GVA (Group Vivendi Africa), a subsidiary of the Vivendi group which launched fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) services in Togo’s capital Lome in March 2018, has announced the unveiling of a new low-cost ‘Start’ offer promising a 10Mbps connection for XOF15,000 (USD25.7) per month. The new plan halves the former fibre-optic charge of XOF30,000 with GVA noting that the new product ‘democratises access to high speed internet’ in the country. Alexandre Cohen, General Manager of GVA-Togo, noted: ‘The creation of the Start offer is already enabling a very large number of Togolese families to take advantage of fibre-optic broadband at just XOF15,000 per month’.
According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, in June 2017 the Ministry of Posts and Digital Economy in Togo granted an internet access provider licence to newcomer GVA, following a tender that reportedly involved 15 participants. In an official website statement, the President’s office confirmed: ‘After the various evaluation phases and in accordance with the internal regulations of the tender dossier, the Council gave the authorisation to the Ministry of Post and Digital Economy to grant the licences to the provisional contractors TEOLIS and GVA.’ Previously, in August 2016, Togo’s Council of Ministers instructed the Minister of Posts & Digital Economy, Cina Lawson, to issue a tender to award up to three new licences to ISPs in the West African country. In its report the Council explained: ‘The coming of new operators will help develop competition, enhance the quality of internet services and reduce costs significantly,’ adding that the government had taken its decision ‘to support major projects currently executed so as to enhance the access and the quality of internet connection in our country’.