CAMTEL acquires new equipment to boost mobile network.

Following the arrival of the important consignment, CAMTEL General Manager, Judith Yah Sunday epse Achidi last Friday visited the Yaounde-Zemangoe centre where the material is currently being lodged.

CAMTEL said in an outing on Facebook that the objective of the visit was “to ensure that everything is in place to quickly move from receiving equipment to their effective deployment”.

While on the ground, Judith Yah Sunday exchanged with the CAMTEL teams mobilized for the reception, securing and handling of the equipment. She also met with the Huawei teams, the technical partner of the project, to discuss the next steps of the deployment.

“Logistics organization, storage conditions, team coordination, installation schedule, necessary resources, anticipation of potential bottlenecks: all elements are being closely monitored to maintain the project on track,” CAMTEL said, noting that: “Because behind the received equipment lies a concrete ambition: to decongest 122 additional sites and deploy 245 new sites on the 473 existing sites”.

She added that: “Each equipment must now go through a new stage: to be installed, put into service and contribute to better connectivity for Cameroonians”. 

“With particular attention to the densification of rural areas, the ambition…of the General Manager of CAMTEL, is to advance connectivity beyond major urban centers. From Divisional capitals to Subdivisional headquarters, from semi-urban areas to villages, the Blue Network must be as close as possible to Cameroonians… better connecting Cameroon also means bringing populations closer to services, knowledge, and digital opportunities” CAMTEL stated.

Improving connectivity…

The 245 new sites, it should be said, are expected to extend CAMTEL’s mobile coverage, while upgrades at 122 congested sites will increase capacity in high-traffic areas.

Higher transmission capacity across metro networks will allow the operator to carry more data as its network expands and traffic increases.

The planned power upgrades are aimed at strengthening electricity supply to network facilities, an important issue for service reliability in a sector where power availability can affect network performance.

The modernization of the billing system is expected to improve customer management, usage tracking and billing. CAMTEL also plans to develop new digital capabilities, including cloud services, broadening its activities beyond traditional mobile connectivity.

To implement the first phase of the Mobile Network Expansion, MNE project, CAMTEL had signed a 44.8 billion FCFA syndicated financing agreement with Commercial Bank Cameroon.

The financing was part of a wider investment push. In December 2025, the company said it had secured more than 145 billion FCFA in investments since 2021 to modernize and expand its telecommunications networks.

CAMTEL also entered into a three-year partnership with Ethiopian operator, Ethio Telecom in December 2025, covering network development, including 4G, 5G and new technology solutions.

On coverage, CAMTEL has had a national roaming agreement with MTN Cameroon since 2022, allowing its subscribers to use MTN’s network in areas where CAMTEL does not yet have coverage. The service was launched in December 2022 across more than 200 sites.

The investments come as CAMTEL seeks to build on rapid subscriber growth while remaining well behind Orange and MTN. CAMTEL had 2.08 million mobile subscribers in 2024, according to data from the Telecommunications Regulatory Agency, ART.

Orange remained the market leader with 15.67 million subscribers in 2024, followed by MTN with 13.75 million. In revenue terms, CAMTEL accounted for 2.67% of the total revenue generated by mobile network operators in 2024, or about 16.85 billion FCFA out of 630.99 billion FCFA. Orange accounted for 50.08% of the total, compared with 47.26% for MTN.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3916 of Monday September 19, 2026