The French telecommunications company Orange has taken the first step in expanding its high-speed broadband offering to further areas in the Middle East and Africa by launching a new 5G network in Botswana.
When it comes to offering high-speed internet to people in Africa, Orange is primarily focusing on 5G because of the continent’s low population density, which makes deploying fiber-optic infrastructure too costly.
Jerome Henrique, CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa, stated that the company planned to roll out 5G in about a dozen nations in 2023, most likely beginning with Jordan.
“With regards to the requirements for rolling out 5G in Jordan, there is already an agreement with the government. Senegal and Ivory Coast will likely follow, but we’re still debating the regulatory framework “explained Henrique.
Orange’s 5G service will cover 30% of the people in the southern African nation after the initial deployment in Botswana.
According to Nene Maiga, CEO of Orange Botswana, “for us the major use case is fixed wireless connectivity, meaning internet at home.”
Over 60% of Orange’s overall mobile user base and it’s 6.4 billion euro ($6.6 billion) in income are derived from the continent of Africa and the Middle East, where it has operations in 18 countries.
There are currently over 44 million 4G users in the region.
Although the cost of 5G-enabled mobile phones has been decreasing, they are still prohibitively expensive for the vast majority of people in Africa.
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