- An innovative technology to increase internet access is to be implemented in Burkina Faso, however only targeting enterprise customers in the Sahelian country. The wireless connection uses a microwave transmission system.
The Canadian company DragonWave yesterday announced it was to deploy its "Horizon Compact to deliver high capacity broadband services to its enterprise customers in Burkina Faso." The supplier has already established subsidiaries in Cameroon, Guinea, Benin and Niger, where the same microwave technology is being used.
Initial deployments in Burkina Faso were said to "provide up to 50 Mbps broadband access to enterprise customers with the option to scale to 400 Mbps over time." The company says its technology "is perfectly suited to such access network applications."
"Physically it requires very little space and has low power consumption, characteristics that make it ideal for deployment in the enterprise," DragonWave announced. "Also, because it is powered through the same Cat5 cable that delivers the broadband service it presents little disruption to in-building cable management and power systems." The devise is mounted outdoors and receives signal via microwaves.
The company does not elaborate on the costs for its wireless internet supply for Burkinabe customers, but aiming only at larger businesses, it is indicated that price levels will be off line for ordinary citizens.
However, according to DragonWave, the introduction of this technology is cost effective in countries with poor connectivity when it comes to offering higher speed broadband services to a limited group of customers.
"Broadband access demand is very, very high, throughout Western Africa," noted Rouylou Jean Michel of Monaco Telecom, which owns DragonWave. "Network costs have traditionally slowed progress in this market, but DragonWave's products are helping eliminate much of this burden," he optimistically added.
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