CAMTEL launches groundbreaking 25th anniversary celebration.

The activities were launched yesterday in Yaounde. This was during a press briefing granted by the General Manager of CAMTEL, Judith Yah Sunday epse Achidi.

Created on September 8, 1998, following a merger of two separate state entities, CAMTEL will officially clock 25 today.

Speaking during the presser, attended by senior officials of the state-run company, Judith Yah Sunday stated that CAMTEL will continue to invest in new technologies to satisfy the ever-growing needs of its customers.

She boasted that since CAMTEL began operations in 1998, the company has been committed to providing its customers with communications and digital services, through constant deployment of the latest technologies in line with its corporate promise to build a robust, fully integrated ICT network infrastructure that would consistently deliver value to its esteemed customers. 

The GM said the history of a company like CAMTEL certainly revolves around its missions, its activities and its performance. 

While paying tributes to former top management staff of CAMTEL for their contribution to the growth of the enterprise, Judith Yah Sunday quickly stated that CAMTEL’s history, like that of any other organisation, is first and foremost a history of a people. 

“Everyone today knows CAMTEL, but many often forget that before CAMTEL, there was the Telecommunications Department of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications; and there was INTELCAM. CAMTEL was born from the merger of these two entities,” she said. 

Yah Sunday said for 25 years, CAMTEL has been working in line with the missions assigned to it by a presidential decree signed on September 8, 1998.

“In our sector of activity, we are often referred to as the incumbent operator. This shows how our history is intertwined with that of the Cameroonian people. It shows the importance of our company's role in the development of the communications sector,” the GM continued.

She was blunt that throughout its history, CAMTEL has excelled in its ability to challenge itself. 

“…we are no longer just talking about the telecommunications sector. We are now talking about the digital world. Like everywhere else on the planet, our country has adopted new vocabularies, new concepts and new uses: the Internet, Google, Facebook, WhatsApp, TikTok, fibre optics, Big Data, artificial intelligence and so on. In our business, we are constantly on the lookout. Consumers are increasingly demanding. They want more proximity. You can't give up. That is why CAMTEL launched the BLUE Brand two years ago,” the GM noted.

She was categorical that: “While it is true that in the eyes of the general public, CAMTEL is at times one product or service behind, the collective unconscious tends to omit the central and innovative role CAMTEL plays in the field of communication infrastructure”.

Judith Yah Sunday regretted that: “People tend to forget too often that it is CAMTEL that manages the 12,000-kilometre national optical fibre backbone, which will soon be extended by 4,000 more kilometres. It is too often forgotten that it is CAMTEL that manages the four landing points of the optical fibre submarine cables rolled out in the country, and which enable Cameroon to be in contact with the entire world. People forget all too often that CAMTEL provides this optical fibre infrastructure to all operators and to a wide range of organisations”. 

She was emphatic that CAMTEL is not driven by melancholy but is simply living with the times and proudly celebrating its 25th anniversary. She said the history of the company is that which is proud of its public service role. 

The GM explained that being a public service company implies knowing the country in depth. 

“It means being considered an object of national heritage. But it also means facing up to the harsh test of truth, because citizens know everything, see everything and hear everything,” she added.

“We understand the concerns, the expectations, the frustration and sometimes the anger of users. All of these are legitimate…it is to CAMTEL’s credit that we are seeking solutions to address them. We are well aware of the fact that CAMTEL does not succeed in everything, that it often stumbles and that it faces doubts at times. But we are also aware that difficulties are not a death sentence, and that even if the slope gets steeper, we must have the will to keep moving forward,” she concluded.

CAMTEL has come from afar 

It should be recalled that after independence, the operation of international telecommunications was entrusted to France Câble and Radio. 

In 1972, the situation changed with a decree of the President of the Republic setting up INTELCAM, which was in charge of operating and controlling international telecommunications in Cameroon.

Subsequently, on 28 October 1982, INTELCAM became the complete property of the State of Cameroon, which placed it under the supervision of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications.

Cameroon Telecommunications, CAMTEL, was set up by
Presidential Decree No. 98/1998 of 8 September 1998. It resulted from the merging of two entities: the former Department of Telecommunications of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and the former International Telecommunications Corporation of Cameroon, INTELCAM. 

It took over cellular telephony and national wireline telephony respectively, at the same time as international telecommunications.

The said changes marked the liberalisation of the telecommunications sector in Cameroon. 

Since December 2018, CAMTEL has been under the stewardship of Judith Yah Sunday épse Achidi.

Judith Yah’s new touch

Within four years and counting as GM of CAMTEL, Judith Yah Sunday épse Achidi, has driven the company’s turnover upward from FCFA 108 billion to FCFA 178 billion.

Upon her appointment to the helm of Cameroon’s incumbent telecommunications operator on December 14, 2018, the meticulous auditor has laid particular emphasis on improving governance and placed customer satisfaction at the heart of her concerns.

To say the least, Judith Yah has built her strategy at CAMTEL around two areas of focus: Change Management and Customer Centricity.

CAMTEL’s performance in terms of turnover enabled the company to gain two precious points in the latest ranking featured in the 2021 Report of the National Institute of Statistics. CAMTEL thus moved up from the 13^th to the 11th position in this ranking of the country’s 15 best companies, ahead of SONARA, SODECOTON and Afriland First Bank. 

The said progression, it has been revealed, is the result of the dynamic efforts put in place by staff of the company. This performance places CAMTEL at the top of the list of public corporations classified under Category 1.