Telecommunications in Guinea-Bissau

Guinea-Bissau (Guiné-Bissau), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, is a country in West Africa. Guinea-Bissau is bordered by Senegal to the north and Guinea to the south and east.

Region

Africa

Western Africa

ITU Region

Region-1

Government Policy

Ministério dos Transportes e Comunicações

Spectrum Regulator

Autoridade Reguladora Nacional das Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação ARN

ITU Analysis

After having privatised the fixed-line state-owned operator, GuineTelecom, in 1989 (with a 40 percent stake taken by Portugal Telecom, the remaining 60 percent held by the Government), the Government created GuineTel, a mobile operator subsidiary, and awarded a global system for mobile communication license to the company, which launched its services in 2004. The Government then liberalised the mobile market by awarding two additional licenses to international operators: Mobile Telecommunications Network (MTN) in 2003, and Orange-Bissau (subsidiary of Sonatel) in 2007.