South Africa: MTN wants to bring in foreign electricians to manage its telecom towers during load shedding
March 21st 2023
The energy crisis that South Africa has been going through for several months is affecting all sectors of the economy. Telecom operators are exploring options to keep their telecom towers running.
The South African telecom company MTN SA wants to bring in foreign electrical engineers for the maintenance of its telecom towers in a context of electricity shortage. To this end, the company wants to take advantage of the state of national disaster decreed last February by the South African government.
“ We need to bring people from Egypt and Nigeria, but the difficulty lies in the process of obtaining visas. As part of the national state of disaster, we will seek a special visa waiver to allow us to contribute skills to manage sites that are largely off-grid,” said Ralph Mupita, President and CEO . CEO of MTN Group.
The energy crisis that South Africa has been going through for several months is affecting the activities of telecommunications operators. The latter are obliged to invest in alternative solutions to keep their telecom sites operational and guarantee the continuity of services provided to subscribers. MTN has estimated the cost of load shedding for its business in South Africa to be around R695 million (US$37.5 million) in 2022, or around 3.4% of its earnings before interest, taxes, deductions and depreciation (EBITDA).
It should be remembered that South African telecom companies are trying to form a common front against the energy crisis. In particular, they are studying the possibility of sharing batteries and other renewable energy solutions, reports the local press. They also explained their energy needs to the new Minister of Electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa. He was appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa on March 6 to end the energy crisis.
Back