Paratus Launches Namibia’s First Private Mobile Network

Paratus Group has launched Namibia’s first private mobile network, entering a market long dominated by state-owned operators as competition heats up in the southern African nation’s telecoms sector.

The new service, which runs on 4G and 5G technology, expands the company’s footprint in Namibia where it has operated for two decades, offering fixed-line, fibre and satellite connections.

Paratus said it invested about 600 million Namibian dollars in building the mobile network over the past year, part of a wider 1.4 billion Namibian dollar infrastructure spend since 2018. The rollout was supported by Finnish equipment maker Nokia and British software firm Cerillion.

The company’s move pits it against Telecom Namibia and MTC, both majority state-owned, in a bid to capture a slice of the country’s mobile voice and data market.

Paratus already operates data centres and fibre networks in Namibia and has been involved in landing international subsea cables to boost bandwidth in the country.

It is also present in more than a dozen African markets, offering cross-border connectivity services.

The launch coincides with Namibia’s efforts to widen digital access and improve competition in the telecoms industry, which has seen calls for more private sector participation.

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