Broadband Access In the Gambia

Although definitions of broadband vary, it is generally associated with “high-speed Internet access” via communication networks that allow for large amounts of information to be transmitted, quickly and often concurrently.
Broadband thereby gives users access to a wide range of resources, products and services that can enhance their business and/or social activities in significant ways.

West Africa gets access to broadband facilities mainly through the SAT3/WASC fiber cable. The SAT3/WASC cable runs from Sesimbra, Portugal – Passes through Senegal, Cote D’Ivoire, Ghana, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Angola and ends at Melkbosstrand, South Africa.
The Current Capacity of the SAT3 bandwidth is around 120Gbps, plans are underway to increase this capacity to 340Gbps.

The Gambia, like many West African countries, gets its bandwidth from Sonatel of Senegal. Senegal has developed one of Africa’s most extensive and modern telecommunications infrastructures. Sonatel was one of the first African countries to introduce ADSL broadband service in 2003 which has almost completely replaced dial-up as the Internet access method of choice. The country has been a successful reseller of international bandwidth from its SAT-3/WASC landing station to other countries and will be able to expand this business with the new international fiber links, the first of which has already reached its shores.

The national bandwidth for the Gambia was 64 Mbps until it was upgraded around April 2010 to STM1 capacity (Synchronous Transport Module level-1, which has a bit rate of 155.52 Mbit/s)

The Gambia has a relatively well developed national backbone network. The introduction of wireless systems by three other ISP’s is beginning to accelerate developments. Gamtel has a monopoly on international bandwidth; the bandwidth they get from Sonatel is resold to local ISP’s in the country at a very high price who in turn resell this bandwidth to businesses and home users.

There are plans in the near future to have direct access to the new submarine fiber cable system; hopefully this will dramatically lower the cost of internet bandwidth in the country which is currently at an all-time high due to our dependency to Sonatel of. A home connection of 128kbps internet connection cost about $300 for equipment and installation and a recurring cost of about $30 per month.

It’s worth mentioning that a new Telecommunications/ICT Bill is expected to create a regulatory environment under which more competition will be introduced to more sectors of the telecommunications market. In view of convergence, the new law will be technology-neutral, which will also liberalise the use of VoIP Internet telephony.

The fact that there is only one fiber path from Senegal to the Gambia (Where all internet traffic passes through for the whole country) and from past experience with fiber cuts, which have disrupted services on more than one occasion, Gamtel and its Senegalese counterpart Sonatel are now extending their fiber links from Dakar through Kaolack, Karang, Barra, Banjul, Serrekunda, Yundum, Brikama to Seleti in Casamance to terminate on Sonatel's fiber network. The new infrastructure will provide an alternative route to the fiber link between Basse in Gambia and Velingara in Senegal, which was implemented in 1996. This will also eliminating the serious problem of disruption to bilateral international traffic whenever the older fiber is cut.

The Gambia is the smallest African nation, but we obviously have big plans for fiber and are making a wise and proper investment in the future of our country.