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Intelsat, a Luxembourg-based communications satellite provider, has announced its partnership with Africa Mobile Networks (AMN), a group of companies operating in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to accelerate the deployment of mobile connectivity to unserved communities across SSA countries.

As part of the long-term agreement, AMN will leverage the power, performance and efficiencies generated by Intelsat’s high-throughput satellites covering the continent to provide the optimal balance between coverage and high-throughput for enabled sites. Once installed, the sites will connect over the Intelsat fleet to the core of the mobile network operator (MNO) and deliver 2G mobile services, such as GSM voice, SMS and GPRS/EDGE packet data, with the ability to upgrade the base to 3G and 4G as data demands allow.

“Bringing mobile connectivity to the most rural parts of Africa requires hybrid networks and innovative business models to truly close the business case,” said Jean-Philippe Gillet, Vice President and General Manager of Broadband at Intelsat. “By investing in and partnering with AMN, we can rapidly, and cost-effectively expand an MNO’s reach and deliver critical connectivity to communities who many thought were impossible to connect.”

According to a statement by Intelsat released on Tuesday, AMN will provide the MNOs with a network-as-a-service (NaaS) solution in which the AMN will fund, build and operate the ultra-rural network for the operators. As a result, African mobile operators will be able to extend their coverage with minimal operating expense and capital expenditure risk, enabling them to grow their subscriber and revenue bases, and better serve all their customers.

“Intelsat shares our view that mobile coverage is not spreading quickly enough and as such, invested in AMN’s vision of installing a cell site in every African village,” said Michael Darcy, CEO of AMN. “Together, we can accelerate the deployment of mobile connectivity and work to ensure that communities, wherever they are located, have equal access to high quality, sustainable and affordable broadband connectivity.”

Launched in 1965, Intelsat has been at the core of the biggest moments in communications in the world, transmitting the biggest moments in the world to everyone to share, including Neil Armstrong’s walk on the moon. Intelsat operates the world’s first globalised network delivering high-quality, cost-effective video and broadband services.

On the other hand, the AMN is a group of companies with its corporate head office in the United Kingdom and operating in several Sub-Saharan countries, including Benin, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Sudan, Angola, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The AMN aims to build and operate over 5,000 base stations to achieve its goal of a fully-connected Africa.