Orange Senegal tests HSDPA in Dakar

Senegalese mobile operator Orange Senegal (formerly Sonatel Mobiles) has begun tests of high speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) services in Dakar, reports Telecompaper. It is understood the cellco, the mobile arm of national PTO Sonatel which is itself a 42.33%-owned subsidiary of France Telecom, is piloting the service with around 200 customers and ICT journalists. Orange Senegal was the first mobile provider in Senegal, having launched services in September 1996. TeleGeography’s GlobalComms database writes that the operator had 3.042 million subscribers at the end of June this year, a market share of around 67%, ahead of the country’s second wireless operator Tigo Senegal with 1.678 million.