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GAMBIA
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 MESSAGE FROM GAMTEL |
Gamtel, under Government directives and support, provided direction for the prompt implementation of the IIA project and played the leading role in facilitating the establishment of the Internet Gateway, jointly providing the funds with UNDP.
To fully benefit from the Initiative, however, Gambians must be afforded widespread access to low-cost, high-capacity connectivity, to which end, Gamtel will implement enhancement technology to upgrade the capacity of the telecommunications network to residences in both the Rural and Urban Areas, and provide the necessary infrastructure to increase tele-density.
A number of options are also being considered by Gamtel as an extension of universal service. These include, low-cost or no-cost phone connections for institutions in the areas of education, health and women's affairs and subsidized user charges for telephone network and ISP access charges for selected Senior Secondary Schools. This will afford the Gambian community, young and old alike, the opportunity to witness and explore ways in which new technologies can render support in areas such as education and training, trade and commerce and health.
Information and Communication Technology will transform the Gambian society over the next few years and Gamtel will continue to be an integral part of this process.
| THE GAMBIA'S INTERNET INITIATIVE EXPERIENCE |
It is the United Nations Development Program's (UNDP's) philosophy that access to reliable and up-to-date information is a prerequisite for sound decision making throughout the sustainable human development policy process.
In its quest to develop an easy and cost effective information access, the UNDP in 1997 launched the Internet Initiative for Africa (IIA), a 3-year regional project to establish or enhance current Internet services and build capacity in Sub-Saharan African countries, as a means of strengthening their economic and social development reforms.
The IIA builds on local expertise by relying on indigenous personnel in the formulation and implementation of the project, with provision made for public and private sector training at technical and management level.
It also encourages universal access to all members of the civil society and promotes partnership with country offices, government, and the private sector. The project is funded on a 50-50 basis by the Regional Bureau for Africa (RBA) and the host governments.
As we creep into the new millennium, The Gambia became one of the first countries to join the bandwagon on the information superhighway under IIA, with Gambia Telecommunications Company Limited, GAMTEL, providing 50% of the $1 million needed for implementation, on behalf of The Gambia government.
The Gambia's Internet Initiative became a reality in September 1998 with the launching of an Internet backbone and gateway by H.E. Alhaji Col. (Rtd.) Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh, the President of the Republic of The Gambia. The Gambia now boasts of a backbone covering the entire country on a 2 Megabit per second platform, with nodes in 12 major cities, and a 512 Kilobits per second direct access to the rest of the world via Teleglobe, Canada.
With GAMTEL taking the leading role, it started the provision of Internet services to the entire nation in October 1998. QuantumNET became the first private company to also offer Internet services in November 1998 with a high-speed connection to the Internet backbone. Medical Research Council (MRC), a health research institution also established high-speed access in November 1998 and currently operates as a non-commercial Internet Service Provider (ISP).
In its effort to encourage growth of the private sector ISPs and pave the way for ISPs to eventually take leadership in providing services to the public, GAMTEL offers its services slightly above the agreed private ISP's rate.
Prior to the IIA project, GAMTEL was providing limited Internet services via a low-speed X.25 access to CompuServe Online and Delphi in U.K. Not only was this system slow and unreliable, it could only support 10 concurrent users of the total user base of 250.
Barely a year after launching of Internet services, the user base has grown to over 1200 dial-up users. The Internet user base growth rate is expected to remain the same for the next year or two before gradually reaching market saturation.
Institutions including The Gambia Telecommunications Multimedia Institute (the training wing of GAMTEL) and the UNDP Banjul Office have been provided with high-speed access to the backbone.
| USEFUL NUMBERS |
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| Directory Enquiries |
151 |
| Speaking Clock |
123 |
| International Operator Assistance |
100 |
| Commercial Services |
121 |
| Telephone Faults |
131 |
| Telex Telefax Faults |
132 |
| Billing Enquiries |
141 / 191 |
In keeping in line with the project's objective of building capacity and ensuring sustainability, the IIA has funded the training of both GAMTEL personnel and potential ISPs (both commercial and non commercial) on computer networking, Internet use, Internet maintenance, web development and electronic commerce.
There is no doubt that the knowledge and expertise gained from the Internet will effectively contribute to the socio-economic development of The Gambia and help transform the nation into an information and technology rich society, and thereby further narrow the gap with the developed world.
