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AMN utilises SpaceX's Starlink Constellation to Connect Rural Villages in Nigeria

 April 18, 2024

AMN is pleased to announce that the first AMN base station is now live using LEO backhaul from SpaceX's Starlink. In 2023, AMN announced a commercial agreement to use Starlink, SpaceX's constellation of satellites in low Earth orbit, to connect AMN's mobile network base stations with high-speed, low-latency broadband services.

By utilising Starlink terminals to provide low-latency satellite backhaul, we are able to deliver the full capability of AMN's unique multi-carrier radio access node (the ARN) with 3G and 4G as well as 2G, with ever-increasing amounts of bandwidth and data volumes demanded by subscribers whilst remaining economically sustainable. The LEO backhaul also paves the way for AMN to deliver 5G services, targeted before the end of 2024.

AMN began rolling out rural base stations in Nigeria in 2018, and the company now owns and operates 1600 base stations across the country. Yebu was the first rural community to be connected using AMN's ubiquitous solar powered base station. The village is located approximately 80km from Abuja, but can take four hours to reach due to road conditions. Yebu is predominantly an agricultural community, with a market offering local farmers the opportunity to sell their goods.

Since connecting the community in November 2018, AMN has processed more than 9 million voice minutes in Yebu, with significant growth in 2022 and 2023 following the BTS upgrade to AMN's own radio node (ARN). AMN became an OEM for RAN equipment in 2020 following the acquisition of Range Networks, and now operates more than 1200 ARN across Africa and Latin America. The impact of this strategic move is clear in Yebu. In 2023, the site processed almost three times the amount of traffic than it did in 2020.

"Yebu community was left behind and blind but the coming of Africa Mobile Networks in 2018 has made us to achieve a lot of things like police division station, 24 hours solar light and steady communication all over the world. Before then there was nothing like those things listed." – Salihu, on behalf of the Yebu community

AMN believes that all communities of any significant size should have access to telecommunication services to benefit the population educationally, economically and socially. AMN has deployed over 4000 base stations across Africa and Latin America. Installation of new sites continues throughout 2024 in Nigeria, DRC, Cameroon, Madagascar, Ivory Coast, Benin and Rwanda. At AMN, we appreciate that any solution to close the digital divide must be economically sustainable and offer a service of the same quality as in urban areas. From designing and manufacturing our own BTS, uniquely developed for the solar-powered rural site, to offering cutting-edge backhaul solutions, we are committed to bringing high quality connectivity to those living in rural and ultra-rural areas.