When the isolated Nigerian town of Tobolo got conneted

Huawei teamed up with South Africa-based operator MTN in 2017 to provide telecom services to the west Nigeria community of Tobolo, population 1,500. Together, Huawei and MTN deployed RuralStar, a solution designed to supply 2G and 3G coverage to small, isolated communities. RuralStar has a huge impact wherever it’s installed and Tobolo was no exception.

Around the world, more than 700 million people don’t have access to phone or data connection, 34 million of them in Nigeria. With a simple mast instead of a telecom tower, and often powered by just a few solar panels, RuralStar is currently deployed in over 60 countries. Suitable for remote mountain communities, on islands, or in deserts, it’s for some communities the only way to reach out during emergencies.