Sierra Leone Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Last updated: 25 Mar 2025 Update History

Report Status: Current

Report Pages: 109

Analyst: Henry Lancaster

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Summary
Table Of Contents

Sierra Leone receives financial support for its digital transformation ambitions

Sierra Leone’s telecom sector is gradually emerging from a long period of war and political chaos. Whereas international lenders including the World Bank some years ago baulked at providing funds for national projects, on the assumption that monies would be embezzled, since 2022 funding has been approved to extend the country’s fibre infrastructure and to enable the government to realise its ambitions to develop a digital economy and society.

Considerable progress has been made to improve fibre connectivity, with Sierra Leone being a partner in the Amilcar Cabral submarine cable which will connect several coastal countries in the region. In addition, the government is implementing its five-year National Digital Transformation Project which is aimed at widening the reach of internet services, improving digital skills, and extending the provision of government digital services. Technical support is being provided by Smart Africa, which opened a Digital Academy in Freetown in early 2023, as well as by the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, which has started a three-year program to help Sierra Leone adopt digital technologies and bring the populace into the digital age. There have also been contracts awarded to private companies to set up the SMART Sierra Leone Project aimed at expanding internet connectivity and establish national data centres.

Given the poor state of the fixed-line infrastructure, mobile services have been the main driver in the telecom sector. In September 2023, Orange Sierra Leone launched a 5G pilot service covering the central business district of Freetown. The service is being undertaken in the context of the country’s National Innovation and Digitalisation Strategy, in which 5G is a pillar for extending access to the internet.

Key developments:

Legislation creates the National Communications Authority (NatCA) as the new telecom regulator.
Regulator signs MoU to adopt the ECOWAS Roaming Regulations.
Government signs contracts with the China National Technical Import & Export Corporation to set up the SMART Sierra Leone Project aimed at expanding internet connectivity to over 400,000 citizens and establishing national data centres.
Starlink secures licence to operate satellite broadband services in Sierra Leone.
Report update includes operator data to Q3 2024, updated Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses, recent market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report:

Sierra Leone Telecommunications Company (Sierratel), Bharti Airtel (Zain, Celtel), Comium, Africell (Lintel), Millicom (Tigo), Cellcom, LapGreen (Ambitel, GreenN), Access Point Africa, Afcom, African Information Technology Holdings (AITH), Onlime (LimeLine).

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

Overview
Regulatory authority
Fixed-line developments

Quality of Service (QoS)
Telecom sector liberalisation
Universal Access Development Fund (UADF)

Mobile network developments

Roaming
Tariffs

Mobile market

Market analysis
Mobile licensing
Mobile statistics
Mobile data
Mobile broadband
Mobile infrastructure

5G
4G (LTE)
3G
Other infrastructure developments

Major mobile operators

Orange Sierra Leone
Comium
Africell
Sierratel
Cellcom
Ambitel/GreenN
Smart Mobile
QCell

Mobile content and applications

M-payments

Fixed-line broadband market

Introduction and statistical overview

Fixed-wireless
Satellite internet
ISPs and converged service providers

Fixed network operator

Sierratel

Network infrastructure
Wireless Local Loop (WLL), CDMA2000 1x EV-DO
Privatisation, management contract

Telecommunications infrastructure

Overview of the national telecom network

National fibre network
Digital transformation projects
SMART Sierra Leone

International infrastructure

Satellite
Submarine
International fibre
International gateways

Appendix – Historic data
Glossary of abbreviations
Related reports

List of Tables

Table 1 – Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities – Sierra Leone – 2025 (e)
Table 2 – GSM licence awards and operations in Sierra Leone
Table 3 – Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Table 4 – Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers – 2014 – 2027
Table 5 – Change in the number of Orange Sierra Leone’s LTE subscribers – 2021 – 2023
Table 6 – Change in the number of Orange Sierra Leone’s mobile subscribers – 2015 – 2024
Table 7 – Change in the number of Orange Sierra Leone’s mobile internet subscribers – 2021 – 2023
Table 8 – Development of Orange Sierra Leone’s revenue – 2018 – 2023
Table 9 – Development of Orange Sierra Leone’s mobile ARPU – 2016 – 2022
Table 10 – Change in the number of Orange Sierra Leone’s registered m-money subscribers – 2017 – 2023
Table 11 – Increase in the number of internet users and penetration rate – 2012 – 2024
Table 12 – Change in the number of Orange Sierra Leone’s fixed and fixed wireless broadband subscribers – 2021 – 2023
Table 13 – Decline in the number of fixed lines in service and teledensity – 2012 – 2027
Table 14 – Development of international bandwidth capacity– 2017 – 2021
Table 15 – Historic - Fixed lines in service and teledensity – 1999 – 2011
Table 16 – Historic - Internet users and penetration rate – 1999 – 2011
Table 17 – Historic - Mobile subscribers and penetration rate – 2000 – 2011
Table 18 – Historic - Celtel/Zain SL subscribers and market share – 2003 – 2009

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 – Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Chart 11 – Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers – 2014 – 2027
Chart 12 – Change in the number of Orange Sierra Leone’s mobile subscribers – 2015 – 2024
Chart 13 – Change in the number of Orange Sierra Leone’s registered m-money subscribers – 2017 – 2023
Chart 14 – Increase in the number of internet users and penetration rate – 2012 – 2024

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 Sierra Leone

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Sierra Leone Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Purchase this Report

Sierra Leone receives financial support for its digital transformation ambitions

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

Fixed network operator

Telecommunications infrastructure

Appendix – Historic data

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