Cameroon - 6,000km of optical fibre as part of the Central African Backbone linking to Chad, Cameroon and CAR

[cameroon tribune] Cameroon now counts close to six thousand kilometres of active optical fibre planted across the national territory, thanks to the Central African Backbone (CAB) project which went underway in 2010. The Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, Jean-Pierre Biyiti bi Essam, also President of the national steering committee of the sub-regional project, has said.

Mr Biyiti bi Essam was speaking at the Yaounde Hilton Hotel yesterday August 10 while chairing the first national steering committee meeting of the project. The meeting, he said, was meant to evaluate the path covered thus far and chart the way forward.

Since launching the sub-regional project in Yaounde on August 5, 2010, the government of Cameroon went down to work, through the country's telecommunications outfit, Camtel, through whom the over 5,000 km optical fibre cables have been planted. The minister disclosed that the project endorsed by the CEMAC Head of States seeks to decrease prohibitive telecommunication costs in landlocked countries, improve quality, route diversification and coverage of telecommunication services and enable regional integration through public-private partnership implementation.

The ongoing phase one of the CEMAC/World sponsored project covers Chad, Cameroon and the Central African Republic while phase two will include other African countries like, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Democratic Republic of Congo, among others. "While Cameroon is already fully engaged with the planting of the optical fibre cables, other countries are still being awaited to bring onboard their backbone for interconnection so as to render effective the CAB project," Nana Yomba Lucien, Director of Infrastructure in the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, said.

Telecommunications - Cameroon Assesses CAB Project