PARIS (Agefi-Dow Jones)–Telecommunications operator Orange announced Tuesday the creation of a joint venture with the South African company Vodacom to improve access to the mobile network in rural areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The two partners plan the construction of a maximum of 2,000 solar base stations equipped with 2G and 4G technologies over a period of six years, the French group said in a press release, specifying that the first station should be operational in 2025.
The first phase of the agreement covers 1,000 sites, after which Orange and Vodacom may consider expanding the project with an additional 1,000 towers.
The two groups will share the active and passive infrastructure owned by the joint venture as anchor tenants for an initial term of 20 years.
The finalization of this operation remains subject to the approval of administrative, regulatory and competition authorities, Orange specified.
Around 12:00 p.m., Orange shares gained 1.4%, to 10 euros, within a CAC 40 gaining 1.2%.
-Vincent Alsuar, Agefi-Dow Jones; [email protected] ed: FXS
Agefi-Dow Jones The financial newswire
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 14, 2025 06:14 ET (11:14 GMT)
