The government of Djibouti is talking up the “sustained” network deployments by national carrier Djibouti Telecom as it prepares to sell a 40% stake in the incumbent operator.
According to Agence Ecofin, the operator has expanded its 4G/LTE network from the country’s eponymous capital to encompass areas in all five of its interior regions, and its broadband network now extends to the Tadjourah region, including the northern road corridor connecting to Balho. The government claims this will help Djibouti Telecom “to connect users of the corridor leading to Ethiopia to high speed mobile internet.”
In the south of Djibouti, the operator is finalising the installation of 4G technology at its existing GSM sites in the As Eyla, Galileh, Goubetto and HolHoll regions.
In August this year, Djibouti’s government set a deadline of 16th September for potential investors to express their interest in obtaining a 40% stake in Djibouti Telecom. Djibouti is one of the last markets in Africa in which the incumbent operator holds an effective monopoly over the telecoms sector, and the government has signalled that this is likely to change imminently.
A government statement read: “The state of Djibouti does not consider the monopoly as an intangible dogma … In the context of a development that has been experienced by the vast majority of African and emerging countries, the company must prepare to face competition from new entrants and the liberalisation of the sector, particularly in the cell phone sector.
