Telecommunications in Senegal

Telecommunications in Senegal include radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet.

Senegal has an excellent telecommunications infrastructure, which is now digital. Cable, telex, fax, and Internet services are available. There has been a boom of Internet-related activities and services and in cell phone usage. The last several years have witnessed spectacular growth of mobile telephone use from 1.5 million subscribers in 2005 to 13.3 million in 2012. In 2012 the country had roughly 338,200 landlines for its 13.0 million inhabitants. A number of cyber cafés are located in the capital, Dakar, and other cities.

Sonatel, Senegal's main telecommunications operator, was privatized in 1997 with France Télécom as the strategic partner. Sonatel continues to dominate the market. Liberalization of some services accompanied privatization. Two companies now provide cellular telephone services, and there is a competitive market.

An independent regulatory agency for the telecommunications sector, the Agency for Telecommunications and Postal Regulation (ARTP), was created in early 2002. Besides regulating providers of telecommunications services, the agency assigns and controls radio spectrum. The long-awaited telecommunications sector deregulation became effective in July 2004, with the release of a sectoral letter that outlined the IT policy for the coming years. Telecommunications entrepreneurs who had hoped for a sweeping deregulation received a regime of guided deregulation instead.

The Government wants Senegal to be a haven for teleprocessing services, with its advantageous geographic position, relatively good telecommunications infrastructure and relatively low wages. A number of joint venture call centers and the telemarketing businesses have sprung up, most of them servicing the French market.

In 2007, sales generated by the telecommunications sector accounted for more than 7 percent of GDP.

Radio is the most important medium of mass information and source of news due to the high illiteracy rate. The BBC World Service (105.6 MHz) and Radio France Internationale are available on FM in Dakar.

...
Wikipedia