A Huawei solution to support network operation centers during the COVID-19 pandemic won the COVID-19 response award at the AfricaCom Virtual Awards.
Huawei O&M Autin grid-based operating solution won the award, which recognizes organizations and initiatives that have successfully deployed technological solutions in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Huawei was chosen as the winner from a shortlist of five initiatives on the continent.
The AfricaCom Virtual Prizes recognize the contributions of the African tech community in areas such as corporate leadership, entrepreneurship, innovation, connectivity, pandemic response and building a more accessible digital world and inclusive.
Huawei has developed the Autin network-based operating solution for network operation and maintenance (O&M), using new technologies such as blockchain, network-based transformation and operations intelligence to enable decentralized management of the network during the COVID-19 pandemic.
About 170 million mobile subscribers in Nigeria – Africa’s most populous country – are served by four major operators from around 30,000 locations across the country. The maintenance of these large infrastructures requires hundreds of field technicians and 24/7 monitoring.
Lockdowns and mobility restrictions during the pandemic have posed additional challenges for operators, with increased traffic and restrictions on the number of workers allowed in Network Operation Centers (NOCs).
To address these challenges, Huawei has developed the network-based Operation Autin, which decentralizes network management by equipping field technicians with digital tools to proactively monitor network quality indicators and react to any degradation beforehand. that subscribers are not affected.
The solution not only provides contingency to operator NOCs – functioning essentially as a “portable NOC” – but extends network monitoring capability with network-based operation. At the heart of the solution is a cloud-based digital big data platform, leveraging machine learning / AI, predictive algorithms and intelligent rules based on knowledge.
A monetary incentive mechanism linked to network quality indicators motivates the field agents to adopt this change of mindset. Finally, an intelligent command center – a “magnifying glass in the sky” – offers real-time visibility of the state of the network, the geolocation of personnel and monitoring of incident resolution.
“Network-based network operation improves predictive ability and increases operator agility to respond to network incidents,” said Leo Lu, Huawei’s vice president of global technical services for Southern Africa. “Field workers are moving from passive reactivity to proactivity with cloud-based technology that gives them visibility and access to a knowledge database to troubleshoot network outages.
“Smart dispatch and an incentive plan based on network quality are additional mobile features that improve the well-being of field workers and reduce their exposure to the pandemic,” concluded Leo Lu.
