Alink Telecom: Expertise in Data Transmission, IP Telephony and Broadband Internet

Interview with Tehua Kossonou, International Chief Officer at Alink Telecom

What is your perception of the telecommunications sector at the moment?

The telecommunications sector is divided into three main areas: fixed telephony, mobile telephony and the Internet. The dominant sector in terms of turnover is mobile telephony. In the first half of 2016, it reached a turnover of 450 billion CFA Francs. If this progression persists, we can imagine a figure of 1000 billion CFA Francs at the beginning of 2017. This area also benefits from significant investments. In the first half, they amounted to nearly 211 billion CFA Francs. It is also the sector that creates the most jobs and contributes for more than 10% to the national budget. Telecoms have thus become a key engine for the development of the economy of Ivory Coast and the sub-region.

What is the specific offer of your company in this sector?

Our goal is to become one of the most important telecom operators, if not the leader, in the field of information transport for multinationals, based on fiber optics and MPLS technology.

Our activity is deployed around the three major poles that I have just mentioned. It focuses primarily on a process of integrating business intelligence (BI) into business applications. It also addresses IP convergence and all the services that go with it: voice over IP for businesses, videoconferencing, etc. Finally, connectivity has become the central pole of our company. Our activity in this field focuses on the development of fiber optics. From South Africa to the gateway to Europe, there are already several cables installed on the coast. Thanks to our presence in West and Central Africa, we have been able to develop terrestrial fiber. Today, we are allowing multinationals to exchange information quickly within Africa, and our point of presence in London now facilitates trade with the rest of the world as well.

Which percentages do these three divisions represent in terms of turnover?

The connectivity sector accounts for 70% of our turnover, telephony accounts for about 20%, and the Internet accounts for only 10% as it is a very competitive sector, so revenues have fallen sharply.

What do you offer to companies, banks or NGOs in terms of connectivity?

In the case of banks, information is mostly stored on a server at headquarters. For example, subsidiaries in other countries, as well as policy makers, must be able to access this information remotely and in real time. In the banking sector, traffic has grown enormously with international transfer (swift), visa cards, in-house transfers, etc. The aim is to provide faster transmission media with high capacity. With our fiber optics offering, we are allowing banks in northern Africa to quickly exchange information with their subsidiaries within the rest of Africa. When operators sign major contracts at the international level, they must be able to deploy them to the final customer. In the countries where we operate, we offer a local radio or fiber loop service that connects our technical center to the customer’s office. Terrestrial fiber optic cable allows information to be transmitted to countries within Africa. Finally, the exchange can then continue with the rest of the world thanks to submarine cables, via our point of presence in London. This offer also applies to other types of clients such as NGOs who need high transmission capacity to send emails, video content, etc. Fiber can meet this demand. All this is done through a network of points of presence, notably in Accra (Ghana), Abidjan (Ivory Coast) and London (UK), with intelligent equipment that exchanges information on an ongoing basis. In the event of a fault on a transmission line, the continuity of our network makes it possible to overcome this problem and still guarantee the exchange of information between two points, thanks to the MPLS technology.

Are you the only ones to offer this service on the market? Why should companies reach out to you?

Our competitive advantage lies in our presence in several countries, particularly in countries that do not have direct access to the sea. We allow them to access submarine cables and connect them to the rest of the world. We are the only ones with an uninterrupted network in West Africa. Unlike most operators who are installed in the countries and serve a limited scope, we offer a transnational service within Africa, and from Africa to the rest of the world. This is where our singularity lies.

What is the advantage of using optical fiber connectivity rather than a more traditional technique like VSAT?

In terms of information transfer, time is a key factor. The satellites are located 36,000 km away, resulting in an enormous transfer time of 500 milliseconds. With fiber optics, this time drops to about 14-19 milliseconds for a transfer between Accra and Ouagadougou or Abidjan. For transmission between more distant points, this time can go up to 100 milliseconds, which is quite reasonable compared to a transmission by VSAT.

In which African countries are you present?

We are present in all the francophone countries of West Africa: Burkina Faso, Benin, Niger, Mali, etc. We are also present in Liberia, as well as in Sierra Leone where we have a partner. In Central Africa, we cover Cameroon, the Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville) and have partners in Gabon and the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as a commercial office in South Africa. For a multinational company that needs capacity to transmit its information, the deployment of Alink West Africa is therefore extremely interesting.

What challenges does your company currently face? Is it inclined to turn to investors more and more interested in this dynamic sector?

We are open to investors, provided they are ready to support us in the development of our business and to participate in an extremely dynamic African economy.

Your company recently installed two new satellite hubs at the VITIB (Village des Technologies de l’Information et de la Biotechnologie) in Grand Bassam, to allow a better data and Internet connection. What is the purpose of this project?

As I mentioned, VSAT is being abandoned for the transport of information. However, for some very remote regions, for NGOs or in certain sectors of the administration, education or agriculture, the supply of broadband satellite connections remains attractive. In the audiovisual field, which is about to be privatized, the satellite is also widely used and is destined to increase. The hubs will therefore allow journalists to cover sporting events in different locations in a much broader and real-time manner. But in terms of high-speed transport, the trend remains with fiber optics.

What is your policy in terms of quality?

Our network uses MPLS technology that ensures 100% service availability. We offer a multitude of paths to transfer information from one point to another. And the probability that all lines cut at the same time is almost nonexistent. The use of this technology is therefore our main asset and allows us to offer a quality service without interruption. Cable cuts are possible but extremely rare.

Is an expansion of your business planned?

We are already present in ten countries and we want to consolidate this implementation. In countries where we are not based, we prefer technical partnerships to help us deliver our services. We are also looking for partnerships in the rest of the world to deploy smart devices through which traffic could flow outside of Africa without human presence. The quarterly or half-yearly submission of a staff member makes it possible to monitor and guarantee the maintenance of these equipment. In general, human presence has often become redundant due to remote transmission media.

In conclusion, how do you envisage the development of your business in the next two to three years? What are your goals for 2019-2020?

Our goal is to become one of the most important telecom operators, if not the leader, in the field of information transport for multinationals, based on fiber optics and MPLS technology. But we also want to develop new services, for example in the field of videoconferencing or security for companies.