Gamtel continues to make steady progress both in tariffs of profitability and satisfying customer demand for new products and services to keep abrest with the rapidly evolving telecommunications environment.
During the past twelve months, Gamtel has embarked and accomplished the following:
 1. INFORMATION SERVICES |
On 25th September 1998, The President of the Republic of the Gambia, His Excellency Alhaji Col. (Rtd) Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh, commissioned the Gambia's Internet Gateway Project, jointly funded by the UNDP and the Government of the Gambia, in line with their commitment to the access to accurate and reliable information for the formulation of national and international policies.
| 2. FIBER OPTIC LINK |
During the year under review, Gamtel signed a contract with ALCATEL of France for the upgrading of the fiber optic cable not only to cater for more modern services but also to extend services to villages, along the fiber route and to make the cable compliant by the year 2000.
| 3. YEAR 2000 COMPLIANCE |
Readiness for the new millennium, Gamtel has already replaced the upgraded the Banjul and Serekunda telephone exchanges respectively, to make them Y2K compliant and increase their capacities with more features. Vigorous efforts are currently being made to ensure that the company equipment is adequately compliant by the year 2000.
In the same vein, the Gamtel billing system has been replaced by a state-of-the earth system that is Y2K complaint. The new system was in fact commissioned in June 1999. The new billing system will enable Gamtel respond faster and more effectively to customer needs.
| 4. CELLULAR NETWORK |
On cellular telephone network, a contract was signed last month with Nortel Matra Cellular of France for the introduction of GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication), which offers more and better facilities than the present analogue system. The new network is expected to be fully operational by the end of this year.
| 5. PREPAID CALLING SERVICE |
In line with the company's continuous quest for new and modern facilities to respond to customers ever increasing demands, Gamtel has signed a contract with J & S Franklin of U.S.A for the introduction of prepaid calling service, which will be fully operational by mid-August 1999. Such a facility will provide customer with the opportunity to make international calls anywhere, anytime and from any phone without international deposits.
| 6. RURAL TELEPHONE SERVICE |
In the rural area, there is steady progress in the provision of basic telephone facilities and access through the expansion of the rural network and the installation of single and dual channel radios to 20 remote villages around the country. A contract has also been signed with a Canadian company for the provision of telephone services to 30 other villages within a radium of 20km from Kerewan (NBD), Kaur and Bansang (CRD). In the same vein, another contract has been signed with ALCATEL for the expansion of the fiber optic backbone from Basse to Fatoto by December 1999.
| 7. BROADCASTING SERVICE |
In the broadcasting sector, the old medium wave antenna system at Bonto has been replaced with a 50 kilowatt antenna while the Basse radio station has been modernized and upgraded from 1 kilowatt to 10 kilowatts transmitter power output with total replacement of the existing antenna structure for effective and efficient regional coverage.
The Television coverage has also been improved by a two-fold increase of the transmitter power at Soma and Bansang and Abuko area will follow by the end of August this year
| CORPORATE PROFILE |
The Gambia Telecommunications Company, the primary provider of telecommunications services in the Gambia, was established in 1984.
see table
The Company is a state owned, Limited Liability Company, the Gambia Government owning 99% shares and GNIC (Gambia National Insurance Company owing 1% shares).
The Company has steadily created a modern, extremely efficient network infrastructure, employing state - of - the - art technology in order to respond to the increasing demands of a dynamic market immediately and effectively.
Gamtel has developed rapidly into one of the leading enterprise in the Gambia, recording a consistent increase in turnover which reached D 181.6 million in 1993/94 financial year. An estimated net profit of D 21,797 million is expected as at December 1998.
Over the last few years Gamtel has introduced new technologies and services, a 100% digital exchange, a fiber optic cable and Internet Gateway to meet the eve' rising customer needs and expectation.
| CORPORATE STRUCTURE |
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
MANAGING DIRECTOR
DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR
Dir of HRM
Dir of Customer Care
Dir of Finance
Dir of Operations & Engineering
Dir of Technical Corporation
Dir of Broadcasting Services
Dir GTMI
Gamtel is governed by Board of directors including the Managing Director. The Board is entrusted with complete autonomy in overseeing the operation of Gamtel.
The Company is composed of seven directorates as shown on the organizational chart.
