The landing of the Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) submarine fibre-optic cable, which was completed in mid-December 2012, should pave the way for improved connectivity for Gabon's limited ICT sector over the next two years.
High prices, alongside a national bandwidth with a 1.2 Gbit/s restriction, have kept access to broadband internet beyond the reach of Gabon's mainstream market.
However, the government is now preparing to capitalise on the completion of the ACE cable by launching a slate of ambitious projects that will support the transition to a digital economy by 2016.
Although landed, the ACE cable is not yet fully linked to the local backbone, rendering a move by the National Agency for Digital Infrastructure and Frequencies (Agence Nationale des Infrastructures Numériques et des Fréquences, ANINF) to declare 2013 the "year of the internet" in Gabon premature. However, once the service is ready for commercial operations, now expected in early 2014, the cable will be instrumental in driving the sector forward by more than tripling national bandwidth to 4.9 Gbit/s.
Since 2002 Gabon has had access to the SAT3/WASC cable but has been limited by its overall capacity of just 1.2 Gbit/s. Gabon Telecom, the historical national telecoms' operator, held exclusive access to the SAT3 cable until late 2012, which played a part in keeping internet prices high. Such limitations have left much of the country relying on satellite internet through VSAT technology, a reliable but costly alternative.
As a consequence, the number of internet users has only inched up in recent years, despite high demand for new technology. There were 198,555 internet users in 2012, according to the Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Postal Services (Autorité de Régulation des Communications Electroniques et des Postes, ARCEP), equivalent to a penetration rate of 13%. Mobile internet customers make up 82% of the total, while 13% of users subscribe to Gabon Telecom's fixed-line internet. The remaining 5% are customers of other internet services providers.
With the primary ACE cable landing in Libreville and submarine extension to Port-Gentil already completed, as well as the initial hook-ups ready to go, ARCEP is working to set the conditions and tariffs for cable access. Based on the high cost of internet and mobile telephone licences, it is likely to be expensive. However, competition to win customers could help keep end-user prices down.
Mobile operators are already lowering internet tariffs on the back of an anticipated increase in bandwidth and tougher competition. Airtel, the largest mobile operator in terms of subscriber numbers, moved in July 2012 to drop its mobile internet tariffs by 33%. The price of one megaoctet of usage fell from CFA150 (€0.23) to CFA100 (€0.15), with the possibility to connect for CFA10,000 (€15.24) per month. Gabon Telecom has also introduced two price cuts for all of its internet services since mid-2012, including both fixed ADSL and mobile internet prices. Under its brand Libertis, Gabon Telecom offers 1 Mbit of usage for CFA300 (€0.46) and a month-long 500 Mbit/s connection for CFA10,000 (€15.24).
While mobile devices are already the most popular method of accessing the internet, usage could grow further with the introduction of faster service. After a 2010 bidding round attracted limited interest, a 3G licence was granted to Airtel in October 2011, with services expected to launch commercially in the near future.
The government is also working to extend the land-based fibre-optic network in a bid to improve connection speeds outside major cities. With support from a $58m World Bank loan facility, ANINF is looking to increase the ACE cable's reach to Franceville, a population hub in the southeast. Work on this segment looks likely to begin before end-2013. In the long term, ANINF aims to extend the "digital backbone" to provincial capitals and also to an international connection point on the Congolese border.
Much work remains to be done to generate the network infrastructure and complete the licensing process needed to fully launch Gabon's ITC sector. While plans for the "year of the internet" may have been pushed back to early 2014, both the public and private sector sectors are already developing technology applications that will bring a range of benefits once national bandwidth expands, steering Gabon towards its digital goals.
© Oxford Business Group 2013
