Infos Business of Friday, 23 May 2014

Source: businessincameroon.com

Yaoundé and Douala get first internet hub

For the celebration commemorating the 149th International Communications and Information Society Day, the Cameroonian Minister of Postal Services and Telecommunications, Jean Pierre Biyiti bi Essam , announced the upcoming construction of the first internet hubs in Yaoundé and Douala, the two largest cities in Cameroon.

Without providing a project timeline and the cost of the investment, the Cameroonian government member stated that “the implementation of internet hubs at the local, national, sub-regional and regional levels is a priority if we intend to solve the connection problems and improve the quality of service as well as lower interconnection costs.”

In January 2014, the Cameroonian government had already spoken with engineers and internet providers at a workshop on “technical aspects relative to the implementation of internet hubs in Cameroon” to prepare the way for the change that will enable the country to be free of its dependence on foreign networks for the transmission of information through telecommunications networks.

This dependency officially costs 600 million dollars (approximately 300 billion FCfa) each year in African countries that do not have internet hubs of their own.