CAMTEL digitization: fiber optics can revive the fixed telephony segment, which accounts for 70% of the company's sales
The national incumbent operator CAMTEL has been lagging behind other mobile operators such as MTN and Orange for over 20 years. Instead of chasing after mobile, CAMTEL could rethink its strategic orientations and conduct in the field by concentrating its efforts on fixed-line telephony, where it has a comparative advantage over its competitors. Thanks to Fiber Optics (FO), the company could accelerate digitization, dematerialization of procedures and Internet communication. The FO national backbone is 12,000 km long, covering all 10 regions of Cameroon, as well as a good proportion of the country's departments and arrondissements. Internet penetration has risen from 4.3% in 2010 to 36.5% by 2022, and according to available data, fixed-line telephony accounts for 70% of CAMTEL's sales.Olivier LAMISSA KAIKAI, editorial writer at Cameroon Business Today, rightly points out that if CAMTEL's top management decided to set a target of one million subscribers out of the 27 million Cameroonians who have to pay 25,000 FCFA per month for a fixed-line telephone, simple calculations could save this state-owned company 300 billion FCFA per year. Another economic advantage of the fixed-line telephone is its ability to enhance the traceability and transparency of certain companies that are difficult to locate and tax. With FO at home, the fixed-line phone allows you to have, at the same time, a package or a volume of call credit, a connection speed, and so on. A potential and advantages that have yet to convince consumers.
