Sonatel gets 5G license in Senegal

Senegal's telecoms regulator (L'Autorite de Regulation des Telecommunications et des Postes, or ARTP) has granted a "provisional" 5G license to Sonatel (Orange Senegal) as the country moves forward with plans to launch the fifth-generation technology.

In May 2023, the regulator announced that it would allocate 5G licenses to telecom operators by the end of July; and in June officially called for applications from those interested in obtaining 5G licenses.

ARTP Director General Abdou Karim Sall announced at a press briefing on Monday that Sonatel had been selected as the provisional winner "for its compliant technical offer" and its financial offer of 34.5 billion CFA Francs (US$59.2 million).

The regulator revealed that other operators Free Senegal and Expresso Senegal had submitted significantly lower bids of XAF3 billion ($5.2 million) and XAF2 billion ($3.4 million) respectively – far below the reserve price of XAF19.5 billion ($33.5 million) established by the ARTP.

These bids were not accepted by the selection committee due to their non-compliance.

ARTP Director General Abdou Karim Sall said that Sonatel had been selected as the provisional winner for a 5G license after bidding 34.5 billion CFA Francs ($59.2 million). (Source: ARTP)

The authority said that in the coming days it would make amendments to the concession agreement and update Sonatel's specifications to include new obligations for 5G, such as coverage.

The regulator said in a statement that 5G was needed to enable Senegal "to benefit from the most modern technologies and to enable our country to maintain its position as a leader and hub of telecommunications in Africa, and more particularly in the sub-region."

The path to 5G

Sonatel first tested 5G in Senegal in November 2020 and ran a second 5G trial in December 2021. Free Senegal also launched an experimental phase of 5G in June 2022.

In July 2022, Sonatel, along with its parent company Orange, opened a 5G Lab in the capital, Dakar.

In March 2023, ARTP instructed Sonatel and Free to halt their network trials and submit a progress report to the regulator.

Sonatel is the country's biggest mobile operator with around 11.7 million mobile users at the end of March 2023, according to statistics from market research company Omdia. Free Senegal follows with almost 5 million users and Expresso Senegal had over 3.8 million mobile customers.

Smaller operator Promobile had around 448,000 mobile users in the first quarter of 2023, and Hayo Telecom had just 360 subscribers.

Omdia estimates that only about 22.5% of Senegal's mobile users were using 4G services at the end of 2022, with 68.6% using 3G and 9% still on 2G.

Analysts forecast that 4G uptake will reach 55% of all Senegalese users by 2028, and 5G uptake could make up 16% of the total by 2028.

*Top image source: Freepik.

— Paula Gilbert, Editor, Connecting Africa