Premier’s 26th Energy Digicon looks at mobile telecom industry

Media Release: Premier’s 26th Energy Digicon looks at how mobile telecommunications industry stays connected during energy crisis

Vodacom Chief Executive Officer, Shameel Joosub, was Premier Alan Winde’s special guest at his 26th Energy digicon this week.

As with almost every aspect of daily life, telecommunications are also affected by the energy crisis. Mr Joosub outlined how the mobile communications industry is navigating its way through the crisis. “The reality with loadshedding is that it has been hugely disruptive to all businesses, but particularly the telecommunications industry,” Mr Joosub told the digicon.

The industry has more than 20 000 sites nationwide which are all impacted in one way or another by relentless power cuts. Mr Joosub explained, “If you think about the situation you have in a house or a building, and you times that by 20 000, that is the problem for the industry.”

He added during loadshedding there is in fact an increase in “traffic”. “Our customers use more of the networks. There is an expectation that communication is there during loadshedding,” said the CEO, which adds more pressure to mobile services.

Vodacom has had to invest heavily in measures to mitigate the impact of power cuts. The company has invested R5 billion over the past 5 years. This goes towards running generators and purchasing batteries to keep cellphone masts and other infrastructure operating through power outages. Mr Joosub said, “We have added capacity at our sites in the form of batteries. The problem we have is that those batteries have a lifespan, but they also get stolen. Batteries generally lasts 3 years so you are constantly having this additional cost. However, we start off with the responsibility that we have to keep customers connected.”

Vodacom has entered into a virtual wheeling agreement with Eskom which will enable the mobile telecommunications firm to buy electricity from independent power producers (IPPs). Mr Joosub pointed out that this pilot project will be utilised by other companies. “As a country, we must embrace virtual wheeling because in this way the private sector will play a bigger role in alleviating loadshedding,” he continued.

Premier Winde said, “The private sector is playing a vital role in guiding us out of this crisis and it is good to see companies, like Vodacom, investing in renewable energy and seeking out innovative solutions.”

The Western Cape Government’s energy crisis contingency plan is continuously updated and factors in various scenarios, including prioritising restoring telecommunications.

To watch a recording of this week’s digicon please visit:

https://www.youtube.com/live/befm9BKI-tQ?si=qYcsbeUcrMwnggYA