Ghana: ICT development in Ghana and Ericsson going projects.

Andreas Karlsson is the Chief of Supply for Ericsson in sub-Saharan Africa & Country Manager for Ericsson Ghana. Ericsson is Africa’s leading provider of communications technology and services and employs over 3,000 professionals who support additional than 100 customers in 43 nations across sub-Saharan Africa.

Prior to his role in Ghana, Andreas was the Country Manager for Ericsson in the Democratic Republic of Congo. During his time in DRC he as well worked as the Managed Service’s Chief Operating Officer for Central Africa, responsible for Managed Services, Managed Capacity and general operations.

 Karlsson has gained both international and multicultural experience in the telecoms sector which stem from his time in Europe, the Middle East & South America. He has built a large part of his managerial experience in the last eight years while based in East and West Africa.

 Andreas is very passionate about sports and takes part in a lot of sporting activities during his spare time.

 In this exclusive interview , Andreas share his expert opining on ICT development in Ghana and Ericsson going projects.

 What is your perception of the ICT sector in Ghana

The ICT is on the verge of an inflection point in Ghana. Amount the right ingredients are in place. Results have started showing up. MTN grew 96% non SMS data revenue in 2012 compared to 2011, which is highest across amount MTN operating nations. If the government policies and ICT adoption in government organizations moves faster (e-governance), ICT uptake part citizens will be faster. The enterprise segment, particularly the SME segment as well needs to be nurtured for ICT adoption which will improve their operational efficiency in a large way.

Can you give us an update on Ericsson Regional Support Center (RSC) in Ghana, has it delivered on its purpose.

In short, yes the Regional Support center has delivered on its purpose.

Last year our Regional Support Center was at the forefront of developing and executing a new Customer Support Delivery Structure which was aimed at achieving higher level of Delivery effectiveness, efficiency and customer satisfaction. By Mid 2012, amount Sub-Saharan customers with the exception of those handled by World Service Centre organization, were transferred to a 24/7 CS Help Desk and by the end of 2012, we were able to exceed the lead times set.

The fresh graduate engineers that were hired formerly the launch of the RSC have presently reached a maturity level were they are able to perform fairly complex trouble shooting tasks for our customers. Amount this has been made possible by one and half years of training, exposure to real life problems, working on simulators and mentorship programs with senior world staff.

This year, as part of our competence development plan, the focus is to target new technologies and products such as LTE. Several instructor led and on-job trainings are part of this plan which will enhance the technical and troubleshooting skills of RSC engineers. This will allow the engineers to handle and solve customer service requests on the new platforms.

Any feedback on your partnership with Tigo on Millennium Village in Ghana.

We are currently still in the planning process for this project with Tigo.

As operators are planning on full commercial deployment of LTE what are your thoughts on the result on subscribers.

On one hand its good news. Initially they would fill in the Fixed Broadband requirement as the penetration is very low. This is about creating a new market which does not exist. However, with a 25 Million people, it still remains a question whether there is adequate space for 7 players. The key here would be to go into innovative services like Cloud for enterprises and consumers, M2M – thereby expanding the market potential rather than cut throat competition.

What is your focus areas in 2013

Key focus is on helping operators with their key business metrics: 1. revenue increase; 2. cost efficient operations; 3. high performance networks. In each area we have a number of propositions e.g focusing on monetizing mobile broadband, supporting customers with managed services offerings, and network modernization

What are the plans for Ericsson to remain relevant and retain a considerable chunk of the market share

Ericsson will remain relevant as we partner with operators to help them gain success. That’s why we are talking of innovative services, and that’s why we have developed those services into our portfolio. At the same time as it comes to LTE – Ericsson remains a clear leader globally with 34% market share followed by NSN at 21% and H\\\\ at 14% (source TBR). The majority innovative markets, who have taken the chance of LTE to grow both in revenue and EBIDTA – US, Japan and Korea, have amount chosen Ericsson as a partner.

How are you adapting to your new role and how do your balance work/family

I am exhaustively enjoying my new role in Ghana and have adapted well to my role and environment. At the same time as it comes to work and my family I always make sure that there is a healthy balance between the two.