The government of The Gambia, through the department of state for Communication, Information and Information Technology (DOSCIIT), is poised to take The Gambia's communication industry to a higher level, after a landmark signing of an MOU that would significantly transform the country's telecommunications infrastructure, according to a press release obtained from DOSCIIT.  

Below we reproduce the full content of the statement. In an effort to provide a more secure and robust communications infrastructure in The Gambia with high capacity bandwidth, the government of The Gambia has mandated Gamtel to sign on its behalf a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Africa Cable to Europe (ACE) consortium for the acquisition of a Submarine Cable Landing Point for The Gambia.

The MOU was signed at a consultative meeting in Dakar on Friday 28th November 2008. The landing point which is consistent with Connect Africa Agenda, provides direct global connection to international undersea fibre optic cables which means that international traffic from The Gambia will have direct access to international submarine cables.

This international telecommunications infrastructure will greatly improve access to information, lower costs of provision of international services, by creating global coverage and better access to existing national networks. The new infrastructure will also ensure that traffic between African countries is routed within the continent hence retain and increase the revenue of operators within the continent.

The project which is expected to be completed by 2011, will provide The Gambia direct access to worldwide submarine cable Networks and significantly reduce the cost of bandwidth and improve quality on international telephony and related services to all Gambians at affordable prices.  

The landing point will also complement our existing international connectivity and provide resilience to our international traffic.