(Ecofin Agency) - Last April, AMN, a telecom tower builder, began a similar project in Nigeria in partnership with Starlink. By September, the company had already connected 100 towers, boosting traffic on its network.

On October 17, Intelsat, a Luxembourg-based satellite telecom provider, introduced a new solution to help Internet service providers and telecom operators improve coverage in West Africa. The platform, called “Intelsat CellBackhaul,” is hosted in the Open Access Data Centres (OADC) facility in Lagos, Nigeria.

The solution uses satellites to connect telecom towers in remote areas to the main network. "Satellite technology is crucial in bridging the digital divide, especially for unconnected populations in rural and remote areas where satellite backhaul provides fast, reliable, and cost-effective connectivity," said Rhys Morgan, Intelsat's Vice President for the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East, and Africa).

In 2023, Africa Mobile Networks (AMN), a telecom tower builder, announced a partnership with SpaceX's Starlink to use its low-Earth orbit satellites to connect AMN’s mobile network sites in Africa. The first site connected to Starlink went live in Nigeria in April 2024, and five months later, AMN had linked 100 towers in the country, resulting in a 45% increase in traffic on those towers.

This initiative is expected to significantly enhance coverage and Internet access in West Africa. According to the West Africa Telecommunications Regulators Assembly (WATRA), only 43.2% of the region's population currently has Internet access.