State-owned telco Guinee Telecom, previously known as Societe des Telecoms de Guinee (Sotelgui), began the public test phase of its new mobile network , telecom minister Ousmane Gaoual Diallo has revealed. Around 10,000 SIM cards will be distributed to citizens to enable testing of a 4G network that is now operational in Kaloum, a district of the capital Conakry, the minister told a press conference last Friday. The country’s president has requested a detailed report on the activity of the new telco, including whether the sale of SIMs should be managed by the telco itself, under supervision from the authorities, or by a private partner, the minister added.
As previously reported by TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate, initial plans to relaunch the company earlier this year were pushed back to enable network testing throughout the country, following which marketing operations will begin in preparation for the sale of 4G and 5G SIM cards in early 2024. This will also give Guinee Telecom time to expand its administrative, commercial, accounting and network operations departments.
Guinee Telecom’s launch will bring fresh competition a mobile market dominated by Orange Guinea. According to the most recent statistics released by the Regulatory Authority for Post and Telecommunications (L’Autoritie de Regulation des Postes et Telecommunications, ARPT), Orange claimed a 67% share of total mobile subscriptions at 31 December 2022, ahead of MTN Guinea with 24% and Cellcom’s 9%.
Source: https://www.commsupdate.com/articles/2023/05/15/guinee-telecom-begins-public-network-testing/