03 June 2024
Gabon's Electronic Communications and Postal Regulatory Authority (ARCEP) has ordered Moov Africa Gabon Télécom to immediately share its infrastructure with its competitor Airtel in certain regions of the country.
The sharing will take place on the Makokou-Okondja and Okondja-Aboumi axis, in the provinces of Ogooué-Ivindo and Haut-Ogooué. André Obabalaka, assistant to the president of the ARCEP regulatory council, explained that all the sites built on this axis are exclusively operated by Moov Africa Gabon Télécom.
This initiative is part of the second phase of ARCEP's universal service development project. In February 2024, Moov Africa Gabon Télécom and Airtel Gabon had already committed to connecting 200 villages located in white areas, still lacking mobile telephone and Internet services. The regulator estimates that around 1,253 villages containing 6.5% of the Gabonese population have a deficit in mobile telephone and internet coverage.
Sharing infrastructure with Moov Africa should allow Airtel Gabon to extend the coverage of mobile telephone and mobile money services in Gabon. This will strengthen competition for the benefit of consumers and give people more choice.