Gambia Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Publication Date: December 2023

Report Pages: 105

Lead Analyst: Henry Lancaster

Contributing Analyst: Peter Lange

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Summary
Table Of Contents

Gambia’s regulator calls for backup connectivity on submarine cables

Gambia’s telecom market is dominated by the incumbent telco Gamtel, which retains a monopoly on fixed-line telephony services. There are five mobile network operators providing effective competition, though Giraffe Telecom was only licensed in January 2022 and is yet to be assigned spectrum. The market leader is Africell, with about 62% of the market, while Comium and QCell compete closely for second and third place. Gamtel’s mobile unit Gamcel is by far the smallest operator, having suffered from underinvestment in recent years. Comium has also suffered from financial difficulties: its failure to pay accumulated fees resulted in the government having sought a temporary suspension of its services in mid-2021.

Mobile penetration is well above the African average, itself a testament to the poor condition of the fixed-line infrastructure and the lack of availability of fixed services in many rural areas of the country.

Although the incumbent has a relatively well-developed national fibre backbone network, low fixed-line penetration has hindered internet usage. There are only four licensed ISPs, which are small operators serving local areas, and so competition is minimal. Their limited services are complemented by the fixed-wireless offerings of three of the MNOs.

The government has embarked on a National Broadband Network program aimed at closing the digital divide affecting many parts of the country. Gamtel launched services based on this network in late 2019, though on a limited scale. Despite efforts to improve internet connectivity, the country ranks among the lowest globally in terms of digital readiness.

Key developments:

MOICI grants Giraffe Telecom The Gambia ’s fifth mobile licence;
Eutelsat Communications signs deal with Intersat to provide satellite internet capacity covering The Gambia, Guinea Bissau, and Senegal;
Government confirms long-standing Gamcel privatisation plans;
Africell launches LTE services, competing with QCell;
Government liberalises the international gateway;
QCell launches its Qodoo Mobile Money service, follows with LTE;
Gamtel launches fibre services based on the National Broadband Network;
International Network Management Center (IINMC) opens, facilitating traffic on ACE cable;
Gamtel contracts Huawei for fibre backbone project;
Report update includes Gamtel’s financial data, ITU’s data for 2020, updated Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses, regulator’s market data for Q4 2020, recent market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report:

Gambia Telecommunications (Gamtel), Gamcel, Africell, Comium, QCell, Globacom, Thuraya, GamNet, QuantumNet, Netpage, Airtip

Key statistics
Regional Africa Market Comparison

Market characteristics
Market Leaders
Market Challengers
Market Emergents
TMI vs GDP
Mobile and mobile broadband penetration
Fixed versus mobile broadband penetration

Country overview
Telecommunications market

Market analysis

Regulatory environment

Regulatory authorities

PURA
MOICI

Fixed-line developments

National Communications and Information Policy (NACIP)
2009 ICT Act
Interconnection
Universal Access Fund (UAF)
Telecom sector liberalisation
Privatisation

Mobile network developments

SIM card registration
Billing

Mobile market

Market analysis
Mobile statistics
Mobile infrastructure

4G (LTE)
3G
Mobile data
Mobile broadband

Major mobile operators

Gamcel
Africell Gambia
Comium
QCell
Giraffe Telecom

Mobile content and applications

M-banking

Fixed-line broadband market

Market analysis
Broadband statistics
Internet Exchange Point (IXP)
Fixed-line broadband technologies

Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) networks
Fibre-to-the-Premises (FttP) networks
Other fixed broadband services

Digital economy

e-government
Tele-education

Fixed network operator

Gambia Telecommunications (Gamtel)

