Sudan telecom inaugurates new premises in Mauritania

January 22, 2009 (CAIRO) — The Sudanese Telecommunications Company (Sudatel) inaugurated a new corporate site in the Senegalese capital today as part of its growing presence in the West African country.

The new premises were unveiled in the presence of the Senegalese Minister of Information and Abdul Aziz Sow and the Chargé d’Affaires at the Sudanese Embassy in Dakar.

Sudatel, which is listed in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi, has in September 2007 paid $200 million to start mobile phone services in Mauritania before winning the license for fixed-line and mobile services in Senegal, seeing off competition from Celtel, a subsidiary of Kuwait’s Zain.

The company started its services in Mauritania under the brand name Expresso becoming the third telecom company operating in Senegal. Sudantel services cover all the areas of communications, including mobile phones and information services.

At the time Sudatel officials said they expect to have coverage of all of Senegal’s main towns within three years and spending $500 million on rolling out its network over at least five years.

Sudatel’s managing director Hamez Emmanuel told reporters that the company will utilize advanced technology to transfer digital signals through a joint system of the optical spectrum.

He further said that Sudatel plans to link the three million subscribers to its mobile phone network and 150,000 subscribers to its wireless network.

Emmanuel noted that the inauguration is a pillar of strengthening the bonds of friendship and cooperation between the Sudan and Senegal.

Sudatel, which is 26-percent state-owned, featured on a list of 31 Sudanese companies barred in May from doing business with American firms, as Washington ratcheted up pressure on Khartoum to halt violence in its Western Darfur region.

(ST)