Telecommunications in Somaliland, an internationally unrecognised republic claimed by

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

, are mainly concentrated in the private sector. A number of local

telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...

firms operate in the region, including

Golis Telecom Somalia Golis Telecom Somalia ( so, Shirkadda Isgaadhsiinta ee Golis Soomaaliya), shortened to Golis, is the largest telecommunications operator in the Puntland state of northeastern Somalia. It was founded in 2002 with the objective of supplying the cou ...

, SomCable,

Somtel Somtel ( so, Somtel, ar, سومتيل) is a telecommunications company headquartered in Hargeisa, Somaliland. Regions Somtel provides services in all over Somaliland. Background One of Somaliland's leading telecommunications firms, it provid ...

and

Telesom Telesom is a private telecommunication company established in 2002 by local entrepreneurs in Hargeisa, Somaliland. It is the leading provider of ICT services in the country and offers a wide range of products including voice and mobile broadband ...

. There are other companies that are growing in Somaliland which were launched in 2022 like soltelco

Operators

Golis Telecom Somalia

Bosaso Bosaso ( so, Boosaaso, ar, بوصاصو), historically known as Bender Cassim is a city in the northeastern Bari province ('' gobol'') of Somalia. It is the seat of the Bosaso District. Located on the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden, the mu ...

is home to

, the largest

operator in northeastern Somalia. Founded in 2002 with the objective of supplying the country with GSM mobile services,

fixed line A landline (land line, land-line, main line, home phone, fixed-line, and wireline) is a telephone connection that uses metal wires or optical fiber telephone line for transmission, as distinguished from a mobile cellular network, which uses ...

and

internet service 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, it has an extensive network that covers all of the nation's major cities and more than 40 districts in both Somaliland and

Puntland Puntland ( so, Puntland, ar, أرض البنط, it, Terra di Punt or ''Paese di Punt''), officially the Puntland State of Somalia ( so, Dowlad Goboleedka Puntland ee Soomaaliya, ar, ولاية أرض البنط الصومالية), is a F ...

SomCable

In 2010, SomCable Ltd announced that it was contracted to pull submarine cable from

Djibouti Djibouti, ar, جيبوتي ', french: link=no, Djibouti, so, Jabuuti officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red ...

port to

Berbera Berbera (; so, Barbara, ar, بربرة) is the capital of the Sahil region of Somaliland and is the main sea port of the country. Berbera is a coastal city and was the former capital of the British Somaliland protectorate before Hargeisa. It ...

. SomCable invested over $100 million USD to complete the project which employed more than 10,000 locals workers. Funding for the project came from local businessman Mohamed Said MSG. The project will ensure that high speed wireless technology capable of delivering sufficient scalable bandwidth to residents of Somaliland is available at the site. The initiative is completed in September 2014. Somaliland is currently the only Fiber operator in the country. As of October 2014, SomCable Launched the first LTE solution in Somaliland, the first GEPON/ FTTP solution in Somaliland.

Somtel

In 2008,

Dahabshiil Dahabshiil ( so, Dahabshiil, ar, دهب شيل) is an international funds transfer company, and is the largest money-transfer business in Africa. It's headquartered in Burao, Somaliland. Formed in the early 1970s, the firm operates from over 24 ...

acquired a majority stake in

, a Somaliland-based telecommunications firm specialising in Slow omtel

mobile Internet The mobile web refers to mobile browser-based World Wide Web services accessed from handheld mobile devices, such as smartphones or feature phones, through a mobile or other wireless network. History and development Traditionally, the Worl ...

, and

mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whi ...

services.International Association of Money Transfer Networks
/ref> The acquisition provided Dahabshiil with the necessary platform for a subsequent expansion into

mobile banking Mobile banking is a service provided by a bank or other financial institution that allows its customers to conduct financial transactions remotely using a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet. Unlike the related internet banking it uses ...

, a growth industry in the regional banking sector.

Telesom

was established in 2001 to provide

telecommunications service In telecommunication, a telecommunications service is a service provided by a telecommunications provider, or a specified set of user-information transfer capabilities provided to a group of users by a telecommunications system. The telecommunicati ...

s in the region.About us.
telesom.net, 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2013
Archived here
/ref> Telesom currently controls 88% of Somaliland scribers, with the remaining 18% shared between the remaining operators. The firm provides a variety of mobile communication products and services including prepaid call plans, monthly subscription plans, international roaming, SMS, WAP (over both GSM and GPRS), residential fixed line services, internet access as well as prepaid and postpaid G subscription services.

NationLink

NationLink Telecom NationLink Telecom is a telecommunications firm based in Somalia. Overview NationLink Telecom was founded in September 1997 by Abdirizak Ido, a Somali businessman currently serving as the company's President and controlling shareholder. The firm ...

is present in Somaliland and was one of the first telecom companies in Somaliland as a result of purchasing STC (first telecom company in Somaliland). IN 2010, a foreign investor was brought in with the intent of expanding throughout the region. However, after accusations of mismanagement and expensive equipment sent to sister company in Mogadishu, the investor left and the company ceased trading in Somaliland. The company was sold to Amal Bank in 2019

Regulation

On 13 June 2011, the House of Elders passed the law, without any amendments, on an overwhelming majority of 75 for, 1 against and none abstaining. On 5 July 2011, the President signed the law which is now in force. The bill was passed following consultations between government representatives and communications, academic and civil society stakeholders. According to the Ministry of Information, Posts and Telecommunications, the Act is expected to create an environment conducive to investment and the certainty it provides will encourage further infrastructural development, resulting in more efficient service delivery.

Satellite technology

Satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioi ...

technology is playing an instrumental role in Somaliland. Based on 2002 prices, a VSAT-based asymmetrical 128/64 connection in any given location in Somaliland costs $0.058 per minute. This assumes the connection is used 24 hours per day; seven days per week. The connection, and the associated costs, may be shared by several PCs to lower the “per minute charge” per PC. One tele-centre exampled in Somaliland showed the rate per PC to be $0.005 per minute.

References

External links

GolisSomCableSomtelTelesom
{{Somaliland topics Telecommunications in Somalia