MTN is hoping their 5G will trump Orange's 4.75G in Cameroon

 

Cameroon for many years was one of the few countries in Africa with only two competing mobile operators. After some delays, Viettel Cameroon launched a third network and has since grown its subscriber base rapidly. Camtel became the fourth mobile operator in early 2020 after securing three licences. The investment programs among operators over the next few years will considerably boost mobile broadband services in rural areas of the country, many of which are underserved by fixed-line infrastructure.

The ICT sector in Cameroon is making steady progress, enabling the country to make better use of the digital economy. About 95% of all electronic transactions are carried through the m-money services operated by MTN Cameroon and Orange Cameroon. The government has also been supportive, having launched its ‘Cameroon Digital 2020’ program, aimed at improving connectivity nationally. A large number of small ICT projects form part of the overall program. Improved submarine and terrestrial cable connectivity has substantially increased international bandwidth, in turn leading to reductions in access prices for consumers.

The four present operators are MTN Cameroon, Orange Cameroon (previously Airtel), Nexttel (by Viettel) and Camtel (Cameroon Telecommunications - CDMA and LTE)

Nexttel (majority-owned by Viettel)was launched as a 3rd network in 2014, including the country’s first 3G mobile service. The operator has grown swiftly, signing up 2 million subscribers and gaining market share. Competition in 3G followed in early 2015 when both MTN and Orange launched services. Mobile broadband based on 4G/LTE was established at the end of 2015 and this has been the catalyst for a fast-developing mobile broadband sector. The investment programs among operators over the next few years will boost mobile broadband services in rural areas of the country. At the tail end of this ranking is the historical operator, Camtel, sole landline phone operator of the country, which has shrunk to 1.4% of the phone market, but launched a new 4G/LTE network.

MTN Cameroon is the country's biggest operator with a 37 per cent market share at the end of June 2021 (says Omdia research). Orange Cameroon has 35.5 per cent and Nexttel 25.5 per cent. Camtel Cameroon has less than two per cent of the nation’s subscribers. 

MTN is still the market leader in the country with over 10 million mobile subscribers. According to the 2019 report by Rohde & Schwarz, which audited the performance of 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G mobile networks, concluded the MTN network as the best in Cameroon for data and voice quality.

MTN Cameroon have applied for permission to deploy and operate a trial 5G network. The operator has submitted a request to the Telecommunications Regulatory Board (Agence de Regulation des Telecommunications, ART) for a relevant licence to test 5G services in the country. MTN said the move is aimed at ‘giving Cameroonians access to more modern uses of information and communication technologies’.

At the end of December 2020, Orange Cameroon’s subscriber base was 9.26 million, against 7.87 million at the end of 2019 and 6.9 million subscribers at the end of 2018. 

Orange Cameroon claims to be the leader of the 4G technology, ahead of MTN Cameroon, Nexttel, and Camtel. It also believes to have covered 79% of the Cameroonian population with 3G.

They have increased the speed and capacity of its LTE-A network in certain parts of the country. In order to use the new service, which is described by the operator as ‘4.75G’, customers require a compatible handset or device. Nokia and Orange embarked on a major 4G LTE regional rollout in 2018, which saw the Finnish vendor upgrade the cellco’s radio access network to enhance mobile broadband services. In January 2020 Orange launched LTE-A (referred to by the company as ‘4.5G’) in a number of towns and cities, including Douala, Yaounde, Mbankomo, Sangmelima, Mbalmayo, Ngaoundere, Bafia, Garoua-Boulai, Bandjoun, Bangangte, Ferme-Suisse, Mbanga, Yop and Mengbwa.

Nexttel (owned by Viettel) started in 2014 in Cameroon. Two years later it had already 2.5 million subscribers, presently it has approx. 5 million. It has the most aggressive pricing.

Nexttel General Manager Benoit Yaoussou announced recently that they will roll out their own mobile money service called Nexttel Possa before the end of 2021.Yaoussou said the company will also prioritise the extension and stabilisation of its network. Nexttel already covers over 75%mof the national territory, particularly rural areas.

Camtel is Cameroon’s fixed line monopoly operator which has a limited network based on CDMA/EVDO called Fako that is migrating to GSM. In 2016 they rolled out their 4G/LTE network called "X-TremNet" on 1800 MHz (band 3).

Their Fako network is quite unreliable, based on CDMA, not compatible to GSM devices and can't be recommeded. However, their 4G/LTE XTremNet network can be a cheap option, if you have coverage. Douala and Yaoundé are covered only so far: 4G coverage list. Because of the limited coverage, it can't be an option for travelling, but may be an option for stationary use in Douala and Yaoundé. Speeds of around 50 Mbps have been reported. Have in mind, that there is no fallback or roaming on 2G/3G networks.

