(Agence Ecofin) – The coverage gap constitutes one of the main obstacles to the adoption of telecoms services in the DRC where the penetration rate of mobile telephony is 62%. The GSMA estimates that around 25% of the country’s population does not have any mobile coverage, including 2G.
The telecoms companies Orange and Vodacom announced on Tuesday January 14 the creation of a joint venture to improve coverage of the mobile network in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The joint venture is to build 2,000 solar-powered base stations in remote, sparsely populated rural areas across the country over six years. The telecom towers will be equipped with 2G and 4G technologies and will target 19 million people.
Under the terms of the partnership, Vodacom and Orange will share the active and passive infrastructure owned by the joint venture as anchor tenants for an initial period of 20 years. Additionally, the joint venture will make its passive infrastructure available to any interested mobile operator, where technically feasible.
This initiative comes in a context where “the development and operation of networks in remote regions of the DRC constitutes a major challenge”. According to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), 2G, 3G and 4G networks cover respectively 75%, 55% and 45% of the Congolese population estimated at 102.3 million by the World Bank in 2023. In addition, the rate mobile telephony penetration was 62% in the 2nd quarter of 2024, compared to 32.3% for mobile Internet and 25.7% for services mobile financial services, according to the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (ARPTC).
The pooling of investments for which Vodacom and Orange are opting should make it possible to reduce costs. The Global Association of Telephone Operators (GSMA) estimates that extending coverage in still unserved areas of the DRC requires an increasing number of sites. “Moving from 75% to 80% population coverage in the country requires around 150 new sites. To go from 90% to 95%, 5,700 new mobile sites would be needed. Achieving 98% to 99% coverage would require more than 2,000 additional sites,” explains the organization in its report “The State of Mobile Internet Connectivity Report 2024”.
The first telecoms tower resulting from this partnership should enter service this year, subject to approval from administrative, regulatory and competition authorities. While the partnership will improve network coverage, adoption of services will also depend on factors such as people’s access to mobile phones. Regarding mobile Internet, the GSMA highlights several major obstacles: the cost of compatible devices, the price of packages, the lack of digital skills, and concerns related to security or the relevance of content.
-Isaac K. Kassouwi
Published by Sèna DB de Sodji
Also read:
12/12/2024 – The DRC is in the process of acquiring a satellite with 20 million dollars available
10/13/2024 – In the DRC, the International Finance Corporation is committed to supporting telecoms
