Senegal’s Regulatory Authority for Telecommunications and Posts (ARTP) has announced that three new ISPs, namely Waaw, Africa Access and Arc Informatique, have all begun commercial operations. The three companies were granted licences in November 2016, reportedly paying a combined total of XOF950 million (USD1.8 million) for the concessions. The licences are valid for ten years and each telco will cover Dakar and four or five other regions of Senegal. Waaw will cover Dakar, Thies, Diourbel, Tambacounda and Kedougou; Arc Informatique will operate in Dakar, Louga, Saint-Louis, Fatick, Kaolack and Kaffrine; and Africa Access has been assigned Dakar, Ziguinchor, Sedhiou, Kolda and Matam.
All three ISPs are in the deployment phase and are testing their networks in order to offer high speed internet services based on 4G LTE technology.