Telecommunications infrastructure

Overview of the national telecom network
International infrastructure

Submarine fibre
Satellite

Appendix
Glossary of abbreviations
Related reports

List of Tables

Table 1 – Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities – Gambia – 2022 (e)
Table 2 – Telecom investment – 2012 – 2018
Table 3 – Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Table 4 – Growth in the share of mobile subscribers by operator – 2012 – 2020
Table 5 – Growth in the number of LTE subscribers by operator – 2018 – 2020
Table 6 – Growth in the number of 3G mobile subscribers by operator – 2016 – 2020
Table 7 – Growth in the number of mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Table 8 – Growth in the number of Gamcel’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2020
Table 9 – Growth in the number of Africell Gambia’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2020
Table 10 – Change in the number of Comium’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2020
Table 11 – Growth in the number of QCell’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2020
Table 12 – Internet users and penetration – 2012 – 2019
Table 13 – Growth in the number of fixed-line broadband subscribers – 2012 – 2027
Table 14 – Growth in the number of fixed-line broadband subscribers by operator – 2013 – 2020
Table 15 – Change in the number of fixed lines in service and teledensity – 2012 – 2027
Table 16 – International Internet bandwidth – 2012 – 2018
Table 17 – Historic - Mobile subscribers and penetration rate in Gambia – 1999 – 2011
Table 18 – Historic - Internet users and penetration rate in Gambia – 1999 – 2011
Table 19 – Historic - Fixed lines in service and teledensity in Gambia – 1999 – 2011
Table 20 – Historic - International internet bandwidth – 2002 – 2011
Table 21 – Historic - Fixed-line broadband subscribers – 2004 – 2011
Table 22 – Historic - Gamtel financial data (GMD million) – 2012 – 2014

List of Charts

Chart 1 – Africa Telecoms Maturity Index – Market Leaders
Chart 2 – Africa – Market Leaders global ranking
Chart 3 – Africa Telecoms Maturity Index – Market Challengers
Chart 4 – Africa – Market Challengers global ranking
Chart 5 – Africa Telecoms Maturity Index – Market Emergents
Chart 6 – Africa – Market Emergents global ranking
Chart 7 – Africa – Telecoms Maturity Index vs GDP per capita
Chart 8 – Africa – Mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration
Chart 9 – Africa – Fixed and mobile broadband penetration
Chart 10 – Telecom investment – 2011 – 2018
Chart 11 – Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Chart 12 – Growth in the share of mobile subscribers by operator – 2012 – 2020
Chart 13 – Growth in the number of LTE mobile subscribers by operator – 2018 – 2020
Chart 14 – Growth in the number of 3G mobile subscribers by operator – 2016 – 2020
Chart 15 – Growth in the number of mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Chart 16 – Growth in the number of Gamcel’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2020
Chart 17 – Growth in the number of Africell Gambia’s mobile subscribers – 2009 – 2020
Chart 18 – Change in the number of Comium’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2020
Chart 19 – Growth in the number of QCell’s mobile subscribers – 2009 – 2020
Chart 20 – Internet users and penetration – 2012 – 2019
Chart 21 – Growth in the number of fixed-line broadband subscribers – 2012 – 2027
Chart 22 – Growth in the number of fixed-line broadband subscribers by operator – 2013 – 2020
Chart 23 – Change in the number of fixed lines in service and teledensity – 2012 – 2027
Chart 24 – International Internet bandwidth – 2012 – 2018

List of Exhibits

Exhibit 1 – Map of Telecom Maturity Index global ranking among countries in Africa
Exhibit 2 – Generalised Market Characteristics by Market Segment
Exhibit 3 – Africa – Market Leaders and market developments
Exhibit 4 – Africa – Market Challengers and market developments
Exhibit 5 – Africa – Market Emergents and market developments
Exhibit 6 – Map of Gambia

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Gambia Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Purchase this Report

Gambia’s regulator calls for backup connectivity on submarine cables

Key developments:

Companies mentioned in this report:

Key statistics

Regional Africa Market Comparison

Country overview

Telecommunications market

Regulatory environment

Mobile market

Fixed-line broadband market

Digital economy

Fixed network operator

Telecommunications infrastructure

Appendix

Glossary of abbreviations

Related reports

Purchase this Report

Share this Report

TMT Intelligence

A platform to scale your intelligence tasks

Research Methodology

Hot Topics

News & Views