French telecommunications giant, Orange, announced it has launched a high-speed fiber-optics network across West Africa.
With the aim of delivering high-speed internet broadband in the region, the network, named Dioloba, the network will pass through Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Liberia, and Mali.
According to the telecommunication company, the network is part of a 10,000 km cross-border terrestrial fibre optic network with 10,000 km of undersea cables, which would be used to transmit high-speed internet services to West Africa.
Orange CEO for the Middle East and Africa, Alioune Ndiaye, said:
Orange is actively contributing to the development of undersea and terrestrial infrastructure, which enables the African continent’s digital transformation, by investing 1 billion euros ($1.18 billion) each year.
Reports had in 2019 revealed that Nigeria ranks 7th in terms of countries with the highest number of internet users in the world.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), as at the end of August 2020 disclosed that subscriptions to broadband or high-speed internet services in Nigeria increased significantly to a peak of 82.7 million.
It was also also learnt in June 2020 that Orange may enter the Nigerian telecoms space soon and compete in a market that already has other telecommunication companies including MTN, Airtel, 9mobile, and Globacom.
Orange CEO Stephane Richard, said:
It could make sense to be in economies such as Nigeria and South Africa. If one considers there are things to do, the time frame I am considering is rather a few months than a few years.