Guinea's Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications, and the Digital Economy (MPTEN) is planning to connect the country’s national fiber optic network with that of Côte d'Ivoire to further enhance its international capacity. Minister Rose Pola Pricemou announced this plan during a recent MPTEN cabinet meeting.
While no specific timeline was provided, the interconnection with Côte d'Ivoire is part of ongoing efforts that include finalizing a similar agreement with Sierra Leone. In June, MPTEN brokered a deal between La Société De Gestion Et D'exploitation Du Backbone National De La Guinée (SOGEB) and the Malian Transmission and Broadcasting Company (SMTD) to link the fiber optic networks of Guinea and Mali.
These initiatives are in response to the series of subsea cable outages that have disrupted internet services across Africa this year. Currently, Guinea has only one international subsea connection through the Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) system, which runs along the west coast from South Africa to France.
However, the agreements with Sierra Leone and Mali offer limited redundancy, as Sierra Leone has only one international subsea link (also on ACE), and Mali, being landlocked, has none. In contrast, Côte d'Ivoire is a key player, with landing points for six subsea cables, including 2Africa, ACE, MainOne, Maroc Telecom West Africa, SAT-3/WASC, and the West Africa Cable System (WACS).
MPTEN believes that interconnecting Guinea with neighboring countries will improve internet access, enhance network coverage, and reduce communication costs.
