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Cameroon’s national telecom operator, Camtel, has announced the deployment of an additional 3,500 km of fiber optic cable starting in 2024. Speaking about the project during the Yaoundé Digital Week, MD Judith Yah Sunday said it primarily targets rural areas.
Cameroon’s national telecom operator, Camtel, has announced the deployment of an additional 3,500 km of fiber optic cable starting in 2024. Speaking about the project during the Yaoundé Digital Week, MD Judith Yah Sunday said it primarily targets rural areas. Implementing this ambitious project will not only allow Cameroon’s sole fiber optic operator to meet its required specifications but will also increase the total length of fiber optic cable in the country from the current 15,000 km to 18,500 km. With five fiber optic submarine cables landing on its territory, and a national network with links to neighboring countries such as Congo, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon, Cameroon is touted as a hub for telecom infrastructure in Central Africa.
The availability of fiber optic infrastructure, although under-utilized, and high mobile phone penetration (over 80%) have boosted the use of smartphones in the country. According to the National Telecommunications Observatory of the Telecoms Regulatory Agency (ART), the penetration rate of these phones enabling access to the mobile Internet has risen from 25% in 2016 to almost 40% in 2020, which corresponds to an increase of 15% over 4 years.
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Between 2018 and 2022, mobile broadband penetration in the country rose from 18% to 39%, according to data revealed by the Minister of Posts and Telecoms, Minette Libom Li Likeng.
