Huawei wins two awards at Africacom 2015

Communications technology company Huawei bagged two awards at the prestigious Africacom 2015, an annual exhibition that features Africa’s top ICT providers.

The telecom won the coveted Best Network Improvement award for its lampsite solution in Kenya as well as the Breakthrough LTE Development award.

The lampsite solution is a technology aimed at providing improved indoor broadband experience to mobile subscribers and has so far been deployed for use by Safaricom customers.

The project aims to improve the indoor coverage of 280 high-end buildings in Kenya, the first phase of which targets 40 buildings in and around Nairobi’s CBD and has provided considerably better user experience.

LampSite indoor coverage solution caters not only to commercial spaces, but also stadiums, hospitals, office parks, airports and other venues, thus greatly improving communication for all.

The technology was unveiled in 2013 in response to demand for high speed and high volume data experience as it reduces the cost of construction and maintenance of indoor coverage.  It has also been deployed in partnership with over 70 mobile operators in Africa, Europe, South-east Asia, Middle East, and Latin America.  

The Breakthrough LTE Development solution on the other hand has been deployed to enhance communications systems in the Kenya Police Service and improve efficiency.

The solution, also deployed in partnership with Safaricom, provides an emergency communications network, initially in Nairobi’s suburban areas and in the urban areas of Mombasa.

The telecom continues to rollout the eLTE network to other major cities and roads across the country.

The 18^th annual Africacom expo held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre also saw other ICT providers take home various awards:

The Changing Lives Award went to Liquid Telecom for its service at the Office of the President (Kenya) as well as its free WiFi in Nakuru County.

South Africa’s First National Bank won both the Excellence in Customer Experience Management and Most Innovative Service awards for its FNB connect initiative.

PCCW Global won the Best Cost Efficiency Solution for Africa - PCCW Global

Project Isizwe of South Africa won both the Best Connectivity Solution for Africa and Best App for Africa for its Tshwane’s Free WiFi project and Tshwane WiFi Voice Mobile App respectively.

VSAT Innovation for Africa award went to Vodacom DRC for their Rural Coverage System.

Unitel for Kisom was the Best Marketing Campaign.

Ericsson’s Wallet platform won Best Mobile Money Service while Trace Music Star walked away with Best Pan African Initiative.

Roti Mootman of Millicom Ghana Limited won CEO of the Year award.

The AfricaCom awards recognise companies and organisations that are promoting digital excellence and improvement in Africa.

The event organizer, Gemma White of Informa Telecoms & Media, termed the awards an indicator of a healthy and thriving sector that is changing lives and enhancing human connectivity and interaction.