Full Internet connection in
Mauritania was established in August 1997 by the national telecom, Office des Postes et Telecommunications (OPT).
Supplied as a turnkey solution by France telecom et radio (FCR), the national node is in
Nouakchott with an initial connection of 64 Kbps to Paris. The Faculté des
Sciences et Techniques (FST) of the University of Nouakchott has been
designated at the Top Level Domain (TLD) administrator of ".mr".
The University of Nouakchott is the Internet Service
Provider (ISP) for the academic and research sector. The national telecom, OPT, caters the
public sector and international organisations. A number of private ISPs were licensed by
the OPT to provide Internet services, however Top Technology is currently the only ISP operational in
the country. The establishment of eight cybercafes is in progress.
Internet service charge at
OPT (US$ 1.00 = MU 210.07 as of August 1999)
| |
Monthly
subscription |
Connection
charge |
| Dial-up access with electronic mail |
US$ 38.08 |
US$ 21.42 |
| Leased line 19.2 Kbps (web only) |
US$ 476.03 |
US$ 476.03 |
| Leased line 19.2 Kbps (full Internet but
excludes service provision) |
US$ 571.24 |
US$ 476.03 |
| Leased line 28.8 Kbps (full Internet but
excludes service provision) |
US$ 714.05 |
US$ 476.03 |
| Web hosting up to 100 pages |
US$ 190.41, additional
page at US$ 1.91 |
|
Source: Internet service charge at OPT
(for leased lines,
modems are provided by OPT)
A three-year project was approved by the Government of the
Islamic Republic of Mauritania (GRIM) and UNDP to introduce and improve
Internet access in Mauritania. This joint project between the UNDP Africa Bureau's
Internet Initiative for Africa (IIA) and the Sustainable Development Network Programme
(SDNP) has the following activities:
- Develop Business Plan for the OPT;
- Set-up a secondary node in Nouadhibou;
- Minimize restrictions on the importation for
computer-based communications;
- Provide training in technical, marketing and
management to the OPT and ISPs; and
- Create national WEB servers.
The project will be
jointly executed by UNOPS and the Ministry of Planning of Mauritania.
Internet host sites:
53 (2000)
Internet
subscribers (1999):
- Total: 100
- Internet subscribers per
10,000 inhabitants: 0.41
Internet Users (1999):
- Total: 2,000
- Users per 10,000 inhabitants: 7.70
Internet use by
categories:
Academic:
Research:
NGO/UN/International:
Government:
Others:
Internet bandwidth
(Kbps): 128
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