Vodacom Group and Orange, France’s largest mobile telecommunications operator, plan to work together to deploy solar-powered base stations in one of Africa’s most underdeveloped countries.

In a joint statement on Tuesday, the telecoms groups said they had “joined hands” to form a rural “towerco” to provide mobile services in the vast rural Democratic Republic of Congo, the largest country in sub-Saharan Africa – it’s nearly twice the size of South Africa, and 70% of it is covered in tropical rainforest.

“Through the partnership, the companies will collaborate to build, own and operate solar-powered mobile base stations in underserved areas of the DRC. The initiative will extend network coverage and enable access to telecoms and mobile financial services to up to 19 million people in less densely populated rural communities,” the companies said.

“Deploying and operating networks, particularly in deep rural areas, continues to be a significant challenge in the DRC. To bridge the digital divide and expand network coverage in underserved communities, the companies have pledged jointly to construct up to 2 000 new solar-powered base stations over six years, using 2G and 4G technologies,” they added.

The companies have already agreed to an initial roll-out of a thousand high sites, which may be followed by a thousand more. The completion of the project is subject to the approval of administrative, regulatory and competition authorities.

Anchor tenants

“With the first base station expected to start operating in 2025, Orange and Vodacom will be sharing active and passive equipment owned by the joint venture as anchor tenants for an initial term of 20 years. The joint venture will offer its passive infrastructure to any mobile network operator interested wherever technically feasible to increase usage and promote a wider range of options for the population.”