The Burkina Faso government plans to extend mobile coverage in the country through the rollout of 800 telecom towers this year.

As reported by Ecofin Agency, the aim is to expand network coverage in areas where there's no network coverage, otherwise known as "white zones."

The rollout will see 250 sites launched through the country's Digital Transformation Acceleration Project, while the remaining 550 will be financed by the Universal Access and Service Fund (FASU).

In total, the project targets 1,000 white zones across the country by 2027.

The government has already connected 183 of these areas, doing so back in 2022 for a cost of CFA6.2 billion (approximately $10.7 million).

Last year, the government said it had identified 1,700 white zones as part of its plans to extend its network expansion plans.

However, as Ecofin pointed out, there has been no update on the progress of its rollout so far, nor on when the new telecom towers will be rolled out this year.

There's also the challenge of accessing the telecom towers. In October, Orange Burkina Faso reported that close to 15 percent of its sites were inaccessible, while another telco, Moov, had warned of vandalism against many of its sites.

Telecom infrastructure in the country has also come under attack from terrorist groups, with this number rising to 106 in 2022 from 11 three years earlier, according to a study by the Regulatory Authority for Postal and Electronic Communications (ARCEP).

As such, network coverage in the country has suffered, dropping by 10 to 20 percent.