LAGOS: Niger's rural population is to get a telecom boost as Altobridge in partnership with Orange Niger have announced the completion of the first part of a planned mobile connectivity development project aimed at bring remote areas of the West African country into the IT sector. The rural areas of Niger, the companies said, had previously been “underserved" with telecommunications services. On top of the new services that will reach a broader section of Niger society, the network roll-out “is entirely driven by sustainable energy sources and has already demonstrated the significant benefits of rural connectivity through the delivery of mobile health services, improved mechanisms for money transfer and significantly higher levels of trade within the newly connected communities," the companies said. Presently, some previously 50 off-grid villages have become connected across the country and has seen some 1,200 citizens in the areas able to access the Internet and mobile services for the first time. “In such remote areas, network connection was previously limited due to the impracticality of terrestrial backhaul, the cost of fuel transportation and the high costs of deploying traditional tower structures," Orange Niger said in a statement. “As such, connectivity to the Orange network at each location is provided via solar-powered radio base stations, each with advanced satellite backhaul optimization technology built-in," the company added. Altobridge has previously been successful across the developing world in assisting telecom operators to push into areas of countries that had been left aside the mobile and Internet push.
