Burkina Faso has welcomed a new operator on its optical fiber segment. After Onatel last year and then GVA in early June, the French group Orange has launched optical fiber connectivity for individuals and businesses.

The telecom company officially launched the service last week in Ouagadougou in the presence of the Minister of Digital Economy, Posts, and Digital Transformation, Hadja Fatimata Ouattara. 

"In a context of digital transformation of the country, accelerated by the health crisis of Covid-19, access to optical fiber is a driver for growth and development. We have invested more than CFA300 billion in the renewal and development of new networks, especially very high-speed mobile with 4G, and fixed with fiber," said Mamadou Coulibaly, CEO of Orange Burkina Faso.

Orange's entry into the fiber-to-the-home segment follows that of Group Vivendi Africa (GVA) with its CanalBox offering seven days earlier. Both companies join the incumbent, Office Nationale des Télécommunications (Onatel), which entered the segment in 2020. The operators have the ambition to revolutionize the way Burkinabes use the Internet. They promise high quality at more affordable prices for teleworking, video conferencing, home automation, HD TV, online video games, etc.

With optical fiber offering a stable, weather-proof Internet connection, allowing multiple devices to be connected simultaneously, without impacting the quality of service, Mamadou Coulibaly is expecting Orange Burkina Faso to gain more market share as a value-added service provider.

Muriel Edjo