Telecommunications in Senegal include radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet. In 2012 the country had roughly 338,200 landlines for its 13.0 million inhabitants. A number of

cyber cafés Cyber may refer to: Computing and the Internet * ''Cyber-'', from cybernetics, a transdisciplinary approach for exploring regulatory and purposive systems Crime and security * Cyber crime, crime that involves computers and networks ** Conventio ...

are located in the capital,

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from :wo:daqaar, daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar ...

, and other cities.

Regulation

Sonatel, Senegal's main

telecommunications operator A telephone company, also known as a telco, telephone service provider, or telecommunications operator, is a kind of communications service provider (CSP), more precisely a telecommunications service provider (TSP), that provides telecommunica ...

, was privatized in 1997 with France Télécom as the strategic partner. Sonatel continues to dominate the market. Liberalization of some services accompanied privatization. Two companies now provide cellular telephone services, and there is a competitive

Internet services An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise private ...

market. An independent regulatory agency for the telecommunications sector, the Agency for Telecommunications and Postal Regulation (ARTP), was created in early 2002. Besides regulating providers of telecommunications services, the agency assigns and controls radio spectrum. The long-awaited telecommunications sector deregulation became effective in July 2004, with the release of a sectoral letter that outlined the IT policy for the coming years. Telecommunications entrepreneurs who had hoped for a sweeping deregulation received a regime of guided deregulation instead. The Government wants Senegal to be a haven for teleprocessing services, with its advantageous geographic position, relatively good telecommunications infrastructure and relatively low wages. A number of joint venture call centers and the telemarketing businesses have sprung up, most of them servicing the French market. In 2007, sales generated by the telecommunications sector accounted for more than 7 percent of

GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is ofte ...

Radio and television

Radio stations Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio sta ...

: ** Approximately 80 community, public, and private commercial radio stations (2012); ** 8 AM, 20 FM, and one shortwave stations (2001). *

Radios Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitt ...

: 1.2 million (1997). *

Television stations A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the ear ...

: ** State-run Radiodiffusion Television Senegalaise (RTS) operates five main stations at Dakar, Thies, Tambacouda, Ziguinchor, and Louga; there are also numerous relay stations. ** One (1997). *

Television set A television set or television receiver, more commonly called the television, TV, TV set, telly, tele, or tube, is a device that combines a tuner, display, and loudspeakers, for the purpose of viewing and hearing television broadcasts, or using ...

s: 361,000 (1997). Radio is the most important medium of mass information and source of news due to the high illiteracy rate. The BBC World Service (105.6 MHz) and

Radio France Internationale Radio France Internationale, usually referred to as RFI, is the state-owned international radio broadcaster of France. With 37.2 million listeners in 2014, it is one of the most-listened-to international radio stations in the world, along with ...

are available on FM in

Radiodiffusion Télévision Sénégalaise Radiodiffusion Télévision Sénégalaise (RTS) is the Senegalese public broadcasting company. History The French military opened the first radio broadcasting station in Dakar in 1932. It began broadcasting civilian programming in 1939. The or ...

(RTS) and

2sTV 2sTV is the second television channel of Senegal. It is owned 100% by El hadji Ibrahima Ndiaye, the administrator of the channel. Beginnings In 2003, the first programmes were shown on the UHF23 channel. The station was at first a partnership ...

are the two main TV channels. The government maintains control of locally televised information and opinion through RTS. By law, the government holds a majority interest in RTS, and the president directly or indirectly controls selection of all members of the 12-person RTS executive staff. However, in addition to RTS, five privately owned television channels are operating. Selective government media assistance appears to favor those government and independent outlets more friendly to the administration. The government frequently uses subsidies, and in a few cases threats and intimidation, to pressure the media not to publicize certain issues. The law criminalizes libel, and libel laws are used to block or punish critical reporting and commentary. Occasional incidents of self-censorship by journalists occurred, particularly in government-controlled media. Senegal is a popular destination for amateur radio operators from Western and European points of origin who participate in "

DXpedition A DX-pedition is an expedition to what is considered an exotic place by amateur radio operators and DX listeners, typically because of its remoteness, access restrictions, or simply because there are very few radio amateurs active from that pl ...

s". A DXpedition is essentially a holiday planned for the purpose of making contacts with other amateur radio enthusiasts around the world. These short duration trips also help to promote interest in radio sports among the local residents who might otherwise not have the opportunity to experience radio communications for recreational and experimental purposes. More information may be obtained through the

American Radio Relay League The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) is the largest membership association of amateur radio enthusiasts in the United States. ARRL is a non-profit organization, and was co-founded on April 6, 1914, by Hiram Percy Maxim and Clarence D. Tuska o ...

a
www.arrl.org
(K4YZ).

Telephones

There are currently four cellular companies: the former Alizé, now Orange owned by Sonatel; Tigo/Sentel(now under the French Free Mobile brand), 75 percent owned by

Millicom Millicom International Cellular SA (NASDAQ U.S.: TIGO, NASDAQ Stockholm: TIGO_SDB) is a Luxembourgish fixed line and mobile telecommunications services provider dedicated to emerging markets in Latin America operating under the Tigo brand. As of ...

International Cellular; Hayo/CSU; and Expresso/Sudatel. Orange has roughly two thirds of the cellular market, but Tigo is rapidly gaining market share. In November 2007 a third mobile license was awarded to Sudan's Sudatel for $200 million. The license permits Sudatel to offer fixed line telephone and Internet service (for which Sonatel had a monopoly).Communication from the Senegalese regulator (ARTP)
to the

ITU The International Telecommunication Union is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information and communication technologies. It was established on 17 May 1865 as the International Telegraph Unio ...

