Niger slowly expands connectivity to unserved areas
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, as well as a regulatory spat with authorities which saw its offices being shut down, 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. Niger also hosts foreign investors Airtel, which leads the market, and Moov Africa, formerly Maroc Telecom.
Key Developments:
15-year LTE licence awarded to Zamani Com,- Orange Niger rebrands as Zamani Telecom, Maroc Telecom rebrands its African subsidiaries to Moov Africa;
- 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;
- Airtel invests in fibre deployment from Zinder to Maimoujia;
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Table of Contents
- Key statistics
- Country overview
- Telecommunications market
- Market analysis
- Regulatory environment
- Regulatory authority
- Fixed-line developments
- Telecom sector liberalisation
- Access
- Quality of Service
- Mobile network developments
- Spectrum
- SIM card registration
- Roaming
- Mobile market
- Mobile statistics
- Mobile infrastructure
- 4G (LTE)
- GSM, 3G
- Mobile broadband
- Major mobile operators
- Airtel Niger
- Zamani Telecom
- Moov Niger
- Niger Telecom
- Mobile content and applications
- m-banking
- Fixed-line broadband market
- Introduction and statistics
- Fixed network operators
- Niger Telecom (Sonitel)
- Zamani Telecom
- Telecommunications infrastructure
- Overview of the national telecom network
- International infrastructure
- Glossary of abbreviations
- Related reports
List of Tables
List of Charts
List of Exhibits
