The news marks a major technological milestone for these locations, which previously only had access to 2G fixed and mobile telephony. Looking ahead, the town of Papaichton will also join the list of connected locations in the coming weeks.
As a result of the new 4G coverage, 20,000 additional people will benefit from Orange mobile Internet services in French Guiana, as well as access to multimedia use on compatible mobile devices including web browsing, email, file downloads, applications, social media, various instant messaging systems, online games, etc.
The only conditions of this new 4G service are that customers must have a plan and SIM card, a compatible device, and be within an area of coverage.
Thierry Kergall, director of Orange in the West Indies and French Guiana, praised “the excellent work of the teams who coordinated the project locally. Once again, they have demonstrated our expertise and sense of leadership and technological innovation for the population and the development of the region.”
In order to cover these hard-to-reach areas with 4G, Orange formed a technological partnership with Intelsat to deploy a mobile data service on reliable satellite equipment, to ensure permanent connectivity and an optimal customer experience, all from Cayenne.
In addition, the development of the project, during the Covid-19 pandemic, required the use of many logistical resources and international collaboration with Orange partners, for more than a year.
“I am delighted with this new collaboration with Intelsat, allowing us to deploy 4G in five new regions of French Guiana," said Jean-Luc Vuillemin (pictured), director of international networks and services at Orange.
"The partnership, led by our Orange international networks and services experts, demonstrates the complementarity that satellite communication technologies bring to our network and thus helps promote digital equality across all Orange territories. Our satellite experts provide their supervision expertise and the necessary technical support to the Orange Guiana teams from our Bercenay-en-Othe teleport.”
Orange’s commitment to digital infrastructure planning has been recognized by the Autorité de Régulation des Communications Électroniques et des Postes (ARCEP) and supports Guiana’s economic and digital development.
