By Princewill Ekwujuru
In 2011,  Bharti Airtel Limited says it has plans to  move the transformation of African mobile communications and positively impact the speed of economic development across the African continent.

The company said it is relying on the partnership between it and IBM, which is expected to  manage the computing and technology services that will enhance Airtel’s mobile network.

As well as deploying and managing information technology (IT) infrastructure and applications, IBM will deploy advanced technologies created by IBM Research, including the Spoken Web _ a voice-enabled Internet that allows users to access and share information simply by talking over the existing telephone network, which is particularly compelling for populations with little or no literacy, visual impairments, or lack access to computers.

In addition, IBM plans to deploy a  content management system to offer rich media content such as music and video over mobile devices, while simultaneously facilitating the growth of the application developer community in Africa.

Manoj Kohli, CEO (International) and Joint Managing Director, Bharti Airtel said that the    strategic partnerships with Ericsson, Huawei and NSN will exponentially improve the quality of the network across the African landscape and expand the footprint of the 2G and 3G services. In line with global trends, Africa is experiencing a surge in demand for access to mobile data applications.

The modernization and optimization of the networks will give Airtel an opportunity to offer exciting services in 2011.
Kohli further observed that the partnerships take us one step closer to our vision of making telephony available and affordable for everyone across Africa, even in the most remote areas which are at present disconnected from the world. We are also laying the foundation for the introduction of 3G HSPA wireless broadband as access to content is the right of every African citizen.

Mobile broadband is a catalyst for economic growth and development. Many of our new customers will have an online experience for the first time in their lives.