Cameroon was for many years one of only a few countries in Africa with only two competing mobile operators, MTN and Orange. After various delays, Nextell Cameroon launched a third network in late 2014, including the country’s first 3G mobile service. MTN and Orange both launched 3G services in March 2015, and their investment commitments suggest an aggressive roll-out of mobile data services during the next three years, which will considerable boost mobile broadband services in many areas of the country.

MTN Cameroon, the country’s largest mobile operator by subscribers, has announced in December 2015 the commercial launch of 4G LTE services in the cities of Douala, Yaounde, Buea and Bamenda. Customers are able to acquire a free 4G SIM card, which is loaded with 4GB of data. In March the South Africa-based firm agreed to pay XAF75 billion (USD124 million) to renew its operating licence in Cameroon for a further 15 years, at the same time receiving permission to roll out 3G and 4G services. A commercial 3G network was switched on that same month, with the company pledging to deploy 3G and 4G services at more than 700 sites in 16 towns in the first year of rollout, before gradually expanding high speed mobile data coverage to 75% of the population by 2018.

The re-entry into the mobile market by the fixed-line incumbent Camtel, through its Camtel Mobile division, was delayed by controversy regarding its licence, but a recent vendor agreement will see voice and data services launched commercially later in 2015. The result of the restrictive market structure has been a mobile market penetration rate below the regional average and also below that of other countries with similar GDP per capita levels. Fixed-line penetration is extremely low, and the privatization of Camtel’s fixed-line business has failed several times.

Mirroring a trend throughout developing markets, the average revenue per user (ARPU) in Cameroon’s mobile sector has fallen continuously as lower income groups gain access to services. The operators are developing new revenue streams from the virtually untapped Internet and broadband market by introducing mobile data and WiMAX wireless broadband services, as well as mobile banking.

Camtel was allowed to monopolize access to the SAT-3/WASC international fibre optic submarine cable until 2012. This had led to high prices and a grey market of unlicensed satellite gateway operators offering internet access and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services. This has begun to change, following the connection to the WACS cable. A new spur being built will finally connect the country to the ACE cable later in 2015. A major expansion program for a national fibre backbone network is also underway with funding from the Word Bank and China.

Following an inquiry into the sector, Cameroon’s anti-corruption commission CONAC has claimed that the country’s telecoms operators owe the government around XAF176 billion (USD293 million) in unpaid taxes, Reuters reports. According to CONAC, the local unit of South African firm MTN Group owes nearly XAF52 billion in taxes and royalties and France’s Orange is required to pay around XAF48 billion, while local telco CamTel and Vietnamese-owned Viettel also said to be involved in the investigation. The corruption watchdog claims that both Orange and MTN have benefited from tax breaks – worth over XAF28 billion for the former and XAF24 billion for the latter – that are deemed to be illegal. The pair say that they have not received any formal notification of the conclusions of the report or of any fines.

Estimated market penetration rates in Cameroon’s telecoms sector end-2015 (e)

Market	Penetration Rate
Mobile	84%
Fixed/fixed-wireless	5%
Internet	7%

Key developments:

• WACS cable becomes operational after Camtel builds link between the Limbe landing station and facilities in Douala;
• Nextell reports having signed up two million customers since launching services in September 2014;
• MTN secures XAF60 billion loan to improve mobile networks following 3G/LTE licence award;
• Government builds landing point and 650km spur cable to connect to the ACE cable, contracts Orange Cameroon to manage the cable;
• Camtel contracts Huawei to develop GSM network;
• MTN Cameroon equips 800 base stations with solar panels;
• MTN and Orange launch 3G services;
• Government announces plans to build two Internet exchange Points;
• National fibre rollout continues with new funding;
• Cameroon Railways looks to set up an independent fibre optic network linking rail stations;