There are three mobile network operators in Congo Brazzaville, all of which are backed by regional players. MTN Congo and Airtel Congo compete with the much smaller Bintel-owned Equateur Télécom (trading as Azur Congo).
Mobile and internet growth has been growing exponentially, with mobile internet subscribers having grown 61% over the last 5 years from 2.1mn to 3.4mn according to ARPCE, as well as 337% boost in data traffic driven largely by end-use digital activity as well as increasing adoption of digital services by government and enterprise.
This has been driven by Congo Digital 2025 launched in 2019 which has been pushing investment in telecom infrastructure and supported by a US$100mn World Bank loan to increase internet access and digital acceleration.
Helios Towers is the sole traditional towerco in Congo Brazzaville, having acquired Airtel’s 384 towers and built more since. Around half of Helios’ sites are reported to be off-grid, with power availability of ongrid sites averaging 15 hours a day.
A rural specialist towerco, AMN, has built 60 low-cost rural sites for MTN. MTN explored an ESCO RFP for their sites in the country but have pulled the RFP with the intention to relaunch it at a later date.
Intelsat is working with Vodacom to provide satellite backhaul as part of Vodacom’s Rural Communication Solution initiative: RCS looks to combine available transport networks and hybrid power solutions.
MTN Congo has launched the country’s first 5G pilot in collaboration with ZTE in preparation for the launch of commercial 5G. Demands for high-speed connectivity have been growing and the government is keen to accelerate connectivity, offering operators a technologically neutral licence for cellular mobile networks.
