Gabon Fiber S.A., a firm building and operating fiber optic networks in Gabon, has signed a 20-year partnership with the Société de Patrimoine des Infrastructures Numériques (SPIN), the state-owned manager of digital and telecommunications infrastructure, to operate and develop the Gabonese National Backbone fiber network.
Under the agreement the network will be expanded from its current length of around 1,800 km to 3,350 km. According to the Gabonese Press Agency, SPIN will maintain ownership of the existing network with a concession granted to Gabon Fiber. Under this concession, Gabon Fiber will design, build, and operate the extension of the existing network, with the minister noting that no government funds will be used for the extension.
“We are in the process of doubling fiber optic capacity. It will improve the speed and responsiveness of the Internet, but also reduce its cost in the short and medium term for the Gabonese populations,” said Mark-Alexandre Doumba, Gabon Minister of the Digital Economy, Digitalization and Innovation. “This concession arrangement makes it possible to mobilise private investment to finance our infrastructure. As such, the extension of the fibre-optic network remains entirely financed by the private sector.”
As stated by SPIN Director General Bertrand Mahoukou Bitchinda, the agreement with Gabon Fiber is far more than just substituting one operator for another. For the last decade the nation’s fiber network has been operated by French infrastructure operator Axione. Under this new agreement the Gabonese government will have greater oversight over the digital infrastructure running through the country with a Gabonese company as a partner.
“It is about moving from an approach mainly centred on managing what already exists to an integrated strategy of operating, modernising and extending the national backbone,” said Bitchinda.
The expansion of the Gabonese National Backbone will be executed in phases. Phase 1 will see the construction of 912 km of fiber between Lambaréné, Mouila, Tchibanga, Lalara, Makokou, Okondja, and Ngouoni. Phase 2 will add a further 384 km connecting Port-Gentil, Mandji, and Yombi. Phase 3 will connect Ndendé, Mimongo, and Koulamoutou to bring the total length of the network to 3,350 km.
This agreement comes just a few months after w.media reported that ST Digital had opened the first sovereign Tier III data center in Gabon. That facility has 1 MW of electrical power and supports the growing needs of the government, businesses and financial institutions in the country. Furthermore, US technology firm Cybastion is leading a 20 MW data center development project in the Nkok Special Economic Zone with the government building a gas power plant to supply energy to the facility.