Huawei and partners meet at inaugural IP Gala to map out future of Internet in Africa region

[Marrakesh, Morocco, May 31, 2023] Huawei, along with partners including the IPv6 Forum, African Telecommunication Union (ATU), and Arab Information and Communication Technology Organization (AICTO) held Africa’s first ever IP GALA in Marrakesh, Morocco. Themed “Intelligent IP Network, Boost New Growth,” it brought together representatives from government regulatory bodies, operators, industry organizations, and consulting agencies convened to discuss the future of the Internet in the Arab Africa region. Topics discussed included global IP industry development trends, operators’ successful practices with IP services, and IP technology evolution and innovation — to help operators achieve overall business growth, accelerate the pace of regional IPv6 industry upgrades, and unleash Africa’s digital productivity.

At the conference, the IPv6 Forum, AICTO, ATU, and Huawei jointly released the Arab and Africa IPv6 Development White Paper to offer guidance for IPv6 technology evolution and industry development in the Arab-African region. This white paper takes a close look at the IPv6 industry development in Africa and highlights that IPv6 is an inevitable trend for the next-generation Internet, as well as an ideal choice for deploying 5G transport networks and developing 5G services. Also at the conference, operators in the region, including Tunisie Telecom and Hatif Libya, announced their membership with the IPv6 Enhanced Council (IPE). This further expands the IPv6 Enhanced camp in Africa, facilitating regional IPv6 development.

In his opening speech, Steven Zhao, Vice President of Huawei Data Communication Product Line, noted that the next-generation IP transport network must not only provide higher bandwidth, but also meet the requirements of intelligent connections, differentiated SLAs, and energy conservation for multi-service transmission. Huawei remains at the forefront of data communications technology development and is a global leader in IPv6 Enhanced, Wi-Fi 6 & Wi-Fi 7, 400GE, and 800GE. As Africa enters the initial stage of 5G and digital transformation, Huawei is committed to providing the latest technologies to help build a better Africa.

SRv6 is widely regarded as the most advanced protocol for IP network evolution and 5G transport networks, with its standards and technologies being highly developed. According to Oussama Samet, Executive Director of Networks Development at Tunisie Telecom, IPv6 Enhanced serves as the cornerstone of connectivity in the 5G and cloud era. Tunisie Telecom has successfully established a 5G-ready IPv6 transport network based on SRv6 to upgrade IP private lines and provide differentiated user experience.

Feng Su, Vice President of Huawei Network Marketing & Solution Sales Department, said that 2023 marks the inaugural year for 5G in North Africa. In order to achieve high-quality development of 5G FWA and 5G ToB services, operators must build converged IP transport networks with large capacity, high reliability, and guaranteed SLAs.

Finally, Chris Meng, Vice President of Huawei Northern Africa Carrier Business Dept, said that Huawei will continue to pursue its vision of “In Africa, For Africa” and closely cooperate with regional ICT industry players to advance IP technology towards 5G readiness, drive new business growth for operators, and accelerate the release of Africa’s digital economic potential.