A country of different landscapes, Gabon features expanses of savannah, hills, coastal plains and rainforest. This is a country rich in natural resources such as diamonds, gold, manganese, uranium and timber, and thanks to the discovery of offshore oil in the 1970s, the country has one of the highest per capita income levels in Sub Saharan Africa. This reliance upon oil as its major export has caused some economic difficulties since the oil slump, but Gabon still remains a relatively wealthy country in Africa.
With a dispersed population of over 1.7 million, the demographic of Gabon is young. 42 percent of the population is very young – between 0 and 14 years old – and are growing up as ‘digital natives’. Mobile penetration across Gabon is at 192 percent. With multiple mobile providers, Gabon was one of the first countries to exceed 100 percent mobile penetration and the population offers higher Average Revenue Per User for MNOs due to slightly higher income levels. The country is also connected by two submarine cables that offer cost-effective fixed line services. However, the fixed line infrastructure still needs development. There is currently 10 percent fixed line Internet penetration and this could be greatly improved through the use of VSAT services to connect more remote communities where it is simply not cost effective to establish terrestrial services. In addition, MNOs could also greatly benefit from VSAT services to enable them to extend their networks, if necessary.
Good Perspectives for the Petroleum Industry
As previously mentioned, oil plays a critical part in the Gabonese economy and communications have become an important tool to enable oil companies to get the very best out of their assets. For offshore oil rigs, as in Gabon, connectivity can enable oil businesses to facilitate digital oil rigs, where they can monitor a plethora of different aspects of their operations through M2M and IoT. This helps the companies to maximise production, which is essential, especially at a time where oil prices are struggling. In the exploration and prospecting phase, satellite communications can provide essential connectivity between the remote team and head office. The ability to send large amounts of data and images is extremely useful and streamlines decision making. Not only this, VSAT installations on board can help to keep crew happy and morale high, even when employees are spending long periods away from family and friends. Access to entertainment services and social media make a huge difference to oil and gas businesses, and make for a happier overall workforce.
BusinessCom Networks can offer oil and gas companies a wide portfolio of VSAT-based services that can enhance their overall offshore operations. We can also offer MNOs operating in Gabon the opportunity to extend and augment their network capabilities to offer more services in a country where a young population will only drive mobile usage up even further. Our in-country installers are on hand to help you to deliver the perfect solution, no matter where in Gabon you happen to be.
BusinessCom offers the following satellite internet services in Gabon:
- 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
