TelOne future-proofs its network and optimizes costs

Chipo Mtasa, Managing Director TelOne

As part of its project to modernize and optimize its network, TelOne called on Sofrecom to challenge the technical and financial proposals of an equipment manufacturer.

TelOne aims to become a “first-class operator” by using the latest technologies and launching modern services. To achieve this, in 2015 we selected an equipment vendor to modernize our network. We also wanted an independent proposal analysis to ensure that it would perfectly meet our needs and strategy both now and in the long-term, and that it would deliver the best value-for-money.

We decided to work with Sofrecom thanks to its solid experience of managing vendors, from the design stage to supervising deployment, especially in Africa.

Sofrecom experts started by analyzing TelOne’s business strategy and then defined a corresponding network strategy. Working closely with the equipment vendor and TelOne technical team Sofrecom managed to come up with an optimised proposal. This resulted in modifications and improvements to the technical requirements that were then agreed on by all parties. Using their network expertise, knowledge of market prices and Orange’s best practices, Sofrecom benchmarked and challenged the vendor’s proposed designs, quantities and prices. The experts ensured that the technical choices, operational model and maintenance contract would support TelOne’s ambitions. They also expected increased long-term capacity with the required quality of service.

Thanks to Sofrecom’s team, we saved 15% on the initial contract value, obtained a more robust and future-proof network and a sound contract, both financially and operationally. We will also make substantial OPEX savings thanks to a streamlined network design with fewer and right-sized elements and no hidden costs. This was a successful operation for us: TelOne is now able to launch new revenue-generating services such as FTTX or IPTV, and can be confident that the revamped network will be able to support these innovative services, absorb the increased traffic and deliver the quality of service required to satisfy our customers.