NET WORKS
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Gamtel's telecommunications Networks comprises of 2 Autonomous dig1tal telephone exchanges, a standard B Satellite Earth Station, low speed telex exchange cellular mobile system, a paging system and an Internet gateway. These are inter-linked through fiber optic cable and microwave.
| SWITCHING |
The OCB 283 of Serekunda & Banjul both have local and international switching facilities. The Exchange has a combined capacity of 47,520 and interconnecting with the mobile and paging switches
The exchange provides customers with the latest facilities such as:
. ISDN - Centrex, Caller ID, Voice mail.
. Call waiting
. Secret coding
. Call forwarding
. Conference
. Call tracing
. Hot line
. Recorded call
. Auto Alarm /Wake Facility
| TRANSMISSION SYSTEM |
Gamtel continued to expand the national transmission network with digital technology.
The digital transmission network comprises SHF microwave radio links, optical fiber transmission. A limited number of Digital Radio System links is used to connect telephone in rural areas. Negotiations are progressing for the introduction of optical fiber sub-marine project.
| EARTH STATION |
Cable & Wireless Co. built the Earth Station in 1977. The station is a Standard B and uses INTELSAT Satellites in the Atlantic Ocean Region for its operations. In its first years of operation the technology employed was Single Channel Per Carrier (SCPC) system. This technology was only viable for thin routes. Thus the only destinations we had communications with were United Kingdom and France. The total number of circuits was only 11. UK and France provided transit facilities for us to reach the rest of the world.
Gamtel decided to change from analogue systems to digital systems in order to conform to global trends, and also to explore the tremendous benefits of digital technology, in terms of bandwidth, quality, cost and ease of operation. At the moment the total number of circuits has increased to 324, and it can still be increased. Just recently, we established a carrier with TELEGLOBE Canada in order to get access to the INTERNET.
| SERVICES |
Gamtel's Long-standing goal is to provide a complete range of telecommunications Services, based on market demand, at the lowest possible cost to the customer and using state - of - the - art technology. For this reason, all necessary measures are being taken to bring about the introduction of new services, reducing in the cost of providing such services and, consequently in the rates charged, and the improvement of customer service.
| TELEPHONE SERVICE |
When Gamtel was formed in 1984 there were only 2400 lines mainly on an analog exchange.
However, when Digital Exchanges were installed in 1986 the telephone connection increased to 5000 at a density of 0.625 lines/100 inhabitant. The number of Direct Exchange lines as at end December 1998-25,000 lines which is significant in the penetration lines now at 2.4 lines /100 inhabitants
Telephone service remains the basis and the backbone of Gambia Telecommunications Company (Gamtel), which is why our unchanging priority is to improve the Quality and broaden the range of facilities.
In order to maintain a balance between urban and rural development, Gamtel uses rural radiotelephone systems to provide telephone services in areas without a developed line network as an interim measure.
| MOBILE TELEPHONE |
Since the official launch of cellular network (ANALOGUE) IN 1993, Gamtel has acquired a customer base of some (5000) subscribers. Its cost - effectiveness and convenience have n made the service popular in the business and s private sectors alike. In order to cope with soaring demand and to improve the quality of service, the plans are well advance for the introduction of (GSM) in2001, this will enhance is network coverage and provide 'for greater quality and capacity.
| TELEFAX |
This service is widely used, however Gamtel does not now maintain statistics on telefax equipment in operation since it is obtained on the open market and it is connected to the network like an ordinary telephone.
| TELEX |
Although there are some telex equipment in operation, the service continues to decline, (only 98 customers), due to the increased use of other data services, particularly telefax services and E-mail, through Internet. In spite of this low number of customers Gamtel still maintain an Eltex V- telex Exchange.
| PAGING |
Gamtel's paging services was introduced in 1996 along with voice mail. Customers have a choice of 3 types of terminals, tone, numeric and alphanumeric pagers. With intense customer education drive, and bundling of voice mail with call forwarding, the demand increased dramatically bringing up the total voice mail customers to 342 and paging to 302.
