Orange Cameroon plans to invest 150-billion francs CFA (US$249-million) over the next five years to secure, upgrade and expand its network infrastructure.

So claims the company’s CEO Patrick Benon who made the declaration at a recent meeting with officials of the Telecommunications Regulatory Board in Yaounde.

Benon said the company will initiate its plan with a 30-billion investment to ensure better quality of service “… in terms of network coverage, customer experience and the development of innovative applications.”

The company has vowed to work on improving quality in response to a directive from the regulator in November 2022 prompted by an investigation which found “serious shortcomings” among MNOs.

The regulator warned the companies, including Orange Cameroon, “to restore optimal provision of services” without delay or face fines.

Orange Cameroun’s plan includes expansion of its network to accommodate a growing number of users.

“Last year, we recorded strong growth in data traffic and internet traffic of about 40%. As such, the growth in traffic in itself necessitates that we make investments at very regular intervals in order to be able to maintain an appropriate sizing of our network and to improve the quality of service,” said Benon.

The telco has also reiterated its commitment to multi-party engagements with other operators to improve general quality of electronic communication services and network performance in Cameroon.

“When there are difficulties, sometimes it is at the level of access, transmission, and international exit. These are points on which we will work collectively with other operators, in particular on the question of transmission for optical fibre,” Benon continued.

Orange Cameroun’s service covers approximately 85% of the national territory. MTN Cameroon is one of its major competitors.