Related Post:

• Operator Watch Blog - Orange: Leading the way in Cameroon
• Operator Watch Blog - Cameroon: Issues and Development 

Cameroon: Issues and Development

Cameroon was for many years one of the few countries in Africa with a duoply of competing mobile operators. After some delays, Nexttel Cameroon (majority-owned by Viettel) launched a third network in late 2014, including the country’s first 3G mobile service. The three operators serve more than 99 per cent of the country’s 21.9 million connections between them.

LTE services have also developed strongly, with Orange Cameroon securing revised concessions to its existing 3G licence to enable it to launch LTE services and so compete more effectively with MTN. These developments were the catalyst for a fast-developing mobile broadband sector. The investment programs among operators over the next few years will considerably boost mobile broadband services in rural areas of the country, many of which are under-served by fixed-line infrastructure.

MTN is the market leader in the country with a 50% of market share. It has the best coverage and highest speeds. 4G started in 2015 on the very unusual TD-LTE frequency of 2500 MHz (band 41) and is available in all major towns and cities. 

Orange is the clear number two in the country with approx 30% of market share. They bought this network from Airtel some years ago. They have launched 4G/LTE too, but have limited it to a much smaller area than MTN so far.

Nexttel (owned by Viettel Group) started in 2014 in Cameroon. Two years later it had already 2.5 million subscribers and is the fastest growing network. It launched the country's first 3G network in 2014, but its 4G/LTE is still in trial mode. It has the most aggressive pricing.


Source

GSMA Intelligence connection figures for Q1 2019 had MTN leading the market with 9 million subscribers, followed by Orange (7.3 million) and Viettel-owned Nexttel (5.5 million).

Camtel is Cameroon’s fixed line monopoly operator which has a limited network based on CDMA/EVDO called Fako that is migrating to GSM. In 2016 they rolled out their 4G/LTE network called "X-TremNet" on 1800 MHz (band 3).

Their Fako network is quite unreliable, based on CDMA, not compatible to GSM devices and can't be recommended. However, their 4G/LTE XTremNet network can be a cheap option, if you have coverage. Douala and Yaoundé are covered only so far: 4G coverage list. Because of the limited coverage, it can't be an option for travelling, but may be an option for stationary use in Douala and Yaoundé. Speeds of around 50 Mbps have been reported. They have no fallback or roaming on 2G/3G networks.



Orange, Viettel and MTN were fined a combined XAF3.5 billion ($6 million) by authorities in Cameroon for failing to properly register SIM cards and not meeting network improvement targets, Cameroon Press Agency reported.

Orange received a XAF1.5 billion fee, while the other two operators were charged XAF1 billion each by the country’s Telecommunications Regulatory Agency.

In a statement, the regulator said all three operators had failed to comply with rules set out in September 2015 related to the registration of SIM cards and identification of customers.


It added operators had also been warned for not honouring commitments to improve the quality of their networks, claiming they were “still deteriorating”. The country’s authorities also demanded wholesale rates were cut in some areas, with the aim of reducing consumer prices.

In recent years, Cameroon has come down harder on telecoms operators for failing to comply with regulation, with Vodafone shuttering operations in 2017 due to licensing issues. A year earlier, MTN was hit with allegations of corruption by the country’s National Anti-Corruption Commission.

Cameroon has also been ranked 10th largest e-commerce country in Africa (UNCTAD)

The only Central African country in the top 10, Cameroon outperformed the average on the four criteria taken into account for the ranking, the report said. These include the number of online shoppers, the security level of servers, the ease of payment and delivery.

According to experts, through this ranking, Cameroon is reaping the benefits of the high penetration of smartphones in recent years, which boosted online shopping to the extent that, the e-marketer Jumia says, 65% of online orders in the country now go through mobile phones. A survey by French agency Mediametrie, let’s recall, showed the smartphone penetration rate improved from 68% in 2013 to 72% in 2016.

Another reason for this good performance by the Central African country is the rapid deployment of the internet over the past 10 years (from 2% to more than 20%). 23% of Cameroonians use this tool while three quarters of the African population do not yet have access to it.

But beyond these structural realities on ICT development, the growth of e-commerce in Cameroon was motivated by the arrival of international operators such as Jumia, which has been leading the market since 2013 when it settled in the country.  

Digital 2019 Cameroun, published by Hootsuite has some interesting statistics on Cameroon, the report is embedded below