The paging can serve as an alternative to potential telephone customers in saturated areas.
| INTERNET |
The commissioning of the Internet Gateway in September 1998 offers access to the World - Wide Web, e - mail and other Internet service facilities. The operation of Internet cafe at tourism development area and the planned introduction of similar Cafe's in hotels and inner city, schools, and higher Learning Institutions will increase usage. It is expected that customer base will grow to (5000) within a couple of years.
| PRE-PAID CALLING CARD |
The introduction of this new service is in line with our untiring effort to provide quality telecom services and products, and to keep pace with technological developments:
Our customers will immensely benefit from this service:
(A) It will enable them 'o control cost
(B) Increase accessibility to international calls without the need for Deposits.
(C) Avoid disconnection.
Because of its`:
* Convenience
* Easy to use
* Cost-effectiveness
Our corporate and Residential customers are taking full advantage of the service.
In 1993 management established corporate account management with the objective of creating a one stop shopping for our most valuable customers who accounts for 75% of Gamtel's revenue. The basic goal is to ensure that the accounts are treated right to avert any interruption of services. The management of the account geared towards selling additional products and services, and to help them make the right investment decisions.
| PUBLIC SERVICES |
In our continuing efforts to get closer to the customer, Gamtel established Customer Service Centers initially in the Greater Banjul Area and few main towns in the Rural Areas.
However with the completion of Phase 3 in 1993 new centers were opened bringing to a total of 23 branches. These centers cater for bill payment, local and international telephone, telex, telefax and for enquiries.
Recently however, Internet Cafe' has been introduced at the Senegambia Branch and eventually some more branches will be provided this facility Our corporate and Residential customers are taken full advantage of the service.
In 1993 management established corporate account management with the objective of creating a one stop shopping for our most valuable customers who accounts for 75% of Gamtel's revenue. The basic goal is to ensure that the accounts are treated right to avert any interruption of services. The management of the account geared towards selling additional products and services, and to help them make the right investment decisions.
As part of the partial liberalization in 1993, private telecentre are allowed to operate. The main objective for allowing telecentres is to facilitate greater accessibility to telephone Services particularly International calls. As a result the number of telecentres grew very rapidly reaching 230 in October 1998.
In the rural areas and especially where multi-channel or single channel radios are deployed telecentre operation is encouraged to fulfill our vision of making telephone accessible to all Gambians.
The Coin and Card phones are strategically located in neighborhoods and busy city center to allow easy access to telephone.
As at end October 1998 there were 188 coin boxes and 77 Card phones out of which 82% are coin. 91% of card phones are located in the greater Banjul Area.
Gamtel is now studying ways of introducing small denomination unit cards namely 10, 20 and 30 units to compliment the 60 units and 125 units cards currently being used.
In line with corporate objectives and strategies Gamtel will introduce new services such as Prepaid calling cards GSM, and many more services and products.
It is planned that these services will be privatized as negotiations are being made for a joint venture with international partners in 1999.
We are also considering of becoming a member to INTELSAT. This will enable us to benefit from the dividends, loans and technical assistance they provide to all signatories. Demand Assignment Multiple Access (DAMA) is another system that is being looked into. Most of the African countries are going into this system so that they can meet their thin route requirements. If Gamtel venture in this direction, they will be able to address the very small traffic we have, especially, within the African continent.
Total liberalization in the field of telecommunication is a significant one, that is why Gamtel management has implemented timely policy of dealing with any prospect of competition dynamically by:
(a) Modernization of the network based on investment program in accordance with entrepreneurial priorities
(b) An involvement in the quality and reduction in the cost of seMces and networks in order to safeguard the company's position in the domestic market.
(c) Enriching its list of services in order to maximize the value of the enterprise.
(d) A greater emphasis on client seMces and the adaptation of stricter commercial criteria in decision-making.
The Gamtel strategy is that, if our most valuable customers perceive they are receiving value for money and are confident of consistent quality and future supply, then they will buy Gamtel products and services as opposed to substitutes. |
TURNOVER AND PROFIT
Thousands of Dalasi, 1995 - 1998 |
|
March 1995 |
March 1996 |
March 1997 |
Dec 1997 |
Dec 1998 |
| Turnover |
177,875 |
180,189 |
261,963 |
198,854 |
280,163 |
| Net Profit |
34,268 |
24,286 |
28,330 |
33,794 |
33,533 |
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© World INvestment NEws, 2001.
This is the electronic edition of the special country report on Gambia published in Forbes Global Magazine.
May, 14th 2001 Issue.
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