Eritrea restores telecom link to EthiopiaEritrea’s telecom sector operates under a state-owned monopoly for fixed and mobile services. Partly as a result of such restrictions on competition, the country has the least developed telecommunications market in Africa. Mobile penetration as of early 2019 was only about 11%, while fixed-line internet use barely registers. This is exacerbated by the very low use of computers, with only about 4% of households having a computer, and most of these being in the capital, Asmara. Although the provision of internet services is open to competition, about 2% of households have access to the internet. As a result such growth as there is in the mobile and mobile internet sectors. The national telco, the Eritrean Telecommunication Services Corporation (EriTel), continues to roll out a 3G network which provides basic internet access to the majority or Eritreans.
Considerable investment in telecom infrastructure is still required to improve the quality of services. The government has embarked on a work program to do exactly that, specifically aimed at extending services to remote areas, improving the quality of services, and ensuring that more telecoms infrastructure is supported by solar power to compensate for the poor state of the electricity network.
Additional foreign investment in telecom infrastructure, as well as introduction of more competition, would help transform what remains a virtually untapped market.
Key developments:Government continues with infrastructure developments; EriTel extends mobile coverage; re-opening of border with Ethiopia promising improved investment opportunities.
Companies mentioned in this report:Eritrean Telecommunication Services Corporation (EriTel)
'
1. Key statistics
2. Country overview
3. Telecom, mobile and internet market overview
3.1 Privatisation of EriTel
4. Market statistics
4.1 Fixed-line statistics
4.2 Internet statistics
4.3 Mobile statistics
5. Related reportsList of Tables
Table 1 – Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities - Eritrea – 2018
Table 2 –-Telecom services revenue by platform – 2001 - 2015
Table 3 –-Telecom services investment – 2001 - 2015
Table 4 – Historic - Fixed lines in service and teledensity in Eritrea – 1999 - 2009
Table 5 – Fixed lines in service and teledensity in Eritrea – 2010 - 2018
Table 6 – Historic - Internet subscribers and penetration rate in Eritrea – 1999 - 2009
Table 7 – Internet subscribers and penetration rate in Eritrea – 2010 - 2018
Table 8 – Fixed-line internet and broadband subscribers – 2003 - 2018
Table 9 – International Internet bandwidth – 1999 - 2016
Table 10 – Mobile subscribers and penetration rate in Eritrea – 2004 - 2018List of Charts
Chart 1 – Fixed lines in service and teledensity in Eritrea – 2010 - 2018
Chart 2 – Internet users and penetration rate in Eritrea – 2005 - 2018
Chart 3 – Mobile subscribers and penetration rate in Eritrea – 2004 – 2018List of Exhibits
Exhibit 1 – Map of Eritrea
