This document summarizes ICT development trends in Sierra Leone as of 2013. It discusses the country's demographics, telecom and ICT statistics and environment. As of Q3 2013, mobile penetration had reached over 58% and internet penetration was over 1.3%. Infrastructure projects underway included the ECOWAN fibre backbone project connecting universities and a WiMax network. Looking beyond 2013, plans included completing the ECOWAN and national fibre backbone projects by 2016, establishing a national internet exchange point in 2014, enacting a new Electronic Communications Act, and beginning an e-government network.

1. ICT Development Trends in Sierra Leone
2013
Youth Empowerment Summit
Mauritius
4-6 December 2013
By
Senesie Kallon
Deputy Director General
National Telecommunications Commission (NATCOM)
ddg@natcom.gov.sl

2. Content
1.Country Demographics
2.Telecoms and ICT
Statistics/Environment
3.Country Situation as at Q3, ’13
4.Looking Beyond 2013

3. 1. Country Demographics
Population: 6 million (2012 Est)
Population Growth Rate: 2.77%
Land Area: 72,000 Square km
GDP per Capita: $254.00 (2012 Estimate)
GDP Growth Rate: 7%
Major Exports: Diamond

4. Country Demographics Contd.
Gold, Rutile and Bauxite :
Due largely to mining sector
• Real GDP growth leap from 6% in 2011 to 16.7% in
2012,
• Contribution from Agriculture, Services and
Construction
* Important to note that we are reconstructing our
country after nearly 10 years of Civil War (1991-2000)

5. 2. Telecoms and ICT Statistics/Environment
 Liberalized Telecoms and ICT Free Market- 2003
 Regulatory Authority Established 2006 (by Act 2006)
 Effectively 2 GSM Operators (Airtel, Africell and

Comium?)
 1 fixed-line operator; also on FWA CDMA 2000 1X
and EVDO
 Mobile Subscribers 3,500,000 as at mid-2013 (58%)
 45,000 Fixed-line (after rehabilitation by mid-2014) –
infrastructure totally vandalized

6. Telecoms and ICT Statistics/Environment
• Two 3G Licensees (Airtel and Africell) on HSPDA, ‘12/’13
• Two WiMax Licensees (Atlas Comms and Comium?)
• Eight Nationwide ISP (Afcom, Atlas Comms, IpTel,
Sierratel, LimeLine Comium Data?, Easylink?,TGT?)
• Over 25 FM Broadcast Radio Stations
• Four Terrestrial TV Stations (availing over 50 Tv channels)
• One ACE Submarine Cable Landing Station
(SALCAB)- 6GBits/s Commissioned Feb’13
• Internet Penetration 1.3% (June ‘12) cf 15.6 for
Africa Average

7. 3. Country Situation as at Q3, ’13
 Mobile Penetration greater than 58%
Internet Penetration greater than 1.3%
Mobile Data on HSPDA and CDMA 2000 1X EVDO
 45,000 fixed line being prepared and ADSL Internet
added
 14 STM-1 International Backbone Bandwidth in
place compared to approx 42 Mbits/s in 2012
 1 Mbits/s wholesale price $ 200.00/month
compared to $3,500.00 in 2012 on Satellite

8. Country Situation as at Q3, ’13
 Broadband Infrastructure Project
ECOWAN FIBRE Statistics:
Total 660 km, 555 Km backbone, 105 km spurs
21 ADD/DROP Stations for Universities, Colleges, Medical School
WiMax 802.16e Network Statistics
4 WiMAx Base Stations to CBD of Freetown
Connect 43 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) including
NATCOM on 3,620 PCs
1 STM-4 International Internet Backbone from the ACE Cable Landing Station
60 MHz bandwidth in 2.5 GHz Band for WiMax
Migration Path: 4G/LTE

9. Country Situation as at Q3, ’13
National Fibre Backbone Project by Huawei –over
500 km joining ECOWAN to make a ring supervised by MoIC
 Revision of the Telecoms Act 2006 to change to
Electronic Communications Act for Convergence
 Revised Licensing Regimes to include servicebased and Infrastructure/Facility Licensees
 Handed Open Access Regulation for Essential Facilities
 Access Gap Study done by CTO for our UAS deployment
 Revised Regulatory Fee Structures for 2014 and beyond
 Upgraded NATCOM website
 Capacity Building for Economic Regulation
 MoIC has begun the E-government Network Project

10. 4. Looking Beyond 2013
$ 37m ECOWAN Cross border and Huawei National
Fibre Backbone Project in full swing and completed
in early 2016
 National Internet Exchange Point Established by
Q3, 2014
 New Electronic Communications Act Enacted in
2014
 Issue First 4G Licence
 E-government Network Established firstly in
Freetown, the capital city

11. Thank You/Merci
QUESTIONS?