Gabon Telecom SA is the historical Gabonese operator, created in 2001 following the split of the Posts and Telecommunications Office on June 27, 2001, which reorganized the postal and telecommunications sectors.

In February 2007, following an international tender, the Gabonese State sold 51% of its shares to Maroc Telecom, a transaction fully completed on December 23, 2010, following the fulfillment of all agreements signed in 2008.

Furthermore, after acquiring Moov Gabon in January 2015 and in compliance with the country’s regulatory requirements, a merger between Gabon Telecom and Moov Gabon was necessary.

The merger-absorption process of Gabon Telecom and Moov Gabon was finalized in June 2016.

On June 20, 2017, the Regulatory Council approved the granting of a new universal license to Gabon Telecom for a period of 10 years for an amount of 148 million CFA francs. On January 1, 2021, Gabon Telecom launched a new commercial brand for all its activities under the name Moov Africa Gabon Telecom.

Gabon Telecom provides Fixed Telephony services (voice and data) as well as Internet access (ADSL and FTTH) to individual customers, businesses, and government administrations.

Although Gabon Telecom has not held a monopoly on basic services (national Fixed Telephony, telex, and telegraph) since December 31, 2005, it remains the sole national Fixed Telephony operator in Gabon. However, other service providers operate alongside Gabon Telecom in the Internet and VSAT markets.

As of the end of December 2023, the operator’s Fixed network included 55,000 lines, an increase of 25.7%. The penetration rate of Fixed services relative to the population remains low, reaching only 2.5% at the end of December 2023.

Gabon Telecom also provides Internet access via its wired network, notably through high-speed ADSL and fiber-optic connections. As of the end of December 2023, Gabon Telecom had 51,000 Internet subscribers, up 28.9% year-on-year.

In 2011, Gabon Telecom activated its capacity on the West Africa cable of the Maroc Telecom Group, with a bandwidth of 80 Gb/s by the end of 2022, complemented by a 40 Gb/s backup on the SAT-3 submarine cable. These capacities enable Gabon Telecom to meet its own international bandwidth needs and to offer international services (Internet, voice) to other telecom operators and Gabonese businesses.

As of September 30, 2023, the Gabonese market had 3.4 million Mobile customers, representing a penetration rate of 144%, down 18 points year-on-year.

The Gabonese market consists of two operators, Gabon Telecom and Airtel. Despite a highly competitive environment, Gabon Telecom held a market share of 50% at the end of September 2023.

Gabon Telecom’s Mobile base stood at 1.5 million customers as of December 31, 2023, almost entirely prepaid.