Operator Moov Africa – Gabon Telecom has announced plans for an investment programme of more than 10 billion CFA francs (about $17.9 million) to bring coverage to Gabon's main roads – and many of its villages – using 3G and 4G technology.
This vast investment programme will cover 141 villages throughout the country. The deployment, says Gabon Telecom, aims to bring broadband to everyone and to reduce the digital divide between urban and rural areas.
In fact the coverage programme includes all the country’s provinces and will make it possible to offer voice and broadband internet services of up to 10 megabits per second per site to the populations involved. That goes for the roads too: some 600 km of roads will apparently have the opportunity to benefit from voice and 4G internet services.
There’s also a sustainability element. Solar power and lithium battery technology is likely to be involved in the rollout, which will take place between 2021 and 2022 and will involve 1,230 solar panels, 166 batteries and 141 villages.
According to the Gabon Review website, Gabon Telecom, the country’s largest operator by subscribers, currently covers 94 percent of the Gabonese population.
The president of the regulatory council, Lin Mombo, has suggested that other telecommunications companies might consider following Gabon Telecom’s example. The company has apparently already begun a test phase between Bakoumba and Franceville via Moanda.
