• Friday, March 29, 2024
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Nigeria’s technological evolution in the age of big data

Nigeria’s technological evolution in the age of big data

How much of available data is too much? Can we place a limit on how much information the human brain can cope with? At what point does the human brain require external assistance to perform at an optimal level? These and many questions are what big data and artificial intelligence seem to be answering in our daily personal and business lives. For us in MTN Nigeria, it is the core of what drives our customer-centric approach to do business.

Big data is certainly not some fad that will fade away anytime soon. It would not suddenly become “some data” because the human race is generating more data every second today than it did 30 years ago. MTN Nigeria is a pointer to that fact. From May 2001 that we made our first call in Nigeria, the company’s subscriber base has grown as rapidly as its infrastructural demand for information (data) gathering and preservation. MTN has moved from providing voice services to content creation, enhancement and facilitation for our customers’ consumption. We achieved that by channeling the “big data” concept.

According to the online platform, www.domo.com, estimate has it that yearly-generated data is growing exponentially and well over 2.5 quintillion bytes of data is created every day. These may not make a lot of sense to the average person but pause to imagine that Twitter users across the world generate over 500 million tweets every day. Facebook create even more volume of data on a daily basis. With Google performing several billion searches on the World Wide Web every day, the scale of data created across the globe on a daily basis is staggering.

While our business capacity has grown in big data management, we are marching into the future as a big data and artificial intelligence-driven organization. MTN Group recently set that process in motion with the launch of Africa’s first Mobile Money (MoMo) artificial intelligence service in Ivory Coast. The AI mobile money “assistant” enables customers to engage with MTN’s MoMo services, including payments on various social media platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger and via SMS.

The “chatbot” is an artificial intelligence guide that assists users to navigate MTN’s Mobile Money services and provide other useful information. This innovation leverages messaging and artificial intelligence to drive customer engagement and enhance their MTN Mobile Money experience. It would also help create the right synchronization of our big data management capability with our innovative customer-centric engagement process. For us, our ultimate challenge is to help our customers make sense of the big data by proving seamless social media experience, easy downloads of their favourite TV shows and access to entertainment and general news on the go.

With the advancement in Artificial Intelligence, data without a doubt is displaying its leadership capability as the world enters an era of breakthrough experiences. Our vision to lead the delivery of a bold, new digital world for our customers, is dependent on continuous evolution built on timely adoption of innovative solutions such as artificial intelligence. Our goal is to make Nigerian lives a whole lot BRIGHTER by delivering relevant, accessible and high-quality telecommunication solutions that put our customers in control of their personal and business lives.

As an organisation, MTN Nigeria has moved beyond just that “phone call” (voice) company, to the one-stop shop for an all-around technological experience. We are providing infrastructure that is enhancing seamless mobile banking services which are fueling the cashless policy drive of the federal government of Nigeria. We are also acting as the reservoir of protected voluminous data that drives our professional and personal lives. From that young university student with that ‘great’ idea on how to change the world, to the lady managing a small shop at Oba market in Benin-City, MTN is aligning the necessary data to better serve Nigerians.

With a customer base of over 58 million subscribers, our business has evolved to reflect today’s customers’ needs, even as it prepares for those of the future without compromising the current regulatory and economic realities. Our commitment to providing timely information, entertainment and sports news on-the-go are evident in our infrastructural investments. We believe that we can help that budding tech entrepreneur upscale from his/her bedroom in Nigeria to the world. He/she can rest assured that while he/she is focused on growing a great ‘idea,’ MTN is in the background managing and channeling the appropriate data in the right quarters to better serve him or her.

That brings us to our next step…, the launch of our 4G+ network represents a natural evolution from MTN’s already fast and reliable 4G network. 4G+ which can also be known as 4.5G or LTE Advanced is a faster version of current 4G network. It works through a carrier aggregation, which allows your 4G device to send and receive data from multiple bands in the 4G spectrum. So, while standard 4G uses a single carrier at a time, 4G+ uses multiple carriers of 4G for even faster speeds and better network reliability in areas where we have more than one 4G band available and compatible 4G devices.

Launched in Lagos, Abuja and Port-Harcourt, we now have the capability of delivering speeds of up to 200 Mbps through our 4G+. Our customers are now expected to enjoy much faster downloads, better video streaming experience and even clearer video calls on MTN’s 4G+ network. Activating the 4G+ is easy, our subscribers simply need to ensure their SIM Cards are already upgraded to a 4G SIM while new subscribers only need join our network by buying a new SIM, get a 4G+ compatible device, and you are good to go. As soon as you are within 4G+ coverage, you will see the 4G+ sign on your android device. iPhones will still have the LTE sign as is today

The country is breaking new grounds and catching up at the right pace with global technological innovations. From cloud computing to the Internet of Things (IOT), big data to artificial intelligence, there is a determined drive to ensure businesses match-up with global best practices. The spirit of innovation in the country is fueled by the judicious use of data and supported by automation in some quarters. That is why we have grown as an organization since the first call was made 18 years ago in Nigeria. From the get-go, we realise that to stay ahead in this industry, we need to continuously get better at what we do without compromising standards.

As we harness big data to better serve our customers’ professional and business lives, we are challenged to safely channel the required information to the right quarters at appreciable speed, and as accurately as possible. We would not compromise safety and quality for speed. For us, it is our determined practice to manage speed, availability, accuracy, and safety for the benefit of our customers. From Potiskum to Kaiama, Ger-Alimi to Arochukwu, our commitment to effectively use big data and artificial intelligence as a tool for quality all round technological experience, everywhere you go is not in doubt.