Airtel Africa, Ericsson Launch Data Center in Seychelles

• The partnership will provide Airtel Africa with a new hybrid network cloud environment.
• Virtualization and cloud-based evolution of Airtel Africa’s network in Seychelles.
• Network evolution to prepare for VoLTE and 5G network infrastructure

Airtel Africa has awarded Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) a turnkey project to relocate and modernize their existing network and core services to a new data center in the Seychelles.

Featuring a blend of legacy and virtualized network functions, the partnership will provide Airtel Africa with a new hybrid network cloud environment, bringing significant efficacy gains.

The hybrid network cloud environment will increase network and cost efficiency, reduce time to deploy applications, and enable developers to innovate and bring new applications to Airtel Africa subscribers quicker. As Voice over Long-Term Evolution (VoLTE) becomes the new standard for calling throughout the world it becomes necessary for service providers to have efficient infrastructure capable of providing VoLTE services. The virtualization and cloud-based evolution of the Airtel Africa network will prepare the service provider for VoLTE and 5G network infrastructure in the near future.  

Dina Amadou, Chief Executive Officer of Airtel Seychelles says: “Our newest partnership with Ericsson to modernize and relocate our network and core services to a new data center in Seychelles brings us one step closer to our ambition to build a world-class network. The data center will drive innovation and enhance our core services to help us develop the efficient infrastructure for the introduction of VoLTE and 5G services in the near future.”

Todd Ashton, Vice President and Head of Ericsson South & East Africa says: “Partnering with Airtel Africa in modernizing their network and relocating to the data center has supported them to meet the rapidly evolving demands of consumers and keep them prepared for the deployment of innovative services around VoLTE and 5G.

We have a long-standing partnership with Airtel Africa that led to multiple achievements in growing and developing the telecommunications network in the region, setting #AfricaInMotion, and we are committed to providing solutions across the region to meet today’s and tomorrow’s communication service needs. With 5G, the opportunities are endless from manufacturing to e-health solutions, only the sky is the limit.”

December 10, 2021