Responsible Ministry: Ministère
de la Communication et des Technologies de l’Information
Telecommunication regulator:
The Direction des Etudes et de la Réglementation des Postes et des
Télécommunications is responsible for the regulation of the telecommunications
sector.
Telecommunication operator:
In 1985, the telecommunications in Senegal was completely reformed. The post and the
telecommunication activities of the Senegalese Office des Postes et Télécommunications
were separated, and national and international telecommunications services were merged. An
entirely state-owned corporation was set up: Société Nationale des
Télécommunications (SONATEL). Following the decision by the state for a partial
privatisation of SONATEL, France Cables Radio, a subsidiary of France
Telecom, acquired a 33.33% stake in Sonatel, for about US$ 122 million.
Teledensity:
- Total: 2.16
(2000)
- Largest cities:
5.42 (1999)
- Rest of the country:
0.79 (1999)
Digital main lines: 100.00%
(1999)
Waiting list for a telephone
line:
- Total: 24,000
(1999)
- Average waiting time:
1.0 years (1999)
- Total demand (k):
189.8 (1999)
- Satisfied demand (%):
87.4 (1999)
Telephone Tariffs:
| PSTN
connection charge - residential |
US$
38 |
| PSTN
connection charge - business |
US$
38 |
| PSTN monthly
subscription - residential |
US$
3.9 |
| PSTN monthly
subscription - business |
US$
3.9 |
| PSTN 3 minutes
local call |
US$
0.12 |
Source: World
Telecommunication Indicators, 2000/2001
Public telephones: 10,830
(1999)
Public telephones per 1,000
inhabitants: 1.17 (1999)
Mobile cellular subscribers:
195,000 (2000)
Alizé, owned by
SONATEL, is the GSM cellular network operating nationwide.
SENTEL GSM, is
Senegal’s second cellular operator which launched its services on April 1999. SENTEL
is a subsidiary of Millicom International Cellular, based in Luxembourg.
Cellular susbcribers as a % of
total telephone subscribers: 49.36 (2000)
Mobile cellular tariffs (1999):
| Connection charge |
US$ 41 |
| Monthly subscription fee |
US$ 13.0 |
| Local call per minute -
peak |
US$ 0.97 |
| Local call per minute -
off-peak |
- |
Source:
World Telecommunication Indicators, 2000/2001
Telecommunications revenue (M
US$): 182.4 (1999)
Telecommunications investment (M
US$): 91.8 (1999)
Telecommunications investment as
a % of revenue: 50.3 (1999)
Telecom equipment exports (M
US$): 0.4 (1999)
Telecom equipment imports (M
US$): 11.6 (1999)
Telecentres: Sonatel has
abandoned the provision of public telephone services, and instead has been licensing by
end of 1997 'teleboutiques' or 'telecentres' operated by small businesses. Most of these
only provide public telephony, but an increasing number of them have faxes, computers and
Internet access.
Facsimiles: na
The Comité National
Informatique (CNI) was formed in 1972 with the responsibility for formulating and
coordinating national policy. In 1987, the Délégation à l'Informatique (DINFO) was
established as a means of creating the building blocks for the strategic development of
information technology. The secretariat of CNI is provided by DINFO which has the
following terms of reference:
- to oversee the implementation of
informatics policy as defined in the terms of reference laid down by the President of the
Republic;
- to supervise the computerisation of
Government and parastatal institutions; and
- to promote the application of
informatics in the economy.
The following centres have been
active in data processing and computerisation, mainly in the public sector:
- The Direction du Traitement
Automatique de l'Information (DTAI) of the Ministère de l'Economie et des
Finances is one of the most important centre in terms of computer and human, and training
activities;
- The Direction de
l'Automatisation des Fichiers (DAF) of the Ministère de l'Intérieur;
- The Centre Informatique de
la Douane houses since 1996 the most powerful government computers.
- The Centre National de
Documentation Scientifique et Technique (CNDST) is responsible for the national
science and technology information network. CNDST hold a bibliographic database and
provides information on other institutional holdings. Access to international databases
via X.25 at CNDST has been supported by Coopération Française and UNDP;
- The Centre de Recherche
Océanographique de Dakar-Thiaroye is the focal point for the development of scientific
information in collaboration with the Institut Français de la Recherche Scientifique en
Coopération; and
- In 1994, the land taxation registry
installed a U6000 computer using UNIX and ORACLE data management systems for managing land
taxes. This forms the nucleus of the Informatics Centre of the Direction Générale
des Impôts.
A number of computer associations
have been active in promoting the use and benefits of information technology. The major
ones are:
- Association des Clubs de
Micro-Informatique du Sénégal (ACMIS);
- Association des Anciens Etudiants de
l'Institut Africain d'Informatique à Libreville (IAI);
- Association des Anciens Etudiants de
l'Ecole Nationale Supérieure Universitaire de Technologie (ENSUT); and
- Association des Jeunes pour le
Développement de l'Informatique au Sénégal (AJDIS).
With the launching of Internet in
Senegal, a number of initiatives were established, such as:
- The Réseau Africain pour
l'Intégration et le Développement (RAPIDE) was jointly developed by the
Pan-African News Agency (PANA) and two Senegalese computer engineering companies to ensure
that there is a significant African presence on the Internet.
- The Research-Education
Network makes use of Internet and information networks to facilitate the flow of
scientific and technical information, and to promote the emergence and growth of the
African scientific community. The Refer network of the Canada-based Francophone Agency for
Higher Education and Research, AUPELF-UREF, is installed at the Université Cheikh Anta
Diop (UCAD), Dakar, linking Senegal's main nodes to SYFED (Système Francophone d'Edition
et de Diffusion).
Computer per 100
inhabitants: 1.51 (1999)
The Ministère
de la Communication is the higher agency responsible for radio and television
broadcasting.
RadioDiffusion Télévision Sénégalaise (RTS) is the national radio and television broadcaster. RTS was established in
1992.
National Radio
Broadcasters:
- RTS
channel 1: International channel broadcasting in Arabic, English, French and Portuguese
- RTS channel 2:
National channel broadcasting in national languages and in Arabic
Regional Radio
Broadcasters:
- RTS channel 3
at Saint-Louis
- RTS channel 4
at Ziguinchor
- RTS channel 4
at Kaolack
- RTS channel 4
at Tamba
- RTS Dakar FM
Radio
Broadcasters on the Web: Local
Radio/Television Stations On The Web
Radios per
100 inhabitants: 12 (1995)
Television
receivers per 100 inhabitants: 4.10 (1999)
Cable TV
subscribers: na
Home
satellite dishes/antennas:na
