Sudan has known telecommunication services as early as 1859, since then; there were ups and downs in this vital sector that played a major role in shaping the world now and then.
Swakin town in eastern Sudan; was the first spot to be linked to the world through marine cable. Later In 1866 telegraph line was extended to link Egypt and Sudan via Wadi Halfa and Dongola, and reached Khartoum North in 1870 and then to Khartoum via cable across the Blue Nile. In 1871 telegraph lines began to spread east and west, during the era of Ismail Basha they reached Al-Ubaied city 1874 and reached Darfur in 1875.
The dial-up services have begun in Sudan with the railway construction in 1897 and radio contact introduced in 1914; stations have been established in each of Jmbila, Nasser and Malakal in southern part of the country.
Telephone services were introduced to the public in the Sudan in 1903 when the first telephone booth had been established in Khartoum.
Despite many development plans and efforts, the state of telecommunication sector in the country remained extremely poor up to 1994, by that time; Sudan had one of the lowest penetration rates even by regional standards.
Sudatel
The emergence of Sudatel in the field of telecom in 1993 revived the sector once again, through the adaptation of new policies and the latest technologies and up-grading of the existing Infrastructure and investing heavily in training its manpower, to deal with the modernized equipments.
Later on the market were opened for foreign investors to enter this lucrative field, thus the entrance of heavy weight players like Zain (formerly MTC) and MTN (formerly Areeba), and later on Canar signify that this market is promising and growing rapidly.
Zain
Zain the new corporate master brand name for the Group (formerly MTC), is a leading mobile telecommunications provider in the Middle East and Africa. The company services covered most parts of Sudan.
MTN
MTN is a new global brand which made its appearance in the Sudanese telecommunication market in July 2005. The company, through its legal entity Bashair Telecom, won the second GSM license in Sudan in September 2004.
Canar
Established in April 2005, Canar Telecommunications Company Limited is a leading provider of telecommunications services in Sudan. Its main activities include telecommunication services, high-value broadband internet services and IT solutions. Canar offers a comprehensive wide range of communications solutions. The company’s wide range of products and services include voice, data, internet and multi media services, VSAT, web hosting, IP Centrex and VPN.
Sudani
Sudani is subsidiary of Sudatel and benefited immensely from the powerful position of Sudatel which leads the market and dictates all terms, the birth of Sudani further reflects that the market still can handle more companies and the competition generated forces all companies to up-grade their services to compete with Sudani new technologies.
Currently all companies improved their services hundred folds through the adaptation of the latest technologies and the introduction of several and easy means of payments.
Sudatel Operations
Sudatel expands its satellite EarthLink facilities and built a fiber optic network. Sudatel fiber projects include: Sudan - Egypt Fiber Line - 350 km and Sudan - Ethiopia Landline Project.
Sea Cable Projects:
The fiber optic cable project is linking Port Sudan with Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, under the Red Sea, its started operation in December 2006. Moreover, Sudatel signed a contract to establish and operate the East Africa continental sea cable, which shall link South Africa’s telecom network with that of Sudatel, which cable shall run from Port Sudan to Cape Town.
Canar invests in FALCON system for improved services
FALCON will enable Canar to provide the infrastructure it requires to meet demand for e-commerce applications and broadband services and offer an improved level and quality of services. The landing station at Port Sudan will provide connectivity between the country and the main Internet Exchanges and business centers around the world, services of the line began December 2005.
Healthy competition between companies means provision of state-of-the-art telecommunications as well as affordable and reliable communication solutions to all regions in Sudan. The improvement also means that people throughout Sudan are connected 24/7, and that is the major objective of all companies.
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