(Ecofin Agency) - The national coordinator of the project on optic fibre interconnection from Congo to Gabon, Yvon Didier Miehakanda, declared that the work laying optic fibre that commenced on 18 June 2015 is already 40% completed. That is 208 kilometres of optic fibre installed in three months, out of the total of 520 kilometres of fibre optic fibre that make up this project. In a meeting with the media on 5 October 2015 in Brazzaville, Yvon Didier Miehakanda explained that the works started in Pointe-Noire have already reached the location of MBinda in Gabon, passing through Dolisie, Mossendjo, Makabana.
This optic fibre implementation rate, the coordinator of the CAB2 project - project laying optic fibre between Congo and Gabon represents the second phase of the Central Africa Backbone (CAB), the Central African optic fibre interconnection project - explains that it should not be viewed in a linear manner, but by section. Certain sections are more advanced than others. They are being carried out by subcontractors selected for this purpose by the equipment supplier Chinese telecom Huawei, successful bidder of this market estimated at FCFA12.1 billion (almost $23 million).
The construction of this optic fibre path between Congo and Gabon should be completed by mid-2016. For its profitability, the optic fibre network will be run by a third-party operator whose recruitment by public tender will be launched in the form of a public-private partnership. This operator "will be responsible for the management and maintenance of this network according to profitability objectives and revenues to be paid to the Congolese State", concluded Yvon Didier Miehakanda.