|
The Republic of Guinea |
|
The Republic of Guinea |
Guinea has been connected to the Internet since 1997. According to the African Internet Connection, as of May 99 Guinea has 5 ISPs, 300 Internet accounts, with 128 kpbs bandwidth. Further, there are 45,557 people per 1 Internet user. Internet services in Guinea are currently offered by 3 providers. Sotelgui (the country's PTO) and two private ISPs recently established: BINTTA/MiriNet and ETI-Bull.
Sotelgui started offering Internet Services in 97 through a project with the USAID's Leland Initiative (an initiative to improve Africa's global Information Infrastructure). Sotelgui signed two contracts with the USAID. The first allowed the installation of the national Internet Gateway in the capital. The objective of the second contract was expanding the Internet access outside of the capital, to secondary/local cities. This part of the project has already been completed in 3 local regions where the USAID group installed commercial ISPs using the new VSAT satellite technology that delivers high speed bandwidth to multiple locations at a shared cost. This technology uses both telephone networks and radio transmission lines to connect to the Internet. Thanks to this initiative, the Internet is now accessible not only in the main city but also in rural regions. The next phase of the project, still underway, aims at connecting more rural cities using the same cheap technology.
The second ISP in Guinea is ETI-Bull, which offers three kinds of Internet service packages. The first costs 40000 GNF/month ($40) and consists of 8 hours of connection (with each additional hour costing 5000 GNF) and 1 email account. The second package costs 100000 GNF/month ($100) and consists of 20 hours of connection, 2 email accounts and each additional hour at 4000 GNF. The 3rd package costs 300000 GNF/month ($300) and includes 50 hours of connections, 5 email accounts and each additional hour at 40000 GNF. The company also offers consulting services as advertised on their main web page.
The third Internet service provider is BINTA/MiniNet.
Regarding the technology used, Mike Jensen explains explains that African Internet services providers (ISPs) are more and more turning to terrestrial wireless radio communications technologies to reach rural masses. The reason for this is to avoid the many problems associated with copper based telephone networks. Some common problems shared with almost all African ISPs is the fact that they cannot rely on telephone lines because there is only about one line available per 200 people on average, the lines are not well maintained and they non-existent in rural areas. The solution is to use terrestrial wireless services which actually offer more bandwidth than the copper lines. The most popular wireless technology used are the spectrum systems with the 900 MHz or 2.4 GHz frequency range. Another alternative technology gaining recognition is the VSATs system already used in some countries such as Guinea. ("Wireless in Africa Telecommunications").
According to the ITU, there were about 19,786 telephone lines in Guinea in 1997, compared to 16,206 in 1996 and 10,855 in 1995. The teledensity or percentage of lines was 0.26 in 1997, compared to 0.22 in 1996 and 0.15 in 1995. The number of pay phones had also increased to 106 in 1996, from 33 in 1995 and 22 in 1995. The capital and its suburbs were equipped with 3 switching stations and distribution networks. Eleven switching stations and corresponding networks equip the provincial centers. Microwave transmission lines of than 2000 km connect the provincial centers to Conakry through 3 routes. International Links are provided through the PANAFTEL network with neighboring countries and an Intelsat satellite with the rest of the world. (WebGuinee).
Created in 1993, Sotelgui is the country's PTO. It was privatized on December 12th, 1995. Through the current partnership, Telecom Malaysia owns 60% of the company and the government owns the remaining 40%. In the framework of the co-operation between Guinea and Malaysia, Telecom Malaysia was expected to fulfill several expectations, mainly improving the whole industry and transferring the technical know-how. The following are some of the requirements that have already been met, to some extent ("Guinea at the Dawn of the Third Millennium"):
In 1995, the relatively new privatized Sotelgui was faced with many challenging tasks including developing very basic concepts such as customer services which was inexistent, technical training for the local employees and creating a collection fees process. One of the first things the new management at Sotelgui did was to decrease the US$1000 deposit for international calls by half and to lower the deposit for national calls from US$600 to US$200. As for call within the capital itself, the deposit was lowered from US$400 to 50. This major costs in price made the telephone more accessible to the population. ("Guinea to Receive Internet Sources"; Rashid Yusof; 1997). The company also had to spend over $20 million to upgrade its facilities.
