Cameroon – Extension of the fiber optic telephone network

Cameroon is at the center of the CAB to provide the essential telecommunications links between the Central African States, ensure their connection to the global fiber optic network and thus enable the provision of high-speed Internet to the greatest number of people by relying at the lowest cost on the terminal station of the intercontinental submarine cable SAT-3 located in the economic capital Douala.

The same extension applies to the 10 countries of the Central African Economic Community (ECCAS). The extension of the N'Djamena network to the Sudanese border at Adré will allow it to be connected to the Sudanese fiber optic network to interconnect with the East African Submarine Cables (EASSY). This link in the large TAB (Trans-African Backbone) network, thanks to an interconnection between Douala and Port Sudan, will allow some international traffic to flow from Asia to the Americas and vice versa.

The actual interconnection work, i.e. the projects initiated as part of the fiber optic interconnection between Gabon, Congo, and Chad, is fully finalized and operational. In November 2019, Gabon and Cameroon signed a memorandum of understanding for the interconnection of their high-speed fiber optic telecommunications networks. This interconnection is made possible thanks to the deployment in Gabon of a 411 km fiber optic network (Booue-Bitam-Eboro/Meyo-Kye) with the support of the World Bank. In addition to the interconnection with CAB1 (Cameroon, CAR, and Chad) via Eboro, this backbone will also allow an interconnection with Equatorial Guinea via Meyo-Kie from the far north of Gabon to the border with Cameroon.