The Société des Télécommunications de Guinée (Sotelgui) was set up as an autonomous telecommunications operator in 1993 as a result of the promulgation of a new telecommunications law in 1992. Sotelgui was privatized in 1995 and the strategic partner is Malaysia Telekom which acquired 60% of Sotelgui equity while the government retained 40%.
Teledensity:
Total: 0.48 (1998)
Largest cities: 1.56 (1998)
Rest of the country: 0.15 (1998)
Digital main lines: 98.8% (1998)
Waiting list for a telephone line:
Total: 1,300 (1998)
Average waiting time: 0.2 year (1998)
Total demand (k): 38.1 (1998)
Satisfied demand (%): 96.5 (1998)
Telephone Tariffs (1998):
| PSTN connection charge - residential | US$ 199 | | PSTN connection charge - business | US$ 199 | | PSTN monthly subscription - residential | US$ 4.30 | | PSTN monthly subscription -business | US$ 4.30 | | PSTN three minute local call | US$ 0.11 |
Source: World Telecommunication Development Report, 1999
Public telephones: 540 (1998)
Public telephones per 1000 inhabitants: 0.07 (1998)
Mobile cellular subscribers: 21,600 (1998)
The capital city, Conakry, are all covered by all the operators while Sotelgui is expanding in Boke, Kamsar and Sangaredi. | Cellular subscribers as a % of totla telephone subscribers: 58.70 (1998)
Mobile cellular tariff: na
Telecommunications revenue (M US$): 31.90 (1998)
Telecommunications investment (M US$): 37.90 (1998)
Telecommunications investment as a % of revenue: 118.90 (1998)
Telecom equipment exports (M US$): na
Telecom equipment imports (M US$): na
Telecentres: na
Facsimiles: 2,800 (1998)
In the framework of the co-operation between Guinea and Malaysia, Telecom Malaysia was expected to fulfill several expectations, mainly improving the whole industry and transferring the technical know-how. The following are some of the requirements that have already been met, to some extent The installation of human resources management
The introduction of new services such as cellular phones
The rehabilitation, modernization and extension of communication equipment of the cable network and of FH transmission
The introduction of GSM in the networks
The consolidation of the flow of international traffic by putting into place circuits services by undersea cable
The modernization and expansion of provincial telephones
Providing Internet services
Sotelgui had to face many challenging tasks including developing very basic concepts such as customer services which was inexistent, technical training for the local employees and creating a collection fees process. One of the first things the new management at Sotelgui did was to decrease the US$1000 deposit for international calls by half and to lower the deposit for national calls from US$600 to US$200. As for call within the capital itself, the deposit was lowered from US$400 to 50. This major costs in price made the telephone more accessible to the population.. The company also had to spend over $20 million to upgrade its facilities.
Telecom Malaysia achievements so far have been very impressive. The company has managed to provide excellent services and drastically improved the overall system. When Telecom Malaysia took over, Sotelgui only had about 10,000 subscribers in the country all located in the capital city. As of October 1999, the company now has 40,000 subscribers and is aiming for 500,000 by 2010. |
OPERATOR STATISTICS (AS OF JUNE 1999)