FIFI PETERS: How’s your connection holding up through the durations of load shedding – from the calls you make, both regular calls or WhatsApp calls, to browsing the online and all that? Personally I wrestle and it’s irritating, particularly with the WhatsApp calls, however even with the traditional manner, simply regularly being lower off and being informed that ‘reconnecting’ and the like. It is irritating [for consumers], nevertheless it’s additionally irritating for the cellphone firms which can be themselves attempting to be certain that we stay linked, by spending a complete lot of cash on stuff like turbines and batteries to allow them to achieve this.
So we’ve received the CEO of MTN South Africa, Charles Molapisi, on the road to inform us extra about his frustrations. Are you pissed off, Charles?
CHARLES MOLAPISI: Good night, Fifi. I believe my prospects are in all probability rather more pissed off than I’m. I’m focusing extra on discovering the answer to try to help my prospects.
FIFI PETERS: What has the expertise for the MTN buyer been like over this era of actually aggressive load shedding?
CHARLES MOLAPISI: Look, when you will have Stage 6 primarily the resilience that you just’ve constructed on the network can’t maintain the supply of the network. In that case, then you find yourself having some type of network blackouts, and in sensible phrases that can imply that prospects can’t join, such as you say, to the positioning of the tower to make a name. In plenty of areas the place we’ve had that, significantly underneath Stage 6 … now we have managed this factor comparatively properly underneath Stage 4; however Stage 6, due to the quantity of hours and the frequency, it actually makes very tough to even cost the batteries that you just’re maintaining on web site.
So the group is tough at work. We’re working very arduous to try to enhance the vitality combine on the websites. And I simply need to guarantee the MTN prospects that we’re actually arduous at work to try to navigate this very difficult interval that we face as a rustic.
FIFI PETERS: I learn someplace that you just guys have turbines everywhere in the present, round 2 000 or so throughout the nation. You are going via round 400 000 litres of gas monthly simply to maintain a few of these turbines operational. Is that true? It appears like a complete lot of cash and I’d like to perceive, if it’s true, how a lot that is all costing you.
CHARLES MOLAPISI: I attempt not to go into particulars on the numbers, for apparent causes by way of the transparency of our numbers. But let me say this, that we’ve deployed over 2 000, and I believe there’s a great likelihood that we would add extra gensets on the websites. We put gensets not essentially on all of the websites, however we give attention to what we name Harps (?), or crucial websites, to try to be sure that these websites don’t go down, as a result of in the event that they go down they have an effect on the opposite underlying nodes on the network. So we’re attempting to deal with that.
But it’s a pricey train. I believe each South African now understands that to self-provision electrical energy, whether or not it’s within the residence or in a enterprise or on the network, that is mostly a extremely pricey train.
And once more, for us because the leaders of the organisation at this time limit, it’s discovering the stability between availability and managing prices, so that you just stability the entire concern of runaway price versus availability. So it’s a really delicate stability that you just’re engaged on.
FIFI PETERS: So … by way of your batteries, not solely are you discovering yourselves in a scenario over Stage 4 load shedding, so Stage 5, which we’re presently in, and Stage 6, whenever you don’t have sufficient hours to cost your batteries as a result of for many of these hours the facility is out due to the facility cuts.
Not solely is that your problem, you’ve additionally received the problem of theft. I see that many batteries are being stolen. Why do you suppose individuals are stealing your batteries?
CHARLES MOLAPISI: To be sincere, that’s completely irritating. If we provision batteries right now, tomorrow the positioning is vandalised. It units us again as an organisation, nevertheless it units us again as a rustic. Obviously now we have a duty to preserve our networks, so we’re working with completely different safety businesses to assist us handle it.
But I’d not need to speculate on the explanations. I’m certain there’s some parallel business someplace that’s benefiting from this factor, as a result of it is a problem that’s occurring on a big scale.
This isn’t an MTN drawback alone, it is a common drawback for many people within the business. So, once more, we are going to proceed to work arduous to try to discover methods to defend our infrastructure.
Also now we have appealed to the federal government for help in areas of *** I’m certain we’ll make progress. When we’re face with moments like this, I simply need to say to MTN prospects, and I believe to South Africans generally, that now we have to meet this second. We have a duty to meet this second with braveness, with an answer mindset, and quite be the camp of answer suppliers than be the camp of stone throwers.
FIFI PETERS: A little bit of an out the field query, Charles. What could ongoing and aggressive load shedding imply for the entire spectrum rollout, which in the end is about reducing the price of communication?
CHARLES MOLAPISI: We have rolled out – we acquired 3.5, we acquired the two.6, we acquired the 800. Those are the spectrum bands that we acquired some segments on. The rollout continues, besides possibly on the 800, as a result of there’s nonetheless a dependency there. On the 2600/600 now we have continued to roll out.
So load shedding is not going to cease us from pushing for the protection of 5G for South Africans.
We are on 18% going to 20% on inhabitants protection on 5G. We have ambitions subsequent yr to proceed to ***. But in fact there is a component of a attainable problem and derailment to the ambitions, due to the balancing of rollout and price. But we stay dedicated to the rollout of 5G providers and 4G within the rural areas as properly, to enhance inhabitants protection as we proceed to go ahead.
FIFI PETERS: How about lowering the dependence on the grid, as a result of I really feel in the end that’s the tip recreation. So I think about that the scenario proper now could be making that path look extra engaging and making you need to run quicker on that path. Is it, and what are you doing by way of your personal investments and your personal vitality?
CHARLES MOLAPISI: An excellent query, Fifi. Let me provide you with a fast instance. We have onboarded an organization referred to as IHS to assist us handle our web site. Now I’ll provide you with fast statistics. iSAT [Africa] manages our websites in Nigeria, 16 000 of them; 95% of the websites on the network in Nigeria don’t have any grid provide and they’re reaching 99.9% availability on the network. They achieve this via completely different initiatives. So the combination is completely different. We first in fact do batteries, we do photo voltaic we do genset.
So, relying in fact on the outlook and finally the answer that can come or might not come, we can have to improve the supply of our websites. There’s simply no manner we’re going to enable the scenario to proceed the place we’re not ready to present service.
But you will have to field very good on whenever you do it, and have a look at the outlook for Eskom. But finally if we’re not ready to safe energy from Eskom, we can have to discover methods, like now we have in lots of markets as MTN, to self-provision, and finally have the option to present the service. So deliver IHS out there, they arrive with expertise, they know the way to transfer materials, they know the way to defend the websites, and we’re assured that after they settle they’ll have the option to assist us to solidify the network infrastructure.
FIFI PETERS: All proper. As a fellow buyer myself, with these disconnections typically, if you are able to do something to minimise them it might be completely fantastic.
But Charles, we’ll go away it there, sir, for now. Thanks a lot for taking the time. Charles Molapisi is the CEO MTN South Africa.
