Intelsat opens 1,000th cell site in Africa
April 23, 2020
By Chris Forrester
April has seen Intelsat celebrate the establishment of its 1000th site in sub-Saharan Africa with its local partner Africa Mobile Networks (AMN).
Intelsat and AMN entered into a partnership in October of 2018 to accelerate the deployment of mobile connectivity to unserved communities across Africa that many thought were impossible to connect.
By the end of 2019, over 500 remote sites in Africa had AMN’s affordable, solar-powered mobile connectivity solution – powered by over two dozen Intelsat satellites positioned over the continent, and were providing fast, reliable mobile connectivity to people in remote communities.
This month, AMN hit the 1,000th site mark. Their low-cost, easy-to-deploy, mobile connectivity solution can be set up and completely operational in less than six hours. Averaging around 10 base station installations a day across 10 African countries, AMN is on track to connect a total of around 12 million Africans by this time next year.
As Jean-Philippe Gillet, the General Manager/Intelsat’s Networks business put it, “Bringing mobile connectivity to the most rural parts of Africa requires hybrid networks and innovative business models to truly close the business case. Our work with AMN highlights how we can rapidly, and cost effectively, expand an MNO’s reach and deliver critical connectivity to communities who many previously thought were impossible to connect. We look forward to continuing our work with AMN to deliver a network that will support the social and economic development of communities throughout sub-Saharan Africa.”