Intelsat S.A. and Africa Mobile Networks have announced that since partnering in autumn last year, they have connected 525 remote cell sites to bring mobile connectivity to unserved communities in sub-Saharan Africa.
The firms aim to expand mobile coverage to other parts of the region by the end of 2019. Until now, the cost of expansion - and geographic complexities - in remote rural areas of Africa has made establishing connectivity for the communities, individuals, and businesses in these regions extremely difficult.
AMN has developed a low-cost solution, powered by a highly reliable small cell solar-based system that can be rapidly deployed in less than six hours. Combined with the power, performance and efficiency delivered by the three high-throughput Intelsat EpicNG satellites, as well as the 23 additional satellites covering the African continent, AMN and Intelsat are delivering a mobile network infrastructure that is fast, cost-effective, reliable and able to easily scale to meet emerging data demands.
“As both a global corporation and a global citizen, Intelsat is committed to investing in accelerating the adoption of mobile connectivity in sub-Saharan Africa — and throughout the world — and closing the digital divide,” said Jean-Philippe Gillet, Intelsat vice president and general manager, networks. “Through this partnership, we are now providing access to mobile coverage for the first time to approximately 1.7 million people living in remote communities across several countries that many thought were impossible to connect.”
“Intelsat shares our vision of installing a cell site in every African village,” said Michael Darcy, AMN chief executive officer. “Like us, they recognise that when you close the connectivity gap in sub-Saharan Africa, you can bring about significant positive change in people’s lives.”
