CI-NEWS

Access to telecommiunications services: CAMTEL reassures Cameroonians.

2019-12-03

No: 459

Access to telecommiunications services: CAMTEL reassures Cameroonian.

A framework of mass connectivity wherein local communities in Cameroon will be connected to be national telecommunications network at reduced cost will soon see the light of day in Cameroon.

This is the outcome of a two-day meeting between Cameroon Telecommunications, CAMTEL, and stakeholders in the electronic communication sector that rounded off in Yaounde last Tuesday, November 26, 2019. The meeting which was held under the theme, “CAMTEL at the service of operators and for the digital transformation of Cameroon” was co-chaired by the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, Minette Libom Li Likeng, and her counterpart of Decentralization and Local Development, Georges Elanga Obam. “CAMTEL has a key role to play in Cameroon’s digital economy drive. To fully play this role, CAMTEL must demonstrate its capabilities to mobile telecom operators in the country. We are preparing for municipal and legislative elections in Cameroon and it is incumbent on CAMTAL to prove its worth that it is efficient, and always at the service of Posts and Telecommunications, Minette Libom Li Likeng. As a key actor in Cameroon’s digital ecosystem, CAMTEL is currently implementing several initiatives throughout the country to improve the welfare of citizens. Cameroon’s 2020 digital economy dream seeks among others, to increase internet access to 50 percent of Cameroonians. Going by a situation analysis on the penetration rate of new information and communication technologies (NICT) in the country conducted by CAMTEL, the number of internet subscribers rose from 286,867 in 2012 to 528,673 in 2015, representing a 45 percent increase. Similarly, the number of mobile telephony subscribers moved from 8 million in 2010 to about 19 million in 2015. “The digital landscape has become the backbone of economic growth on the international stage. By 2025, 75 percent of jobs around the world will be linked to digital economy. Some 58 Million new jobs have already been created around the world today as spinoffs of digital economy, according to the World Economic Forum”, revealed the General Manager of CAMTEL, Mrs. Judith Yah Sunday.

CAMTEL is set to become the leader of broadband services and digital transformation in the Central African sub region, with a 12,000 km National Optical Fibre Backbone which covers 52 of the 58 divisions in Cameroon. Plans are underway to extend it to 20,000km by 2020. Besides modernizing communications in Cameroon, the National Optical Fibre Backbone generates employment, contributes to lower communications costs, facilitates the development of the government intranet and applications, reduces the deficit observed in trunk transmission networks as well as the construction of the university interconnection network. Furthermore, the Backbone Network which is provided to all operators in the sector, is used for the development of new generation community telecentres in many peri-urban and rural areas. It equally serves the needs of neighbouring countries within the CEMAC zone like Chad, whose interconnection with Cameroon has been effective since 2012. Also, more submarine cable landing points have been acquired: the country now has four of them, the most recent being the South Atlantic Inter-Link (SAIL) in Kribi.

Cameroon Telecommunications’ 2019 quality policy objectives have been: to make the customer the focus of all of the company’s activities, activate the relevant levers for CAMTEL’s growth, establish a new corporate culture, as well as improve governance and change the company’s management model.

Culled from Cameroon Insider

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Access to telecommiunications services: CAMTEL reassures Cameroonians.