. Retrieved 1 October 2010. In 2012 a fourth license was awarded to CSU/Hayo, permitting them to offer mobile, fixed, wifi, and wimax services. * Calling code: +221,"Communications: Senegal"
''World Factbook'', U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, 28 January 2014. Retrieved 3 February 2014.

international call International telephone calls are those made between different countries. These telephone calls are processed by international gateway exchanges (switches). Charges for these calls were high initially but declined greatly during the 20th century ...

s to most countries can be dialed directly. *

International call prefix An international call prefix, international dial-out code or international direct dial code (IDD code) is a trunk prefix that indicates an international phone call. In the dialling sequence, the prefix precedes the country calling code (and, fur ...

: 00 * Main lines: ** 338,200 lines in use, 110th in the world (2012); ** 224,600 lines in use (2002). * Mobile cellular: ** 11.5 million lines, 73rd in the world (2012); ** 3.2 million lines (2007). * Communications cables: South Atlantic 3/West Africa Submarine Cable/ SAFE (SAT-3/WASC/SAFE) fiber-optic cable provides connectivity to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

, while the Atlantis-2 fiber-optic cable provides connectivity to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

. * Satellite earth stations: One Intelsat (

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

Internet

Internet service is widely available in

and other towns either by private subscription or through Senegal's extensive network of "telecentres" and

Internet café An Internet café, also known as a cybercafé, is a café (or a convenience store or a fully dedicated Internet access business) that provides the use of computers with high bandwidth Internet access on the payment of a fee. Usage is generall ...

s. The Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) broadband subscriber base is growing rapidly, though the penetration rate is less than 1 percent. *

Top-level domain A top-level domain (TLD) is one of the domains at the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System of the Internet after the root domain. The top-level domain names are installed in the root zone of the name space. For all domains in ...

.sn .sn is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wo ...

Internet users The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

: ** 68.5%, or approximately 10.4 million users in 2018 ** 2.5 million users, 84th in the world; 19.2% of the population, 145th in the world (2012).Calculated using penetration rate and population data fro
"Countries and Areas Ranked by Population: 2012"
, Population data, International Programs, U.S. Census Bureau, retrieved 26 June 2013"Percentage of Individuals using the Internet 2000–2012"
International Telecommunication Union (Geneva), June 2013, retrieved 22 June 2013 ** 1.8 million users, 76th in the world (2009). * Fixed broadband: 94,548 subscriptions, 103rd in the world; 0.7% of the population, 145th in the world (2012)."Fixed (wired)-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 2012"
Dynamic Report, ITU ITC EYE,

International Telecommunication Union The International Telecommunication Union is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information and communication technologies. It was established on 17 May 1865 as the International Telegraph Unio ...

. Retrieved on 29 June 2013. *

Wireless broadband Wireless broadband is telecommunications technology that provides high-speed wireless Internet access or computer networking access over a wide area. The term comprises both fixed and mobile broadband. The term broadband Originally the word ...

: 486,490 subscribers, 92nd in the world; 3.8% of the population, 117th in the world (2012)."Active mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 2012"
Dynamic Report, ITU ITC EYE,

. Retrieved on 29 June 2013. * Internet hosts: 237 hosts, 197th in the world (2012). * IPv4: 293,248 addresses allocated, less than 0.05% of the world total, 22.6 addresses per 1000 people. *

Internet service provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise privat ...

s: 762 ISPs (2014).

Internet censorship and surveillance

There are no government restrictions on access to the Internet, or reports that the government monitors

e-mail Electronic mail (email or e-mail) is a method of exchanging messages ("mail") between people using electronic devices. Email was thus conceived as the electronic (digital) version of, or counterpart to, mail, at a time when "mail" meant ...

or Internet

chat rooms The term chat room, or chatroom (and sometimes group chat; abbreviated as GC), is primarily used to describe any form of synchronous conferencing, occasionally even asynchronous conferencing. The term can thus mean any technology, ranging from ...

without appropriate legal authority. Individuals and groups engage in the peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e‑mail."Senegal"
''Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012'', Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, U.S. Department of State, 18 April 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2014. The constitution and law provide for freedom of speech and

press Press may refer to: Media * Print media or news media, commonly called "the press" * Printing press, commonly called "the press" * Press (newspaper), a list of newspapers * Press TV, an Iranian television network People * Press (surname), a fam ...

; however, the government limits these rights in practice. Individuals can generally criticize the government publicly or privately without reprisal. The law criminalizes libel, and libel laws are used to block or punish critical reporting and commentary. The constitution and law prohibit arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home, or correspondence, and the government generally respects these prohibitions in practice.

Scholarly communication

Open access

Open access to scholarly communication in Senegal is developing. The Consortium des Bibliothèques de l'Enseignement Supérieur du Sénégal (academic library consortium) and the Association Sénégalaise des Bibliothécaires, Archivistes et Documentalistes (professional society) have signed the

Budapest Open Access Initiative The Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) is a public statement of principles relating to open access to the research literature, which was released to the public on February 14, 2002. It arose from a conference convened in Budapest by the Open ...

. The

French Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs () is the ministry of the Government of France that handles France's foreign relations. Since 1855, its headquarters have been located at 37 Quai d'Orsay, close to the National Assembly. The term Qu ...

funded in 2004–2007 the creation of scholarly publishing platforms in Africa ("Système d’information scientifique et technique"), which led to the 2006 launch of SIST Sénégal. According to

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

, the Bibliothèque SIST Sénégal is one of two open access repositories in Senegal, the other being Biens Culturels Africains at the Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noire.

References

* *

External links

NIC Senegal
registrar for the .sn domain. {{DEFAULTSORT:Telecommunications In Senegal