A new broadband access provider, TEOLIS, says its business has entered its ‘operational phase’ in Togo some six months after receiving its licence from the Ministry of Posts and Digital Economy. On 7 June 2017 the Ministry granted a pair of internet access provider licences – one to TEOLIS and the other to GVA (Group Vivendi Africa) – following a tender that reportedly involved a total of 15 participants. In an official website statement at the time, the President’s Office confirmed the awards following a tender process that involved a number of other bidders drawn from Togolese, African, European and American companies. ‘After the various evaluation phases and in accordance with the internal regulations of the tender dossier, the Council gave the authorisation to the Ministry of Post and Digital Economy to grant the licences to the provisional contractors TEOLIS and GVA,’ the communique confirmed at the time.
100%-owned by Togolese nationals, TEOLIS says it kicked off its ‘operational phase’ on 4 January 2018, with plans to commission its new network as soon as next month. Under the terms of its licence conditions, TEOLIS is required to launch within nine months of receiving its concession (i.e. March 2018). The company is using TD-LTE technology in the capital Lome to offer broadband connectivity to SMEs and large corporations in the initial launch phase, with residential packages set to be unveiled ‘according to the [company’s] planned timetable’ for network deployment.
According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, in August 2016 Togo’s Council of Ministers instructed the Minister of Posts & Digital Economy, Cina Lawson, to issue a tender to award up to three new licences to ISPs in the West African country. In its report the Council explained: ’The coming of new operators will help develop competition, enhance the quality of internet services and reduce costs significantly,’ adding that the government has taken this decision ‘to support major projects currently executed so as to enhance the access and the quality of internet connection in our country’. Further, the Council of Ministers confirmed plans to build a new data centre in the country, set up an internet exchange point (IXP) and construct a 140km fibre-optic network, all of which it says will ‘help pool’ the efforts of national operators Togo Telecom and Togo Cellulaire (Togocel), and privately-owned CAFE Informatique & Telecommunications.