Chad continues to improve international internet connectivity
During the last decade Chad's economy has been dominated by oil exports, and as a result economic growth has been affected by the changing prices for the commodity on international markets. Recent economic difficulties have been exacerbated by civil unrest, an influx of refugees from neighbouring countries, and the economic downsides resulting from the pandemic.The country remains one of the least developed on the continent, while telecom infrastructure is particularly poor, with penetration rates in all sectors and fixed, mobile and internet and well below African averages. Nevertheless, despite difficult operating conditions, large scale poverty and low spending power, Chad's telecom market offers some potential for investors to develop services given the low starting base.
The two main operators Moov Africa Chad and Airtel Chad have invested in infrastructure and have become the main providers of voice and data services. However, the difficult economic conditions of the country, compounded by taxes on telecom services which have adversely affected customer spend and operator revenue, encouraged these players to consider exiting the market.
The mobile sector has developed steadily under the auspices of these two operators. The national telco and fixed-line operator Sotel Tchad operates the country's third mobile network, as Salam Mobile, though it is mainly focussed on voice services since it depends on GPRS and EDGE technologies (which can provide only basic mobile data services). The country's first 3G/LTE mobile licence was awarded in April 2014.
Chad finally gained access to international fibre bandwidth in 2012. Its national backbone infrastructure remains underdeveloped. The World Bank-funded Central African Backbone (CAB) project takes in Chad, while the country is also party to a Trans-Saharan Backbone project which will link a fibre cable to Nigeria and Algeria.
Key Developments:
- International mobile roaming charges eliminated among Central African Economic and Monetary Community countries;
- Camtel, SudaChad Telecom, and Sudatel announce plans to build a terrestrial fibre cable connecting through Cameroon, Chad, and Sudan;
- Government removes duty on imported telecom devices to boost adoption of digital services;
- Airtel Chad drops plan to sell passive infrastructure in Chad to Helios;
- Moov Chad increases the number of mobile base stations, preps for FttP rollout;
- Government approves three-part telecom infrastructure upgrade project as part of the Strategic Plan for Digital Development and Posts 2020-2030;
- 2021 Finance Law reduces spectrum fees;
- N'Djamena - Adré axis fibre link is opened;
Table of Contents
- Key statistics
- Regional Africa Market Comparison
- Market characteristics
- Market Leaders
- Market Challengers
- Market Emergents
- TMI vs GDP
- Mobile and mobile broadband penetration
- Fixed versus mobile broadband penetration
- Country overview
- Telecommunications market
- Market analysis
- Regulatory environment
- Regulatory authority
- Fixed-line developments
- Telecommunications Act 1998
- Quality of service (QoS)
- Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
- Mobile network developments
- Licences
- Roaming
- Mobile Termination Rate (MTR)
- Mobile market
- Market analysis
- Mobile statistics
- Mobile data
- Mobile broadband
- Mobile infrastructure
- Other infrastructure developments
- Satellite mobile
- Major mobile operators
- Airtel Chad
- Moov Africa Chad
- Salam Mobile
- Tchad Mobile (defunct)
- Mobile content and applications
- Money transfer, m-banking
- Fixed-line broadband market
- Introduction and statistical overview
- Market analysis
- Broadband statistics
- Fixed wireless (WiMAX, WiBro, Wi-Fi)
- Satellite broadband
- Fixed network operator
- Sotel Tchad
- Privatisation
- CDMA2000 WLL
- National backbone network
- Telecommunications infrastructure
- Data centres
- International infrastructure
- Submarine cables
- The Central African Backbone (CAB)
- Other projects
- Appendix - Historic data
- Glossary of abbreviations
- Related reports
List of Tables
List of Charts
List of Exhibits
Companies Mentioned
- Sotel Tchad
- TchadNet
- Airtel Chad
- Tigo Chad
- Tchad Mobile (Orascom)
- Maroc Telecom
- Sitcom
- Salam Mobile
