Niger
)
, official_languages =
, languages_type = National languagesNigerien Posts and Telecommunications () and the STIN (), which controlled
land 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 ...
telephone connections abroad. The process had begun with the passage of a law aimed at the privatisation of telecommunications (''Ordonnance N°96-031 du 11 juin 1996''), and was part of a larger process of internationally led privatisation of Niger's once large
parastatal
A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the government ...
sector. SONITEL had the government of Niger as a majority share holder.
Following the 1999 Constitution of the
Fifth Republic of Niger
)
, official_languages =
, languages_type = National languagesSino
Sino as a prefix generally refers to:
* China
* Chinese people
* Two Chinas
* Culture of China
* History of China
Sino may also refer to:
* Sino Group, a property company in Hong Kong
* ''Sino'' (Café Tacuba album), the 7th studio album by M ...
-
Libyan
Demographics of Libya is the demography of Libya, specifically covering population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. The ...
ZTE
ZTE Corporation is a Chinese partially state-owned technology company that specializes in telecommunication. Founded in 1985, ZTE is listed on both the Hong Kong and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges.
ZTE's core business is wireless, exchange, opt ...
and the Libyan LAAICO company. The ZTE majority consortium reportedly paid 11.8 billion FCFA, beating out FranceTelecom and SONATEL. The government of Niger continued to hold 34.11% of the company, with private investors taking 11%, the 1300 employees of SONITEL holding 3%, and France Câbles & Radio – who had been a stakeholder in STIN, 0.89%.SONITEL:Historique In 2004, SONITEL's mobile phone arm was opened up to face foreign competition, but SONITEL continued to hold a monopoly on Internet communication, the
.ne
.ne is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Niger.
Unrelated to the .ne top-level domain, "ne" is sometimes used as a second-level domain within other country-code domains, in which registrants may register second-level domains ...
name registry, and international fixed line voice communication.
Following mobile phone competition, SONITEL was widely criticised for poor performance, faced a series of protests and strikes by its workers over pay and conditions,Souley Adji Labour and Society Programme: Globalization and union strategies in Niger. International Labour Organisation. DP/122/2000 and accumulated debts of 40 billion FCFA despite a 140% increase in user fees.Niger: Télécoms Sonitel renationalisée AFP. 13 February 2009 On 13 February 2009, the government of Niger announced it was "canceling" the privatisation of SONITEL and its subsidiary SahelCom (which handled mobile communications), although it hoped to eventually re-privatise the company. The Minister of Communications stated that the process had "failed", and the government would retain a 100% share in SONITEL, and form a new administration of the company. An attempt to sell both companies to Libya's sovereign wealth fund in 2011 failed because of the beginning of the
First Libyan Civil War
The First Libyan Civil War was an armed conflict in 2011 in the North African country of Libya that was fought between forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and rebel groups that were seeking to oust his government. It erupted with the Libya ...
. The nationalisations were completed in 2012.
On 28 September 2016, the Nigerien government merged SONITEL with SahelCom to create
Niger Telecoms
Niger Telecoms is the Nigerien national telephone and telecommunications carrier. It was created on 28 September 2016 as a fusion of SONITEL, which handled fixed telephony, and SahelCom, which controlled mobile telephony and connections. After p ...