Niger is one of the largest countries in West Africa but also one of the poorest in the world. As with many African markets, a lack of fixed telecoms infrastructure has led to growth in mobile services. Niger’s mobile penetration is modest compared to other countries in the region, while fixed broadband penetration is negligible.
Recent international investment to complete the Trans-Saharan Dorsal optical fibre (SDR) network has extended the reach of fibre infrastructure in the country, and also increased international capacity. New cables linking the country with Chad and Burkina Faso have extended Niger’s connectivity with international cable infrastructure.
Following years of financial difficulties, the state-owned fixed line operator, Sonitel, was merged with its wholly owned mobile unit, SahelCom, in late 2016 to form a new entity, Niger Telecom. The merged company secured a global telecom licence in November 2017 and is aiming to develop greater efficiency through sharing resources and infrastructure.
The economic difficulties in the country in recent years encouraged Orange Group to sell its local business to its minority shareholder partner. The unit, once operating as Orange Niger, was rebranded as Zamani Telecom in December 2020. At the same time, the company secured funds to embark on a large-scale network upgrade program.
Key developments:
- 15-year LTE licence awarded to Zamani Com,
- Orange Niger rebrands as Zamani Telecom,
- Regulator again fines the MNOs for poor QoS;
- World Bank provides $100 million to facilitate Niger’s digital progress;
- Niger adopts free mobile roaming with other G5 Sahel countries;
- Report update includes the regulator's market report to Q3 2021, operator data to Q3 2021, updated Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses, assessment of the global impact of pandemic on the telecoms sector, recent market developments.
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Developing Telecoms market report summaries are produced in partnership with BuddeComm, the world’s largest continually updated online telecommunications research service.
The above article is a summary of the following BuddeComm report:
Report title: Niger - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses
Edition: January 2022
Analyst: Henry Lancaster
Number of pages: 117
Companies mentioned in this report: Niger Telecom (Sonitel, SahelCom), Bharti Airtel (Airtel Niger), Zamani Telecom (Orange Niger), Atlantique Telecom, Moov, Maroc Telecom, Etisalat, African Development Bank
Single User PDF Licence Price: US$890
For more information or to purchase a copy of the full report please use the following link: https://www.budde.com.au/Research/Niger-Telecoms-Mobile-and-Broadband-Statistics-and-Analyses/?r=83
