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Telecommunications in Sudan includes fixed and mobile telephones, the Internet, radio, and television. Approximately 12 million out of 45 million people in Sudan use the Internet, mainly on smartphones and mobile computers.

Pre-privatization era (up to 1994)

Sudan had telecommunication services as early as 1897. All of the organizations established to deliver telecommunications services were government-owned. They were, for all practical purposes, entities with little or no operational and financial autonomy and little control over their own destiny. Despite many development plans and efforts, the state of telecommunication sector in the country remained extremely poor through 1994. At that time, Sudan had one of the lowest penetration rates (0.23%) even by regional standards.

Privatization era (1994 and beyond)

The Three-Year Economic Salvation Programme (1990–1993), adopted by the Government of Sudan, emphasized the role of telecommunications in the socio-economic development process and called for the removal of the monopolistic environment in the sector and for the involvement of the private sector—whether local or foreign—in the telecommunication sector as well as in other sectors to overcome the persistent shortfalls in investment and performance. As an outcome of this programme, the structure of the telecommunication sector in the country at present is as follows:

:a) The Ministry (Ministry of Information & Communications): in charge of policies and legislation.

:b) The Regulator (National Telecom Corporation, NTC): in charge of regulatory functions.

:c) The licensed operators and service providers: in charge of the operation of licensed networks and of the provision of services.

;Providers

:{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Operator/service provider

! Date of licence

! Technology

! Network Capacity

! Country wide Coverage

! Subscribers

|-

| Zain Sudan

| 14 August 1996

| 3.5G (GSM and WCDMA)+ 4G (LTE)

| Unknown

| 120 locations

| 12,000,000+

|-

| MTN Sudan

| 25 October 2003

| 3G+ (GSM) 4G (LTE)

| 1,100,000

| 35 locations

| 1,788,237

|-

| Sudani One

| 2 February 2006

| 3.75G (CDMA) 4G (LTE)

| 4,000,000

| 145 locations

| 3,000,000

|-

| Canar Telecommunications

| April 2005

| 3G (CDMA)

| Unknown

| unknown

| unknown

|}

Evolution of the telecommunication sector (1994 to September 2006)

;Fixed Services

:{| style="border-spacing:10px;"

|-

| SUDATEL|| 19 April 1993 || TDM/MPLS ||align=right | 1,493,674 ||align=right | 200 locations ||align=right | 411,000

|-

| CANAR (Limited Mobility) || 11 October 2004 || IP-MPLS/CDMA ||align=right | 250,000 ||align=right | 5 locations ||align=right | 104,720

|}

;Growth of fixed and mobile communications

:{| style="border-spacing:10px;"

|-

!&nbsp;||&nbsp; ||align=right | 1994 ||align=right | 2000 ||align=right | 2004 ||align=right | 2005 ||align=right | 2006

|-

| Fixed || Capacity x 1000 ||align=right | 150 ||align=right | 416 ||align=right | 1500 ||align=right | 1500 ||align=right | 1500

|-

|&nbsp;|| Subscribers x 1000 ||align=right | 64 ||align=right | 386 ||align=right | 1929 ||align=right | 680 ||align=right | 515

|-

| Mobile || Capacity x 1000 ||align=right | — ||align=right | 20 ||align=right | 1250 ||align=right | 2000 ||align=right | 4800

|-

|&nbsp;|| Subscribers x 1000 ||align=right | — ||align=right | 1 ||align=right | 1050 ||align=right | 1866 ||align=right | 3370

|}

Telephones

  • Calling code: +249
  • International call prefix: 00
  • Main lines: 425,000 lines in use, 101st in the world (2012).
  • Internet users: 12 million users, 46th in the world; 21.0% of the population, 142nd in the world (2012).
  • Fixed broadband: 18,472 subscriptions, 131st in the world; 0.1% of population, 172nd in the world (2012).
  • Wireless broadband: 5.6 million subscriptions, 31st in the world; 16.4% of the population, 78th in the world (2012).
  • Internet hosts: 99, 211th in the world (2012).
  • Top-level domain: .sd

The government monitors Internet communications, and the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) reads e-mail messages between private citizens. The National Telecommunications Corporation blocks some Web sites and most proxy servers deemed offensive to public morality. While there generally are no restrictions on access to news and information Web sites, authorities regularly block access to YouTube. During the June and July 2012 antigovernment demonstrations, authorities blocked access to several popular online discussion forums. Security agencies also arrested several bloggers during this period, and commentators speculated the government used social media to track and arrest protesters.

The interim national constitution provides for freedom of thought, expression, and of the press “as regulated by law”; however, the government severely restricts these rights. Individuals who criticize the government publicly or privately are subject to reprisal, including arrest. Journalists are subjected to arrest, harassment, intimidation, and violence due to their reporting. The government, including NISS, practices direct prepublication censorship of all forms of media. Journalists also practice self-censorship. NISS resorts to legal action against journalists, bringing libel lawsuits for stories critical of the government and security services. The Supreme Court in December 2011 overturned a lower court decision against several of the accused journalists, but NISS petitioned for a review of the higher court's decision. The Supreme Court rejected the NISS appeal in September 2012, but the security service continued to pursue defamation cases against several other journalists. The interim national constitution and law prohibit arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home, or correspondence, but the government routinely violates these rights. Emergency laws in Darfur and Blue Nile states legalize interference in privacy, family, home, and correspondence. Security forces frequently conduct searches without warrants and target persons suspected of political crimes. The government monitors private communication and movement of individuals without due legal process. Canar was a prominent broadband and fixed-line service provider in Sudan, focusing on corporate internet services and VoIP solutions. Its role has diminished in recent years following changes in ownership and service coverage.

Radio and television

  • Radio: directly controlled by the Sudanese Government (2007); Some foreign shortwave radio broadcasts are available, and a private FM radio station continues to operate. The government restricts UN radio. In addition to domestic and satellite television services, there is a private cable network that directly rebroadcasts uncensored foreign news and other programs.

Another clandestine radio station, Radio Dabanga, began broadcasting in December 2008 using shortwave transmitters of Radio Netherlands Worldwide. Government-run Radio Omdurman ran jamming signals to attempt to interfere with reception during Radio Dabanga's broadcast times, but these jamming efforts were ineffective, in part because Radio Dabanga used two shortwave frequencies.

See also

  • Media of Sudan, includes information on radio, television, and newspapers.
  • Sudan TV, Sudan National Broadcasting Corporation (SNBC), government-owned and operated Arabic language national television network.
  • Sudatel, a telecommunications and Internet service provider, more than 60% owned by the Sudanese government with the remainder owned by private interests.

References

  • Sudan Internet Society .
  • Sudatel , [http://www.sudatel.sd/en/Sudatel/ ].
  • Sudan TV
  • Zain Sudan