Expansion Of Mobile Telephony To Benefit Rural Areas In Sub-Saharan Africa

Eutelsat Communications (NYSE Paris: ETL), one of the world's leading satellite operators, and Camusat, a market leader in implementing telecom infrastructures, today entered into a partnership agreement that will enhance turnkey connectivity solutions for mobile operators in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The agreement will drive growth of mobile communications that have dramatically expanded in sub-Saharan Africa but are still under-developed in remote rural areas where over half of Africa’s population lives.

In the vast territories yet to be covered terrestrial infrastructure would require heavy investment over several years to link unconnected communities to mobile networks.

Eutelsat and Camusat are drawing on their respective expertise of connectivity markets in Africa to provide mobile operators with turnkey solutions.

Eutelsat can deliver satellite coverage of all African territories while Camusat provides expertise in telecom infrastructure deployment, including building, providing electrical power and maintaining towers for mobile telephony networks via more than 1,000 employees in the African continent.

For Michel Azibert, Eutelsat's Commercial and Development Director: "This partnership marks a new step in our collaboration with Africa's mobile telephony operators.

In addition to regular lease of satellite capacity to support network development, our new partnership with Camusat equips us to offer solutions covering the entire communication chain with maximum flexibility and irrespective of location."

Camusat CEO, Richard Thomas, added: "This new partnership with Eutelsat in a tremendously dynamic market represents a future growth driver from which our mobile operator clients will be able to derive maximum benefit by extending the limits of their markets. This agreement will ensure connectivity for communities who have remained beyond reach of mobile networks."

Source: Peacefmonline.com