Pan-African satellite operator RascomStar-QAF recently signed a contract with IPX Extenso to deliver GSM mobile and fixed telephony access in remote and rural areas of Congo through RascomStar-QAF VSAT terminals
As part of this project, IPX Extenso will deploy around 50 sites throughout the country and one gateway in Brazzaville. Delivery to Congo is scheduled to begin this summer, when a pilot phase will be deployed to trial the system. IPX Extenso, in association with local telecom partners, also plans to continue the deployment into 2013 with other countries in the central African region as an infrastructure leasing company for mobile and fixed-line operators.
Noting that operators have difficulties in reaching remote and rural areas at affordable costs, Guy Badjoko, founder and president of IPX Extenso, said, “RascomStar-QAF’s new products are the perfect solution for providing low cost connectivity between these huge ‘islands’ on the African continent. The IPX Extenso can reach 10 if not more African countries with these products in the coming years.
Endorsing Badjoko’s views, Faraj Elamari, the CEO of RascomStar-QAF, said, “Our telephony services were developed to provide a multi-service solution which is also suited for universal access telephony services in rural and underserved areas. Deploying our managed services for African low ARPU communities with a partner like IPX Extenso is a new challenge that RascomStar-QAF is glad to meet.”
RascomStar-QAF offers end-to-end solutions which include rural terminals (phone boxes or stand-alone BTS/MSC) connected to the operator’s core network by satellite backhaul through a gateway installed in the capital.
