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TELECOM OPERATORS

Your Vendor Locked You In.
Your CapEx Budget Says
You Can't Get Out.

STC, du, MTN, and Viettel operate under brutal ARPU pressure while facing $2B+ RAN modernisation programmes. Proprietary vendor stacks mean every upgrade requires the same vendor's professional services at the same inflated margins — while Open RAN threatens to make your installed base obsolete.

Speak With Our RAN Team →RAN & Coverage Solutions

OPERATOR PRESSURE METRICS

-12%
ARPU Trend (3yr avg)
$2B+
Typical 5G RAN CapEx
30-40%
OpEx Reduction with Open RAN
MEA
HCT Regional Coverage

The Four Challenges Every Operator Brings to HCT Group

📦 Multi-Vendor Procurement at Scale

An operator expanding coverage needs RRUs from Ericsson, passive antennas from CommScope, power from Eltek, and fibre from Corning — across 500 sites. Managing 15 separate vendor relationships, purchase orders, lead times, and warranty claims for a single rollout programme is an operational nightmare that delays go-live by 6–12 months.

↳ HCT: Single purchase order, all vendors. We hold inventory, manage logistics, and provide unified technical support across every brand in your network.

🔄 Stranded Asset CapEx on 4G RAN

Operators have billions invested in 4G baseband units with 3–5 years remaining book life. Ripping and replacing for 5G destroys the residual value and triggers impairment charges. Yet not upgrading means coverage and capacity gaps versus competitors who are deploying 5G NSA today on their existing RAN.

↳ HCT: Network Lifecycle Extension — software upgrades, hardware augmentation, and gNB co-location that extracts maximum ROI from existing 4G infrastructure while bridging to 5G.

🌍 Africa Expansion Without Local Support

MTN, Viettel, and Orange expanding into Sub-Saharan African markets face the same challenge: Ericsson and Nokia's in-country support is thin or non-existent outside major cities. Equipment imported from Europe takes 12–16 weeks and arrives without localised configuration. Field engineers in Lagos or Nairobi cannot get next-day swap units when a BBU fails.

↳ HCT: MEA regional distribution and integration. Pre-configured equipment shipped from the group's regional hub, with regional spares depots serving Yemen and 40+ African markets.

🏗️ Turnkey Deployment Without Integration Risk

Operators buying equipment through distributors get boxes — not working networks. A new BSS/OSS integration, neighbour cell configuration, handover parameter tuning, and RF optimisation after deployment can take longer than the hardware installation itself. Without a system integrator who owns end-to-end responsibility, operators manage 8 different contractors pointing at each other when KPIs are missed.

↳ HCT: End-to-end SI from design to optimisation. Single contract, single KPI responsibility. We own the outcome — not just the hardware delivery.

Trusted by STC, MTN, du, Viettel and 50+ Operators Across MEA

$70M+ in telecom infrastructure delivered. The only fully vendor-independent system integrator built specifically for Middle East & Africa operators.

STC
RAN Supply Partner
MTN
Africa Infrastructure
du
Network Supply
Viettel
MEA Expansion
Talk to Our RAN Specialists →

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Open RAN reduce operator vendor lock-in?

Open RAN disaggregates the radio access network into RU, DU and CU connected by open O-RAN interfaces, so an operator can source each element from different vendors instead of buying a single-vendor stack. HCT Group deploys and integrates multi-vendor Open RAN for Yemeni operators.

Does HCT Group work with Tier-1 operators?

Yes. HCT Group is a certified partner of e& and delivers RAN modernisation, Open RAN and network slicing, including multi-tenant private network deployments for operator customers.

What is network slicing and how do operators monetise it?

Network slicing partitions one physical 5G network into isolated logical networks, each with its own performance guarantee. Operators use it to sell differentiated enterprise services, such as a guaranteed low-latency slice for a factory or a high-availability slice for a utility, beyond flat connectivity.

Can existing RAN investment be extended rather than replaced?

Yes. HCT Group's extended network lifecycle programme supplies certified equipment from Nokia, Ericsson and Huawei to extend the life of deployed RAN, reducing CapEx and emissions while coverage expands.