The deployment of the 500 rural site will implemented under a NaaS business model in the east coast of Madagascar.
The deal was signed at a virtual ceremony attended by Frederic Debord, CEO at Orange Madagascar, Francis Letourneau, CEO at NuRAN Wireless in the presence of Tahina Razafindramalo, Minister of Digital Development, Digital Transformation, Posts and Telecommunications for Madagascar.
“We are pleased with the materialization of this partnership which aims to bring mobile telephony services to the Malagasy people who were previously excluded from digital connectivity," said Debord.
"Mobile telephony has become an essential need in everyday life and essential for economic and social development because it makes it possible to open up and connect Madagascar to the rest of the world and as importantly have access to financial services through mobile money.”
The 10-year agreement with Orange Madagascar is NuRAN’s third contract between the two with over US$90 million in potential gross revenue at approximately US$1,500 per site, per month.Fees for the NaaS services provided by NuRAN are to be paid on a revenue sharing basis.
“We are extremely pleased to add Madagascar to our growing portfolio of African countries. We are also thankful to Orange for this third contract as we continue to build and grow this strong relationship with them," added Letourneau.
"With the addition of these 500 sites, we have now reached 4,642 sites under contract in less than 2 years from receiving our first NaaS contract. We are approaching 50% of our goal of 10,000 sites under contract within five years. NuRAN is proud to be at the forefront of our mission to bring essential mobile connectivity to those that need it most in a cost effective, profitable and an environmentally friendly manner.”
The project will support 2G and 3G networks with variety of site categories to cover different population densities and coverage areas. NuRAN is to retain the ownership of the infrastructure after completion of the contract.
