Innovation

Securing a prosperous and sustainable future

In an increasingly competitive market, mobile network operators need superior products, attractive pricing and compelling marketing campaigns. But above all, they need efficient and reliable networks and the trust of the public if they are to stay in business. At the same time they must manage the costs and logistics of operating towers. This means innovating, realising value, reducing costs and securing energy supply.

With that in mind, we’re doing three things. We're focussing on the long term, which includes helping operators to roll out 3G, 4G and 5G when and where possible. We're delivering real, practical solutions to suit the particular challenges of the emerging markets. And we’re reducing our impact on the environment.

Green Energy

Throughout emerging markets, the telecommunications industry faces two energy challenges. First, there is heavy reliance on diesel consumption and secondly unreliable electricity grids to power their towers. We view this as an opportunity to design innovative green energy initiatives and diesel reduction strategies.

As consumer behaviour changes, so must we. Network operators must gain the trust of the public. That means sustainability, and it also means a secure network. As a result, IHS is developing alternative sources of power to guarantee 99% network uptime.

Key facts:

We plan to spend up to $1bn throughout 2016-2018 to upgrade our power systems across Africa.
Over the next few years, IHS is working to become almost diesel neutral in Zambia, by using a combination of on- and off-grid solutions.

Exceptional Engineering

Sometimes you have to adapt to the circumstances on the ground. There may be particular problems posed by a lack of resources, the landscape, or specific climatic challenges. Our engineers excel at creating robust, best-in-class solutions – whatever the problem.

IHS has two state-of-the-art Network Operating Centres (NOCs), in Lagos and Abuja. They are the brains of the network, and there’s nothing like them anywhere else in the world's emerging markets. They provide a comprehensive range of professional tower management services to network operators. They save money and add value, by turning every base station and tower into its own profit-and-loss centre.