(Business in Cameroon) - It was a plea for 3G access that Elisabeth Medou Badang (photo) made to Cameroonian parliamentarians on July 3, 2014. Invited to the National Assembly as a part of the “Parliamentarians for ICT Network”, the Orange Cameroon Managing Director reminded the MPs about Orange Cameroon’s request for 3G licencing – a request that has thus far remained unanswered. 

“Three years ago, Orange requested authorisation to launch 3G services. We praised the State’s initiative which, two years ago, enabled Cameroon to make an additional step towards ICT development with the issuance of a 3G licence (to Viettel Cameroon). We are now approaching the end of that period of exclusivity which will be concurrent with the licence renewal. We plan to invest heavily in the construction, development and operation of our networks in the years to come,” explained the managing director to the MPs.

In making these remarks, Orange was taking aim at the 3G exclusivity that was previously granted to Viettel Cameroon by the government and is slated to expire at the end of the month of July. But Viettel is alleged to have requested a two-year extension of the arrangement due to the delay it has encountered in launching.

“Honourable Members of Parliament, Ladies and Gentlemen, Orange Cameroon calls on you to decide and act with urgency,” she stated before the elected representatives. “Let us seize the opportunity that 2015 holds in order to renew significantly the concessions that must accelerate the nation’s emergence. The price war will also be a part of that effort,” she suggested.  

She went on to explain to the MPs that, “a nation’s internet quality is one of the key deciding factors for international companies considering investing and starting business,  as they systematically evaluate the availability of infrastructure and services.” In her opinion, “in all the countries where high-speed internet is operational, studies show that it is a catalyst for economic and social change, a vehicle for development, both collectively and individually and an efficient support that yields GDP growth, innovation and worker productivity.”