Telecom Namibia has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with CENORED to commemorate the journey towards cooperation in areas that embrace Namibia’s future towards digital transformation and innovation.
The objective of the MoU is to set out areas of mutual cooperation between Telecom Namibia and CENORED as it pertains to supplying consistent and reliable electricity and related services. In turn, the MoU will enable Telecom to provide reliable and consistent telecommunications services to the Namibian nation, and with minimal to zero electricity disruptions.
Telecom Namibia was represented by Chief Executive Officer Dr. Stanley Shanapinda, while CENORED was represented by Acting Chief Executive Officer, Fessor Mbango, at a signing ceremony held at the Telecom Namibia Head Office in Windhoek on Tuesday, 20 June 2023.
According to CENORED CEO, “the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding between our two institutions today symbolizes a partnership which I strongly believe will lead to many new joint research initiatives that produce new synergies in the years ahead.”
Mbango further stated that calls to rethinking the ways CENORED conducts business in the ever-changing competitive and modern business environment are increasingly growing. As a business, they are under constant pressure to keep pace with technology. Therefore, CENORED Management remains cognizant that technological innovation provides opportunities for digitization and automation of business processes that improve efficiency and reduce operational cost. Electrification is associated with a broad range of social and economic benefits. Electricity is a basic necessity for quality of life and equality. These goals contribute to attaining the high-level national objectives and contribute immensely to the industrialisation of the country. Therefore, they need to strengthen and encourage public-private partnerships, with the primary goal of better understanding our respective contributions towards common development objectives.
Moreover, Mbango said “in recent years the growth of each course requires continuous enhancement of technological capacity and capability to serve their customers first, fast, efficiently, and effectively. What is increasingly clear is that, as an organisation, we cannot continue to rely on tariff increases to ensure our company maintains a healthy position. This is not sustainable as particularly our large customers will find alternative supply sources to meet their needs. On 1 September 2019, the revised market rules for the Electricity Supply Industry (ESI) were implemented, following Cabinet approval. The Modified Single Buyer market model brings the opportunity for the REDs to find alternative supply sources to ensure we maintain tariffs that are competitive and sustainable for our customers. So, there is a need for us to align ourselves with strategic partners such as Telecom Namibia to help us enhance service delivery meeting our customer’s expectations through technological advancements.”
Telecom Namibia’s CEO expressed that this mutual cooperation would ensure effective and efficient provision of services to both public and private institutions, as this strategic collaboration will facilitate the provision of digital solutions and innovation. “As we transition towards the 4th Industrial revolution (4IR), Telecom Namibia remains committed to being at the forefront of the technology frontier in enabling Namibia to reach its digital economy growth needs, to both public and private institutions. The MoU will serve as a framework and guide on how both parties will jointly identify areas of cooperation and development, especially in the areas of Digital Transformation, as it relates to ensuring reliable electricity connectivity.”
Telecom Namibia’s CEO expressed his satisfaction with the leadership that CENORED has shown in recent weeks in regard to reducing electricity downtimes that has an effect on Telecom’s services. He stated: “We are happy to announce that since January this year, when the downtime was at its highest at 25,124 minutes, it has dropped in April to a downtime of 4,055 minutes. With this MoU we expect to reduce the downtime even further.
We are happy that CENORED has taken its obligations seriously, and despite its challenges has made payments to NamPower to ensure stable electricity supply, that will in turn ensure stable telecommunications connectivity, that is required for us as Telecom Namibia to provide essential telecommunications services.” He congratulated the CENORED leadership in this regard, and implored the other REDS, Regional Councils, municipalities, and village councils to follow in the footsteps of the CENORED leadership.
CENORED ensures that with this collaboration, Telecom Namibia will continue to enhance customer service experience and enrich customer satisfaction, with the provision of stable electrical and related services, quick response on down times and feedback within reasonable expedited time frames to restore services. CENORED will also provide electricity to identified Telecom solar sites at a discounted rate and provide access to dark fiber as an alternative to Telecom’s network on various routes, ensuring redundancy for telecommunications services over CENORED’s optical ground wire (or OPGW). The sharing of public infrastructure is the cornerstone of the Harambee Prosperity Plan II (HPPII), and the two entities are delivering on that mandate with this MoU.
In return, Telecom Namibia will provide CENORED with digital and innovative telecommunication solutions on terms and conditions agreed upon by both parties and will further explore the possibility of laying aerial fiber in areas that have CENORED infrastructure.