Satellite connectivity and mobile infrastructure providers Intelsat and Africa Mobile Networks (AMN) are extending their partnership to deploy more than 1,340 rural base stations across three new African markets: Madagascar, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The sites will combine AMN’s solar-powered tower solution with Intelsat’s multi-satellite African coverage to extend mobile services to unserved or underserved communities in remote or isolated locations. The pair note that the use of satellite connectivity for backhaul enables towers to be installed in areas where the location or terrain would make fibre or microwave backhaul solutions untenable.
Intelsat and AMN claim to have deployed more than 3,000 rural base stations across Africa since 2018, covering more than eight million people. AMN notes that its largest network is in Nigeria, where it has installed more than 1,350 sites – including 450 that have been built since June this year – covering 3.5 million people in previously unconnected communities.