- The installation of human resources management
- The introduction of new services such as cellular phones
- The rehabilitation, modernization and extension of communication equipment of the cable network and of FH transmission
- The introduction of GSM in the networks
- The consolidation of the flow of international traffic by putting into place circuits services by undersea cable
- The modernization and expansion of provincial telephones
- Providing Internet services
Telecom Malaysia achievements so far have been very impressive. The company has managed to provide excellent services and drastically improved the overall system. When Telecom Malaysia took over, Sotelgui only had about 10,000 subscribers in the country all located in the capital city. As of October 1999, the company now has 40,000 subscribers and is aiming for 500,000 by 2010. ("Call to Form Joint Ventures in Guinea"; Roziana Hamsawi; 1999).
According to Responsive Database Services Inc., there are about 4,140 cellular subscribers in Guinea as of September 1999. (Responsive Database Services, Inc.). These subscribers are shared by the only 3 cellar operators in the country. They are Sotelgui, Telecel-Guinea and Spacetel-Guinea.
Sotelgui, the national PTO, is owned 60% by Telecom Malaysia and 40% by the government. It lauchned it launched its cellular services in 1997 using a GSM system supplied by Alcatel. The company provides services country wide and its subscription based has increased from 1,000 in 1996 to 2000 as of March 1998. (Responsive Database Services, Inc.). Sotelgui contracted with Telular and paid $8 million
The second provider of cellular services in Guinea is Telecel-Guinea which was established in June 1994. It is owned 90% by Telecel International and 10% by Guinea. Unlike Sotelgui, it only provide services to the capital city, Conakry, and utilizes AMPS standards provided by Motorola. The company's subscription base has grown considerably from 312 in 94 to 480 in 95, to 750 in 96, to 1,100 in 97 and 1,120 as of March 1998.
The third cellular provider is Spacetel-Guinea, created in 1994 and owned 100% by Investcom, an Israel company. Spacel-Guinea also uses AMPS systems. The company has seen its subscription base increase from 500 in 95 to 700 in 96, to 1,000 in 1997 and 1,020 as of March 1998.
The goal of the government was to increase the number of cellular phones to 100,000 by 2000. ("Doing Business in West Africa"; Warner Montgomery; Sep 1999).
There are an estimated of 12 million phone in all of sub-Saharan Africa, 5 million of which are in South Africa. According to the ITU economic indicators, some people have to wait more than 10 years to be connected. The ITU report also indicated that although the obstacles, the phone lines in Africa managed to grow by 10% in 97. The continent only has 2% of the world's international telecom circuits. The countries that have experienced the highest growth are Guinea, Cote D'Ivoire, Ghana, Senegal and Ivory Coast, which all managed to privatize their telecoms.
In addition, 44 out of the 56 countries now have access to the Internet. According to Mike Jensen, a well respected IT consultant, there are about 100,000 dialup Internet accounts for 750 million people. The top 12 countries with the largest Internet Market are Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Senegal, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Zimbawe and South Africa. However despite this growth, only 1.4% of the continent's population used the Internet and most of them are located in South Africa. ("Africa Rings in the Changes"; Julie Carr; 1998).
The continent has over 2 million celluar subscribers. ("Africa Rings in the Changes"; Julie Carr; 1998). There has been 15 private new companies since 1995 and 3 million subscribers are forecasted by 2000 according to the ITU. ("Africa's glass: Half Full, Half Empty, Ever Optimistic"; Dedham, June 1998).
Back to Top
Home
kadiatou@hotmail.com________________________________________________________________________________________
Last updated: 12/19/99
