Located in central Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a country with vast natural resources. Straddling the equator, it is a country with a varied climate and geography, varying from savannah, mountainous regions to dense rainforest. DRC has a population of over 80 million and is the most populated Francophone country in Africa.
Wealth of Mineral Resources
DRC is highly reliant upon mining and is extremely rich in a wide range of resources including copper, uranium, gold, diamonds and coal. The country’s primary export is copper. The mining sector forms a critical part of DRC’s economy and there has been renewed activity in the mining sector of late. Agriculture also forms an important part of DRC’s economy. The country is a producer of coffee, sugar, palm oil, rubber, tea and cotton, to mention just a few products.
The country has endured political and social upheaval in recent years which has inevitably impacted upon the development of its telecoms infrastructure. Since 2013, the country has been connected to the WACS submarine cable giving increased access to low-cost, high quality bandwidth. However, this only covers some areas and the percentage of Internet users in DRC stands at 4.2 percent. The country would benefit significantly from the installation of satellite terminals, particularly in remote communities where internet access is simply not possible due to the expense of rolling out terrestrial infrastructure.
The DRC government fully recognises the importance of the telecoms sector, but the fixed line infrastructure requires much improvement and development. The big story in terms of communications for DRC is the adoption of mobile-cellular connectivity. Mobile use has seen a huge rise in subscriptions and today 40 people in every 100 own a mobile phone which they use to access the Internet. Broadband access is provided by 3G services and mobile operators active in DRC are constantly looking to develop their mobile offering. This presents a golden opportunity for VSAT provision as MNOs need to expand their services into untapped areas, of which there are many in DRC. This enables them to expand their subscriber base to more remote areas. Using satellite as a means of backhaul is absolutely essential if they are to reach these outlying areas. The construction of cellular towers and other mobile infrastructure is prohibitively expensive. However, VSAT can provide this network extension with no requirement for building towers in outlying areas that are very difficult to reach.
Advanced Solutions from BusinessCom
BusinessCom Networks can offer a range of meaningful solutions to enhance and augment connectivity across DRC. From connecting remote mines and streamlining operations to increase overall efficiency and safety to enabling MNOs to extend their reach via a VSAT network, BusinessCom has the experience, knowhow and in-country experience to deliver communications in DRC where they are needed most:
- Broadband Internet access
- Toll quality VoIP and Videoconferencing with CIR
- Reliable SLA through FDMA and D-TDMA with 98% efficiency on payload
- Star, Mesh and hybrid Star/Mesh topology networks
- Full support of accelerated VPN, CITRIX, ERM and other business applications
- Highly secure operation with optional AES embedded encryption
- Global C-Band coverage and sub-Sahara Ku-Band
- Landing at top tier redundant IP facilities in Western Europe and United States
- Sentinel-based QoS, bandwidth management and optimization platform
