Sudan Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Publication Date: June 2026

Report Pages: 126

Analyst: Henry Lancaster

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Summary
Table Of Contents

Sudan’s telecom regulator partners with telcos to aid relief efforts during the war

Sudan entered into a transitional administrative period in August 2019 following protests against authoritarian rule, which had included media and internet censorship. Hopes for a smooth political settlement were dashed in late 2021 when a military coup replaced the transitional government, and many political leaders were placed under house arrest. In April 2023, some three months before anticipated elections were to be held, war erupted between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Millions of people have since been displaced, many more millions suffer from extreme hunger, and much of the country’s infrastructure, including fuel depots, refinery capacity, and hospitals, has been destroyed.

The difficult economic conditions have meant that for several years telcos have seen a dramatic fall in revenue and have found it difficult to invest in infrastructure upgrades. All three MNOs have lost control of parts of their infrastructure, including base stations, while their data centres have been damaged and equipment has been destroyed or stolen. MTN Sudan has reported its financials under hyperinflationary reporting standards.

To help secure internet services for NGOs, the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster in August 2024 installed a dedicated subsea fibre connection in Port Sudan, though its efforts to connect to Starlink’s satellite service have been thwarted by the government which has banned the import of terminals in a bid to prevent the RSF from using Starlink for communications.

Key developments:

Zain Sudan launches its Bede Zain fintech service.
Telecom regulator partners with telcos to aid relief efforts during the war.
Hyperinflation continuing to affect telcos’ revenue reporting.
Report update includes operator data to Q1 2025, regulator’s market data updates, updated Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses, recent market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report:

Zain Sudan, MTN Sudan, Sudatel, Sudani, Canar Telecom (Canartel), SudaNet, ZinaNet, Thuraya

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

Historical overview
Regulatory authority
Fixed-line developments

Telecom sector liberalisation
Universal service fund (USF)

Mobile network developments

SIM card registration

Mobile market

Market analysis
Mobile statistics
Mobile data

SMS and MMS

Mobile broadband
Major mobile operators

Zain Sudan
MTN Sudan
Sudani (Sudatel)

Mobile infrastructure

5G
4G (LTE)
3G

Other infrastructure developments

Mobile satellite

Mobile content and applications

Mobile money

Fixed-line broadband market

Introduction and statistical overview
Sudan Internet Society (SiS)
Broadband statistics
Fixed-line broadband technologies

Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) networks

Fixed wireless broadband services

EV-DO
WiMAX
Satellite broadband

Digital economy
Fixed network operators

Sudatel

Privatisation

Canartel (Canar Telecom)

Telecommunications infrastructure

Overview of the national telecom network

Wireless Local Loop (WLL)
Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT)
National fibre backbone

International infrastructure

Submarine fibre
Terrestrial fibre
Satellite

Appendix – Historic data
Glossary of abbreviations
Related reports

List of Tables

Table 1 – Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities - Sudan – 2025 (e)
Table 2 – Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Table 3 – Change in the share of mobile subscribers by operator – 2012 – 2024
Table 4 – Change in SMS traffic – 2012 – 2018
Table 5 – Change in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers by operator (million) – 2015 – 2020
Table 6 – Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Table 7 – Growth in the number of Zain Sudan’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2025
Table 8 – Growth in Zain Sudan’s financial data ($ million) – 2012 – 2025
Table 9 – Development of Zain Sudan’s financial data (SDG million) – 2012 – 2020
Table 10 – Development of Zain Sudan’s financial data (KD million) – 2017 – 2025
Table 11 – Change in the number of MTN Sudan’s mobile sites by technology – 2021 – 2024
Table 12 – Change in the number of MTN Sudan’s subscribers – 2012 – 2025
Table 13 – Development of MTN Sudan’s financial data (ZAR million) – 2012 – 2025
Table 14 – Growth in the number of Sudani’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Table 15 – Change in the number of MTN Sudan’s active m-money users – 2018 – 2024
Table 16 – Growth in the number of fixed-line broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Table 17 – Change in the number of DSL subscribers – 2012 – 2018
Table 18 – Development of Sudatel Group’s financial data ($ million) – 2012 – 2025
Table 19 – Development of Sudatel’s domestic financial data ($ million) – 2018 – 2025
Table 20 – Growth in the number of fixed lines in service and teledensity – 2012 – 2027
Table 21 – Development of international bandwidth (Mb/s) – 2012 – 2021
Table 22 – Historic - Mobile subscribers and penetration rate – 1996 – 2011
Table 23 – Historic - Zain Sudan subscribers and ARPU – 2003 – 2011
Table 24 – Historic - Fixed-line broadband subscribers – 2004 – 2011
Table 25 – Historic - Internet users and penetration rate – 1997 – 2015
Table 26 – Historic - Fixed lines in service and penetration – 1996 – 2011
Table 27 – Historic - MTN Sudan mobile subscribers – 2006 – 2011
Table 28 – Historic - Sudatel financial data ($ million) – 2008 – 2011
Table 29 – Historic - Increase in international internet bandwidth – 2004 – 2011

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 – Change in the share of mobile subscribers by operator – 2012 – 2024
Chart 12 – Change in SMS traffic – 2012 – 2018
Chart 13 – Change in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers by operator – 2015 – 2020
Chart 14 – Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Chart 15 – Growth in the number of Zain Sudan’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2025
Chart 16 – Growth in Zain Sudan’s financial data ($) – 2015 – 2025
Chart 17 – Development of Zain Sudan’s financial data (SDG) – 2012 – 2020
Chart 18 – Development of Zain Sudan’s financial data (KD) – 2017 – 2025
Chart 19 – Change in the number of MTN Sudan’s mobile sites by technology – 2021 – 2024
Chart 20 – Change in the number of MTN Sudan’s subscribers – 2012 – 2025
Chart 21 – Development of MTN Sudan’s financial data – 2015 – 2025
Chart 22 – Growth in the number of Sudani’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Chart 23 – Growth in the number of fixed-line broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Chart 24 – Development of Sudatel Group’s financial data – 2015 – 2025
Chart 25 – Development of Sudatel’s domestic financial data ($ million) – 2018 – 2025
Chart 26 – Growth in the number of fixed lines in service and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Chart 27 – Development of international bandwidth – 2012 – 2021

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 – 2Africa landing stations

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Sudan Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Purchase this Report

Sudan’s telecom regulator partners with telcos to aid relief efforts during the war

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 operators

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