WINDHOEK, Nov. 5 — Namibia has made progress with network expansion through a national project aimed to bridge the urban-rural digital divide, an executive said Thursday.
The expansion, known as the 081Every1 network project, is a two-phase national project launched in 2017 that would see the construction of 500 new network towers as the country advanced plans to achieve a target of 100 percent coverage among its population.
The country has thus far achieved 97 percent of population coverage, said Licky Erastus, managing director of Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC), citing figures that more than 132 completed and functioning network towers have so far been constructed countrywide.
Since last year, efforts to connect every citizen to the country’s national network grid migration have improved. As it stands, 2G, 3G, and 4G have all increased by 1 percent to 97, 87, and 45 percent, he said.
Since its rollout in 2017, the 081Every1 project has also played a vital role in meeting national goals in education, health and driving forward the digital transformation in Namibia’s economy and national development. According to Erastus, the country subsequently records 84 percent of broadband access to schools to accelerate e-learning and 87 percent broadband access to health facilities countrywide to ensure universal health access.
“The goal is at least by 2023 to have 100 percent population coverage,” he added. (Xinhua)
Namibia records progress in expanding network coverage to bridge digital divide
