Data Revolution and Airtel Sustainability Agenda

In the 1640s, John Graunt, a hatmaker, started collecting information regarding deaths in London.

He wrote the number of deaths, mortality rate among age groups and causes of death. Graunt revolutionised how we use medical data today. He was the first to use data to analyse,  understand, and solve a problem.

With the rise of the internet comes the rise of big data. Research showed that Sir Tim Berners Lee simplified the use of hypertext and hyperlinks for information sharing. Thus, when Google arrived in 1997, data became widely available to everyone who could access a computer or mobile device. Let us look at another type of data.

On the one hand

When you browse websites, download files, stream your favourite movies and soap operas or play games, your device sends and receives information as data packets.

Each activity consumes a different data volume. It depends. For instance, if you stream a high-definition video, you consume more data than when you send an email.

On the other hand

The Internet data is the bits and bytes of information transmitted through the World Wide Web. Emails. Videos. Messages. Web content.

These activities consume internet data. Whenever your device is connected to the Internet, it consumes data. Today, internet data has changed our lives. Without the internet data, you are dead. With it, you are alive.

Reason Airtel Nigeria offers you unlimited internet data experience. Ismail Adeshina, director of Marketing, Airtel Nigeria said you should not bother about the speed of your internet if you are on this data plan.

L-R: Head, CSR, Chioma Okolie; Director, Marketing, Ismail Adeshina; Director, Corporate Communications and CSR, Femi Adeniran; Director, Information Technology, Kemi Ariyo; Chief Technical Officer, Harmanpreet Singh Dhillon and Head, Public Relations, Sam Adeoye during a Media Roundtable hosted by Airtel Nigeria, at Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos on Tuesday, 24th September, 2024.

“We are the first in the telecom industry to introduce the unlimited data and the Airtel Smart Router, which enables users to convert traditional television sets into smart ones Due to our customers’ increased need for data, we have debuted the unlimited data bundle’’, he said.

In the long term

Aside from this, Airtel Nigeria is also in the data centre business. In the year 2027, the Airtel NXtra commercial data centre would debut. It is a tier four, carrier-neutral data centre.

The sunny side of this venture is that international web service providers like Amazon would be attracted to it like bees to honey. Airtel’s foray into the data centre space will revolutionise the business.

It will drive the localisation of data. Improve users’ experience. Increase data speed. Reduce latency. Kemi Ariyo, Director of IT, told the media roundtable in Lagos recently.

Femi Adeniran, Director of Corporate Communications and CSR, said Airtel Nigeria offers an integrated suite of telecom solutions to its subscribers: mobile voice, data and mobile money services. The Airtel Africa Group will continue to provide a simple and intuitive customer experience through streamlined customer journeys.

As a leading telecom provider and mobile money services, and a member of Airtel Africa Plc with a presence in 14 African countries in East Africa, Central and West Africa (EACWA), the company is committed to the data revolution agenda.

Adeniran explained that Airtel is dedicated to network infrastructure and sustainability. It is also committed to digital transformation and technology.

He alluded to the company’s sustainability agenda in Africa, its people-centric programmes, its partnership with UNICEF to supply network connectivity to public schools in Nigeria (1,280 schools have benefitted already), its care for the environment through plastic waste separation, and the use of flasks for food and water instead of plastics.

Airtel is adopting the latest technologies that align with sustainability standards by implementing a hybrid solution that combines solar and lithium-ion batteries.

’’All you need is a satellite at a site and you can connect to the rest of the world. We are unique in this aspect as we work with two links: one serves as a backup to promote reliability and stability,” Harmanpreet Singh Dhillon, chief technology officer, said.

In the short term

To understand how the Internet can help you make an informed decision, select Airtel’s unlimited data plan.

*Rarzack Olaegbe, the co-founder/COO, eMaginations Comm. Ltd., wrote from Lagos