With the arrival of Zoodlabs SL Ltd., which is a comprehensive technology and smart utility infrastructure company, Sierra Leone’s submarine fiber optic will be fully powered by a 1.2MW of off-grid solar PV capacity supported by battery energy storage. The lease of the submarine fiber optic is further expected to bridge the digital divide.
Although access to affordable quality connectivity is still a challenge in Sierra Leone, with about 18% of the population connected to the internet: 16% via their phone and 2% from mobile dongles or fixed wireless broadband, Zoodlabs in a press release states that: We believe one of the quickest ways to leapfrog economic barriers in Africa is to solve the digital divide and make broadband internet access commonplace.”
According to Zoodlabs, “During the first six months of our operations in Sierra Leone, we reduced the cost of wholesale internet pricing by almost 50%, increased network total capacity from 80GBs to 1/2TBs. Today, we are rapidly deploying the largest and first multi- tenancy fiber broadband infrastructure in a single city.”
Davar Fazaeli is Founder and CEO of Zoodlabs. He informed the media that: ‘Together with our partners; CrossBoundary Energy, USAID, The Shell Foundation, Powerhive and Netis, we have allocated between USD.1,500,000 to USD. 2,000,000 in capital investment to produce captive renewable energy of up to 1.2 megawatts, making the submarine fiber optic and our metro infrastructure the first fully green network in the sub-region.’
He added that this solar power grid will have the capacity to run for up to 356 hours across all Zoodlabs sites without a generator, reducing the network’s carbon dioxide emissions by 347.41 tonnes per year.
James Shoetan, Head of Business Development, CrossBoundary Energy, on his part said his company focuses on selling clean, reliable energy to businesses across Africa. He confirmed that Zoodlabs has an incredible vision to improve Sierra Leone’s broadband internet access and power that infrastructure entirely with off-grid renewable energy. “We are thrilled to be working with Zoodlabs, PowerHive, and Netis to deliver this significant project for Sierra Leone’s digital economy. It is a great example of what we think solar energy can do to revolutionize business in Africa,” he noted.
He added that, “In our journey to build the digital runway for Sierra Leone, we are very mindful of our commitment to the climate. It is why we support smart environmentally-friendly communities, in addition to this being a significant part of our journey to connecting millions of smiles.” See Press Release
