Senegal has reported that mobile penetration in the country has passed the 88 percent mark, highlighting the strong showing of the sector in the past year.
According to the country’s telecom watchdog Agence de Regulation des Telecom et Postes (ARTP), in its second quarter report, Senegal saw the number of mobile phones jump to 10.71 million, up from 9.38 million at the same time last year.
“The total number of fixed lines stood at 343,012 – a penetration rate of 2.82 percent. The country had 528,358 internet subscribers by the end of June this year – most of them using 3G accounts. There were 375,556 mobile internet users, and 95,412 people were connected to ADSL lines,” the report said.
“The significant number of prepaid mobile subscribers is in contrast to the reported decline in postpaid mobile connections of about 1,100 subscribers to 67,000, or 0.6 percent of the total mobile connections in the country,” it continued.
Senegal’s government has been pushing forward with telecommunications development and infrastructure in recent years, and the ARTP said more and more citizens are able to access mobile phones as prices continue to come down and become affordable.
The goal, the regulator argued, was to maintain current levels of customer satisfaction and bolster existing networks in order to bring new subscribers in as the West African country looks to reach the 100 percent penetration level by the end of next year.
David Eto
