Gabon's Ministry of Water and Energy, the Gabon Energy and Water Corporation (SEEG-Veolia) and the Vivendi Group have entered into an agreement to broaden local access to the internet and extend connectivity.

This follows Vivendi's successful procurement of a Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) broadband internet access provider license from Gabon's Communications Regulatory Authority Electronic and Postal Services (ARCEP) in January this year.

The Vivendi Group will finance the deployment of high speed broadband internet via the electricity grid, while ARCEP will draw up the specifications.

According to the agreement, Gabon's electric power transmission infrastructure would be used to speed up the connection of residents of Greater Libreville to the high-speed internet via FTTH network.

Vivendi says unlike the copper pair and Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) infrastructure, the advantage of the FTTH technology is that it ensures constant high speeds, without any attenuation or electromagnetic interference.

"This agreement will [also] support economic and social development. It will (help) Gabon become the digital centre of Central Africa," Vivendi stated.