MTN
Uganda has announced a five-year strategic partnership with global ICT solution
provider, Huawei to transform and modernize its network towards a Cloud-native
5G-Capable Core network.
The
partnership according to a statement issued on Tuesday is dubbed the MUNA project and
is part of the greater MTN Group MUNIC strategy that will see MTN Uganda’s
network evolve into an All-Cloud Core network.
MTN
Uganda Chief Executive Officer, Sylvia Mulinge, in her remarks noted that the
MUNA partnership with Huawei makes MTN’s core network battle-ready for the
impending 5G launch.
“As
MTN Uganda, we have always been the front runner of evolving technology in this
country. In 2020, we were the first operator in East Africa to do a successful
5G network demonstration. While that was a non-commercial exhibition, this
modernization of our network comes in as a precursor of the 5G capabilities
which Uganda is going to experience soon,” she said.
“I
welcome the collaboration between MTN Uganda and Huawei Technologies. We are soon
launching the transition to 5G. This will not only help MTN, but other telecom
companies as well to have improved Quality of Service. In this journey of
digital transformation, we are running as a country, to keep pace with the rest
of the world,” added Hon. Dr. Chris Baryomunsi, Minister for ICT & National
Guidance, Uganda.
“This
intervention is in line with the country’s vision 2040 that aims at the transformation of our society.”
Gavin
Gaofei, the Managing Director at Huawei Uganda said modernization and
innovation for greater technology-enabled service propositions require
sustainable partnerships and enabling ecosystems.
“We,
at Huawei Technologies are proud to cement our 20 Year strategic partnership
with MTN Uganda with yet another future-oriented Cloud-native 5G Core network
initiative,” Gaofei said.
“We
are even more excited about the potential of the solution towards stripping
away complexities and creating simplicity to maximize business value and
best-in-class customer experiences for Uganda.”
With
this solution, MTN Uganda will not only focus its resources where and when
needed but also save on the environmental footprint, due to the
miniaturization of the telecom infrastructure – a vital element in MTN group’s
ESG agenda.
MTN
Uganda has announced a five-year strategic partnership with Huawei
Technologies, a global ICT solutions provider, to transform and modernize its
network towards a Cloud-native 5G-Capable Core network.
This
partnership dubbed the MUNA project is part of the greater MTN Group MUNIC strategy
that will see MTN Uganda’s network evolve into an All-Cloud Core network.
True
to its strategic intent of ensuring that everyone enjoys the benefits of a
modern connected world, this initiative shall allow MTN Uganda to have a
future-oriented network with greater service agility, innovation for both
consumer and industrial verticals, differentiation, improved operational
efficiency, and better customer experiences with higher data speeds and reduced
latency. It further accelerates MTN’s Ambition 2025 strategic objective of
leading digital transformation in Africa through innovation that
will step-change businesses in Africa.
The
project implementation shall take on a phased approach and will be overseen by
Huawei technologies for the five years, drawing on its unique
capabilities and advanced global technology experience. This is expected to
culminate into a unification of the different existing legacy core network elements
(such as MSCs, HLR, HSS, and EIR) into a single vendor and simplified
easy-to-manage Cloud-native core network.
“Through
this project, we are modernizing our core network to get ready for 5G shortly in Uganda. However, this modernization will also help us
immediately in delivering a better quality of our voice network,” said Ali
Monzer, the Chief Technical and Information Officer at MTN Uganda.
By: Kanto Okanta
