Despite being Africa’s latest exporter of oil, Chad has one of the least developed telecommunications markets in the world. Penetration rates in all market sectors fixed, mobile and internet are well below African averages. Nevertheless, recent regulatory developments and renewed commitments from existing players in the telecom market are showcasing the potential for investors to develop a country having a low base for services.

The mobile sector is growing fast under competition between two foreign-owned networks Bharti Airtel (formerly Zain), and Millicom (Tigo). The national telco and fixed-line operator, Sotel Tchad (ST) operates the country’s third mobile network.

ST has also rolled out a CDMA2000 fixed-wireless system that supports broadband internet access using EV-DO technology. The mobile networks offer basic mobile data services using GPRS and EDGE technology. The country’s first 3G/4G mobile license was awarded in April 2014.

Landlocked Chad finally gained access to international fiber bandwidth in 2012, but it still lacks a national backbone infrastructure to support efficient broadband services. All long-distance connections are currently made via satellite. However, the World Bank-funded Central African Backbone (CAB) project has now laid the foundation for the development of a broadband market. The government is seeking partners to expand the national fiber network and launched an international tender for the sale of an 80% stake in Sotel Tchad in April 2014.

Key developments

• Bharti Airtel launches 3G services
• Tigo Chad launches LTE
• Expansion of national fibre backbone into 2015
• Sotel and CamTel sign infrastructure expansion agreement
• YooMee secures funding for LTE deployment
• National telco up for sale
• Updates include operator data to end-2014, recent market developments

Estimated market penetration rates in Chad’s telecoms sector end-2014

Market	Penetration Rate
Mobile	51%
Fixed	0.1%
Internet	2.4%