The Landscape of Infomation Technology in Senegal

HOME About Senegal National Policy Telecommunications Computing & Internet Diffusion Electronic Commerce Hardware Manufacturing Software Development IT Workforce IT Geographics IT Financing Legal Environment Analysis Author Sources And Links Other Countries IT landscape Telecommunications in Senegal   The Rankings §         Second in sub-Saharan Africa in terms of phone density (280,000 phone lines for 9.5 million inhabitants) behind South Africa §         Lowest international rates in Africa §         Fourth in band width capacity (90Mb/s towards France and USA) behind South Africa, Egypt, and Morocco §         Fourth country, behind South Africa, Nigeria, and Tunisia to adopt ADSL technology   The graph below compares the teledensity in Senegal to other countries from 1990 to 1997.  In addition, it represents the percentage of revenues from telecommunications in relation to the GDP.

Source: Gaye and Dansokho, May 2002

Overview

As of 2003, there is only one phone company in Senegal that exercises a monopoly in the industry.  The Sonatel provides service to 280,000 customers; there are 16,251 public lines, and 13,000 phone centers.  In the area of cell phone companies, there are two main vendors (one being a subsidiary of the Sonatel).  However, cell phones users are twice more than regular fix line customers (700,000 users).  The graph contrasts mainlines and mobiles users from 1996 to 2001.

The players

As mention above, the Sonatel has the monopoly in Senegal for mainlines’ market until July 2004, at which point the market will be open to other private operators.  The company was privatized in 1997, and is owned at 42.33% by France Telecom, 27.67% by the Senegalese government, 20% by institutions and other investors, and at 10% by its employees.  The company’s revenues are estimates around FCFA148 Billion ($250 million).  The other players in the market are “Companie Generale D’Energie” (General Energy Company), Boulch Electronics, “Companie de Services de telecommunications internationales (ITS), and CFAO Technologies.  Finally, the phone centers offer another type of competition to the mainlines and mobiles markets; they represent 6% of Sonatel’s market (13,000 lines), and are often the only means of communication in rural areas.

The Infrastructure

Sonatel has built a high-tech phone network, which covers the totality of the Senegalese territory and owns 2,200 kms (1,400 miles) of fiber optic cables.  The company has reduced its prices by 12% in 2002, which reflect a considerable effort from the company that has reduced its prices by 60% in the past three years (42% decline in 2000 only!).  The network will use Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) for security protocols.  Sonatel has spent FCFA500 Billion (around $77 million) to create a marine pipeline made of fiber optic cables linking Europe, Africa, and Asia.  The pipeline would be 28,000 km long (17,400 miles).  It was inaugurated in May 2002, but was already working in April 2002.  The capacity of the pipeline is 60Gbits/s, which is equivalent to 720,000 simultaneous phone conversations, or 45,000 TV cables.

The future demand

There is a lot of disparity between Dakar and the rest of the country.  Sixty percent of the mainlines are concentrated in Dakar, along with 55% of phone centers.  We note that Dakar only regroups 25% of the population.  Eighty percent of mobiles users are also in Dakar.

Regulation

Several organizations help regulate the Telcos in Senegal, among others we can cite:

§         Regulatory Agency for Telecommunications (RAT): In charge of regulating the industry and promote the development of the New Information and Communication Technologies.

§         Consumers Protection Agency (CPA): In charge of protecting Senegalese consumers against the monopoly of utilities companies