The Cameroon Telecommunications, Camtel, has organized a workshop named Camtel Digital Infrastructure Days, triggering a debate on how the company should grow, and also protect the country’s digital infrastructure from vandalism, wear and tear, and attacks.
The event that held at Hilton, in Yaoundé on Tuesday January 16, is part of activities carved out by Camtel to mark the 25th anniversary of the telecom company. The General Manager Judith Yah Sunday Achidi said the event was a “new space for exchanges and consultations”. The come togther was under the theme: “Development and Governance of Digital Infrastructures in the Context of SND 30: Challenges and Prospects”.
The event is on the heels of the Camtel Digital, and Decentralization Days, held respectively in October and December 2023. Instead of organising recreational activities to mark the anniversay of the company, Camtel went for workshops that provide “in-depth reflection on the opportunities offered by the telecommunications sector with a view to to improve the growth and development of Cameroon’s economic environment,” its General Manager said.
At the Digital Infrastructure Days, Camtel is taking stock of the existing infrastructure, and formulating ways on how to improve the current situation. The state of affairs, according to the General Manager, show that the « use of information and communication technologies (ICT) by populations and businesses remains very limited. » Likewise the adoption and appropriation of ICT by public administrations remain insufficient, she added.
Faced with this situation, Cameroon therefore plans, according to Judith Yah Sunday Achidi “to reconfigure the national digital ecosystem, in particular through the restructuring of the sector by creating a digital infrastructure company, building substantial digital infrastructure and securing the networks”. Government is also envisages the creation of digital parks and technopoles with a view to developing the production of digital content; to increase and diversify digital uses and services and finally to develop the manufacturing and assembly of digital parts and devices, the boss of Camtel said.
To up access to ICT, there is a need to complete the laying of the optical fibers, in particular the National Broadband Network II project, the project of setting up a National Emergency Telecommunications Network, the Central African Backbone project as well as the continued deployment of the fiber optic into the hinterlands. But the cost of ICT prevents the average Cameroonian from having access to services. Cost that Camtel has been working hard to trim.
The country has laid down over 12,000 km of optical fiber, Judith Yah Sunday Achidi said. Now, Camtel is focused on connecting households and businesses to the fibre, while carrying out investments with the aim to modernize infrastructures, extend the geographical coverage, improve the quality of internet service and the offer of new, more attractive products, as well as on the development of the digital economy, » the General Manager said.
These efforts, according to the General Manager of Camtel will push the country to hit a 6.4% growth by 2030 in the telecommunications sector.
Jude VIBAN
