ICT Development Trends in Sierra Leone 2013

Youth Empowerment SummitMauritius

4-6 December 2013

BySenesie Kallon

Deputy Director GeneralNational Telecommunications Commission (NATCOM)

ddg@natcom.gov.sl

Content

1.Country Demographics2.Telecoms and ICT

Statistics/Environment3.Country Situation as at Q3, ’134.Looking Beyond 2013

1. Country Demographics

Population: 6 million (2012 Est)

Population Growth Rate: 2.77%Land Area: 72,000 Square kmGDP per Capita: $254.00 (2012 Estimate)

GDP Growth Rate: 7%Major Exports: Diamond

Country Demographics Contd.

Gold, Rutile and Bauxite :Due largely to mining sector• Real GDP growth leap from 6% in 2011 to 16.7% in 2012, • Contribution from Agriculture, Services and

Construction* Important to note that we are reconstructing our country after nearly 10 years of Civil War (1991-2000)

2. Telecoms and ICT Statistics/Environment

Liberalized Telecoms and ICT Free Market- 2003 Regulatory Authority Established 2006 (by Act 2006) Effectively 2 GSM Operators (Airtel, Africell and Comium?) 1 fixed-line operator; also on FWA CDMA 2000 1X

and EVDO Mobile Subscribers 3,500,000 as at mid-2013 (58%) 45,000 Fixed-line (after rehabilitation by mid-2014) –

infrastructure totally vandalized

Telecoms and ICT Statistics/Environment

• Two 3G Licensees (Airtel and Africell) on HSPDA, ‘12/’13• Two WiMax Licensees (Atlas Comms and Comium?)• Eight Nationwide ISP (Afcom, Atlas Comms, IpTel,

Sierratel, LimeLine Comium Data?, Easylink?,TGT?)• Over 25 FM Broadcast Radio Stations• Four Terrestrial TV Stations (availing over 50 Tv channels)• One ACE Submarine Cable Landing Station

(SALCAB)- 6GBits/s Commissioned Feb’13• Internet Penetration 1.3% (June ‘12) cf 15.6 for

Africa Average

3. Country Situation as at Q3, ’13

Mobile Penetration greater than 58%Internet Penetration greater than 1.3%Mobile Data on HSPDA and CDMA 2000 1X EVDO 45,000 fixed line being prepared and ADSL Internet

added 14 STM-1 International Backbone Bandwidth in

place compared to approx 42 Mbits/s in 2012 1 Mbits/s wholesale price $ 200.00/month

compared to $3,500.00 in 2012 on Satellite

Country Situation as at Q3, ’13

Broadband Infrastructure ProjectECOWAN FIBRE Statistics:Total 660 km, 555 Km backbone, 105 km spurs

21 ADD/DROP Stations for Universities, Colleges, Medical School

WiMax 802.16e Network Statistics4 WiMAx Base Stations to CBD of FreetownConnect 43 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) includingNATCOM on 3,620 PCs

1 STM-4 International Internet Backbone from the ACE Cable Landing Station60 MHz bandwidth in 2.5 GHz Band for WiMaxMigration Path: 4G/LTE

Country Situation as at Q3, ’13

National Fibre Backbone Project by Huawei –over500 km joining ECOWAN to make a ring supervised by MoIC

Revision of the Telecoms Act 2006 to change toElectronic Communications Act for Convergence

Revised Licensing Regimes to include service-based and Infrastructure/Facility Licensees

Handed Open Access Regulation for Essential Facilities Access Gap Study done by CTO for our UAS deployment Revised Regulatory Fee Structures for 2014 and beyond Upgraded NATCOM website Capacity Building for Economic RegulationMoIC has begun the E-government Network Project

4. Looking Beyond 2013

$ 37m ECOWAN Cross border and Huawei NationalFibre Backbone Project in full swing and completedin early 2016 National Internet Exchange Point Established by

Q3, 2014 New Electronic Communications Act Enacted in

2014 Issue First 4G Licence E-government Network Established firstly in

Freetown, the capital city

Thank You/Merci

QUESTIONS?