Airtel Congo and MTN have struck a national roaming agreement that will see the two operators share mobile infrastructure in the Republic of the Congo.

The agreement has been confirmed by the Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Post (L’Agence de Regulation des Postes et des Communications Electroniques, ARPCE).

According to the regulator, the approach will enable customers greater access to mobile connectivity across the country, while encouraging passive infrastructure sharing between operators.

The agreement will see MTN open its network to Airtel subscribers on eight sites, including Malélé, Kissila, Kintamou, and Liouesso.

In return, Airtel will do the same for MTN across 10 locations including Kayes, Tchicanou, Boulankio, and Ketta.

"This decision made it possible to set the pricing and technical conditions, as well as considerations relating to national roaming contracts, in consultation with market players," said Benjamin Mouandza, director of electronic communications networks and services of the ARPCE.

Both operators are localized units of bigger mobile operators, with Airtel Congo as part of the wider Airtel Africa mobile business, which is majority owned by India's Bharti Airtel.

It's not known exactly how many customers Airtel has in the Republic of Congo, but MTN Congo, which is part of the South African-based MTN Group, is estimated to have 2.4 million customers in the country. Congo Telecom is the third operator in the country.