The gateway will be used for Avanti’s Hylas 4 Ka-band satellite and will extend Avanti's coverage to Senegal as well as the neighbouring West African countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau, Gambia, and Liberia. It will also complete Avanti’s coverage of Ivory Coast.
The new gateway will also provide satellite backhaul services to Avanti’s carrier customers, extending their reach to rural areas and other semi-urban locations where terrestrial networks are currently limited or unreliable.
Mamadou Mbengue, CEO of Free in Senegal, said: “We are delighted that Avanti has chosen Free to be their gateway partner in Senegal, recognising the capabilities offered by the Free team and our data centre facility. This agreement between Avanti and Free to build the gateway and provide Ka-band satellite coverage across Senegal and the neighbouring countries is a major milestone in our digital transformation agenda.”
Free Senegal will build and operate the new gateway from its Tier III data centre facility in the town of Diamniadio, with Avanti effectively becoming an enterprise customer of Free.
Kyle Whitehill, CEO of Avanti Communications, said: “This strategic partnership with Free in Senegal demonstrates our commitment to working with local partners in Africa such as Free in order to increase the coverage of our satellite fleet - benefitting countries and territories that are often overlooked when it comes to high-speed broadband. We are looking forward to working with the Free team to make this vision a reality.”
