Financed under the 2026 budget of the public establishment, the revised order maintains the estimated financial envelope of 500 million FCFA, while the volume of chips sought has been reduced by 62.9% compared to the initial batch of 2,300,600 units requested in March 2026.

The new batch put out to tender includes 700,000 pre-numbered GSM/UMTS/LTE-compatible chips and 154,225 blank cards for technical personalization. The awarding of the contract, with the opening of bids scheduled for August 24, 2026, and an execution period of 4 months, implies a modification of the theoretical average unit cost, which increases from 217 FCFA to 585 FCFA per chip. The procurement initiative aims to support the expansion of the public operator's subscriber base, limited to 1.23 million active lines, or 2.67% of the mobile market's revenue, which amounts to 630.9 billion FCFA and is dominated by private competitors Orange (50.08%) and MTN (47.26%).

The acquisition of activation equipment is part of the deployment of the mobile network expansion program, supported by a syndicated loan of 44.884 billion FCFA subscribed in January 2026 with the Commercial Bank Cameroon. The distribution of the chip stock, equivalent to nearly 70% of the company's current customer base, is a condition for the profitability of the 2G, 3G, and 4G equipment installed in the country's urban and industrial areas.


Nlend Flore

Tags: télécommunications camtel cartes sim puces gsm umts lte opérateur public marché du mobile