TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Telecommunications

Since the issuance of the first Global System for Mobile Communications (‘GSM’) license to Gamcel in 2001, the growth of the Gambian telecommunications market has been impressive. As with the rest of Africa, The Gambia has experienced explosive growth in the mobile market since its introduction in 2001 with an approximate rise of 165.8% subscribers between 2001 and 2005

The GSM market today has developed into a 4 player market with the beginning of operations by Qcell in 2009. The table below shows the operators and their current service systems.

Gamtel, the parent company to Gamcel is a substitute to the GSM companies as it provides a fixed telephony service. While the backbone and infrastructure has been upgraded significantly in recent years, the waiting time for the installation of fixed lines is still typically 4 to 6 years. This provides the mobile network operators, a tremendous opportunity for growth.