Gambia - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses
Gambia’s National Broadband Network facing financial hurdles
Gambia’s telecom market is dominated by the incumbent telco Gamtel, which retains a monopoly on fixed-line telephony services. There are four mobile networks providing effective competition. The market’s leader is Africell, with about 65% market share, while Comium and QCell compete closely for second and third place. Gamtel’s mobile unit Gamcel is by far the smallest operator, with about 10% share. 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 three licensed ISPs, which are small operators serving local areas, and so competition is minimal. The government has embarked on a National Broadband Network program aimed at closing the digital divide affecting many parts of the country, though in mid-2018 the terms of a loan required to continue work on the network were rejected by Parliament.
Key developments:
Government agrees to splitting off Gamcel from Gamtel;
Africell launches LTE services, competing with QCell;
Government announces liberalisation of the international gateway;
QCell launched its Qodoo Mobile Money service, follows with LTE;
Gamtel reports further declines in revenue;
Legislation prepared to create a new National ICT Agency;
Government launches National Broadband Network project;
International Network Management Center (IINMC) opens, facilitating traffic on ACE cable;
Africell contracts Alepo for Data Solutions;
Gamtel contracts Huawei for fibre backbone project;
Report update includes Gamtel financial data, ITU data for 2017, Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses, recent market developments.
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