startup to Global Sensation. ByteDance's TikTok Triumph is one of those stories. ByteDance's transformation from a Beijing-based startup to the owner of the world's most influential social media platform represents one of the most remarkable corporate success stories of the digital age. Through TikTok, the company has achieved what few Chinese tech giants have accomplished. genuine global cultural dominance that transcends geographic and linguistic boundaries. The platform's meteoric rise has fundamentally reshaped social media, created new forms of entertainment, and established ByteDance as a $300 billion technology powerhouse that rivals the world's largest tech companies. The ByteDance story begins with Zhang Yiming, a software engineer whose prescient understanding of machine learning would prove to be the foundation of the company's success. In March 2012, Zhang and his college roommate Liang Rubo founded ByteDance with a vision that machine learning would revolutionize how people encountered information. Zhang's first major product, Toutiao (literally "Today's Headlines"), launched in August 2012 as an AI-powered news aggregation platform that personalized content without editorial staff. The app rapidly gained millions of downloads, with Zhang strategically partnering with Chinese smartphone manufacturers to embed Toutiao into new phone models. The success of Toutiao's recommendation algorithm became the technological DNA that would power all future ByteDance products, including TikTok's revolutionary "For You" page. Zhang's early recognition that "China is home to only one-fifth of Internet users globally" drove his ambition to build a truly global company. The ByteDance story represents more than corporate success—it exemplifies how technological innovation can transcend geographic and cultural boundaries to create genuinely global phenomena. Through TikTok, a Chinese company has achieved what few thought possible: building a platform that shapes global culture while generating massive economic value across diverse markets. This achievement stands as a testament to the universal appeal of creative expression and the power of algorithms to connect human experiences across the digital divide. Do you feel enthusiastic about China's success stories? If the answer is yes and it fills you with power like me, Stay tuned for more stories.

13