• Airtel Gabon, Moov sign deal to share telecom infrastructure

• Agreement aims to cut costs, boost coverage and service quality

• 1,253 villages still lack coverage; rollout targets rural areas

Gabon's telecom operators, Airtel Gabon and Moov Africa-Gabon Telecom, have signed a memorandum of understanding to share their network infrastructure. The agreement, announced Thursday, September 11, was mediated by the Ministry of Digital Economy, Digitalization, and Innovation.

According to the ministry, the deal represents a significant step toward mutualizing infrastructure, which is expected to reduce costs, optimize investments, and improve the coverage and quality of digital services throughout the country.

Infrastructure sharing allows multiple operators to use the same facilities to provide services in a given area. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) distinguishes between two main forms: passive sharing, which involves physical spaces like buildings, sites, and towers while maintaining distinct networks; and active sharing, which includes elements of the mobile network's active layer, such as antennas, base stations, or core network components.

This mutualization can lower deployment costs, particularly in rural or less profitable areas. It can also accelerate the migration to new technologies and the rollout of mobile broadband, while fostering competition, provided safeguards are in place to prevent anti-competitive practices, the ITU notes.

The Gabonese government has been advocating for the sharing of telecom infrastructure for several months as part of its strategy to generalize network coverage. According to the country's telecommunications regulator, ARCEP, approximately 1,253 villages, representing 6.5% of the population, lack mobile and internet coverage. In February 2024, Airtel and Moov Africa-Gabon Telecom committed to connecting 200 of these villages as part of the second phase of the universal service development project. The first phase, implemented between 2016 and 2018, extended coverage to 33 villages.

Isaac K. Kassouwi