Burkina Faso | Commission Électorale Nationale Indépendante (CENI)

Case Study

Electoral cycle via satelliteOur broadband service sustained electoral communications for the 2012 national elections in Burkina Faso, enabling fast and secure transfer of ballots, video conferencing, and internet access.

CHALLENGE

With no rural terrestrial connections, Burkina Faso needed a new digital communications network ready for impending national elections.

IMPLEMENTATION

We used our satellite broadband to link electoral offices across the country for video, phone, and secure data transfer, in just six weeks.

RESULT

Our satellite broadband network improved the election process and integrity, enhancing democracy and social development in Burkina Faso.

SES BROAdBANd AdvANTAGES fOR THE ELECTIONS SUPPORT:

• Full and immediate coverage of the country• Broadbandconnectivityinisolatedareas• Fastdeploymentofcommunications

infrastructure• Fastandsecuretransmissionofelectoral

data• Effectiveimplementationofbiometric

voter recognition

• Improvedelectoralparticipationthroughvideo conferencing and surveillance

• Fastercollationandprocessingofballots• EnhancedCENIcommunications

with local volunteers and press• Rapiddeliveryanddissemination

of results, reducing political unrest

Case Study | 3

In December 2012, when Burkinabe population went to the polls in national elections, their votes were collated and transferred across SES Broadband network.

For the first time in the 2012 national elections in Burkina Faso, two ballots were to run concurrently to select candidates for 127 seats in the National Assembly and 18,698 local government posts. Commission Électorale Nationale Indépendante (CENI) decided to use digital transfer of electoral data and biometric voter validation

to improve the fluidity of data collection and enhance the transparency of the electoral process. CENI has contracted the SES Broadband Services to devise, implement, manage and monitor the communication platform.

Our broadband service operated independently from terrestrial connectivity and provided secure and fast digital communications. The service was quickly installed and immediately operational – uniquely designed to connect remote provinces of Burkina Faso to the electoral administration centre.

In partnership with Belgian equipment supplier Newtec, and local partners: AccessSat - the Internet Service Provider - and Unicom – the Polycom video conferencing specialist, we established satellite broadband internet connectivity at all of the 45 Electoral District Offices and the CENI Central Office in Ouagadougou.

Thanks to the efficiency and support of the CENI administration, despite initial problems with local power outages, dust, and high temperatures at the local offices, our satellite internet technology was deployed across Burkina Faso in just six weeks, and successfully supported the elections with secure collation and verification of votes from the 18,698 polling stations. CENI was connected via video conference with district offices, allowing easy biometric recognition of voters. We also provided communication from the CENI Central Office to electoral volunteers and to the press.

Thanks to our broadband network, the election results could be declared and presented within a week of the vote, reducing the threat of contested results and civil unrest. Moreover, the network of broadband terminals remains in Burkina Faso, ready for use in other applications for the Burkinabe population.

Case Study | 5

Our broadband service in Burkina Faso uses simple, cheap and easily installed equipment at each Electoral District Office. Each satellite terminal comprises a receive/transmit satellite dish to communicate with the satellite, and a modem connected to a standard PC or local network. VoIP internet telephones and video conferencing cameras were also set up to provide voice and video links to the CENI Central Office in Ouagadougou.

Our satellite, located in orbit at 5° east, provided the required data connectivity sharing 32Mb/s between the terminals in Burkina Faso and teleport in Betzdorf (Luxembourg), which in turn is connected to the worldwide web. Each terminal was able to access the internet and securely exchange data with other terminals at the CENI Central and District Offices.

Teleport Satellite Modem Router/Switch Laptops

VideoconferenceUnit

FTP Client for electoraldata storage

VideoconferencingPlatform

Satellite ModemRouter/SwitchFTP Server for electoraldata storage

SatelliteAntenna

SatelliteAntenna

CENI Headquarters,Ouagadougou

(1 site)

Electoral DistrictO�ces

(44 sites)

2012 BURkINA fASO ELECTIONS IN NUMBERS:

• 4,365,202registeredvoters• 18,698pollingstationsacross

the country • 45satelliteterminalsatElectoral

District Offices• fullyredundantnetwork• 250connectedPCs• 2satellitetransponders

• 32Mb/sofdedicatedcapacity• 14,400hoursofprojectmanagement• 100technicians,25,000observersand

over 90,000 collaborators• 2,160GBofdatatransferred• 1,012hoursofvideosessions• 75.3%registeredvoterparticipation

Case Study | 7

For the 2012 Burkina Faso elections, our network was successfully deployed to enable transfer of electoral data from remote regions across the country including video conferencing, surveillance, VoIP, and biometric validation.

Digital communications between the Electoral District Offices and the CENI Central office has revolutionised the electoral process in Burkina Faso.

At SES Broadband Services we recognise that the success of this project is not only the connectivity component. The improvements in vote processing, fraud prevention, media access and contact between CENI and the outlying offices, increased the transparency and integrity of the elections and enhanced voter participation (an unprecedented 75.3% of the registered electorate voted), helping to achieve greater political stability and develop democracy in Burkina Faso.

Moreover, the establishment of our internet service in Burkina Faso has left a lasting benefit outside of the electoral process. The project introduced broadband communications to many remote areas for the first time, bridging the digital divide. After the elections, the broadband infrastructure can be redeployed into schools, hospitals, public offices or remote communities for initiatives in eLearningandeGovernance,leavingapoliticaland socio-economic legacy we can be proud of.

SES Broadband technology ensured rapid and highly reliable data transfer in the electoral process, and had the advantage of quick deployment, ensuring fast transmission of electoral data from remote locations.

PRESIdENT Of CENI

MR BARTHELEMy kéRé

Head office:

SES Broadband ServicesChâteau de BetzdorfL-6815 BetzdorfGrandDuchyofLuxembourg

Contact us:Tel +352 710 725 545E-Mail broadband@ses.com

For more information on our residential service, please visit

www.ses-broadband.comwww.youtube.com/ses