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SONITEL (Société Nigérienne des Télécommunications, 'Nigerien Telecommunications Society') was the Nigerien national telephone and telecommunications carrier from the late 1990s until the mid-2010s. It was created on 20 March 1997 as a fusion of the telecommunications arm of Nigerien Posts and Telecommunications (Office des Postes et Télécommunications) and the STIN (Société des Télécommunications Internationales du Niger, 'International Telecommunications Society of Niger'), which controlled land line telephone connections abroad. The process had begun with the passage of a law aimed at the privatisation of telecommunications (Ordonnance N°96-031 du 11 juin 1996), [1] and was part of a larger process of internationally led privatisation of Niger's once large parastatal sector. [2] SONITEL had the government of Niger as a majority share holder.
Following the 1999 Constitution of the Fifth Republic of Niger, SONITEL was to be privatised, and in 2001, after an unsuccessful round of offerings, the majority of the companies shares were sold. In December 2001, 51% of the company was purchased by the Sino-Libyan consortium DATAPORT, made up of ZTE and the Libyan LAAICO company. The ZTE majority consortium reportedly paid 11.8 billion FCFA, beating out FranceTelecom and SONATEL. [3] The government of Niger continued to hold 34.11% of the company, with private investors taking 11%, the 1300 employees of SONITEL holding 3%, and France Câbles & Radio – who had been a stakeholder in STIN, 0.89%. [4] In 2004, SONITEL's mobile phone arm was opened up to face foreign competition, but SONITEL continued to hold a monopoly on Internet communication, the .ne name registry, and international fixed line voice communication. [5] [6]
Following mobile phone competition, SONITEL was widely criticised for poor performance, [7] faced a series of protests and strikes by its workers over pay and conditions, [8] and accumulated debts of 40 billion FCFA despite a 140% increase in user fees. [9] On 13 February 2009, the government of Niger announced it was "canceling" the privatisation of SONITEL and its subsidiary SahelCom (which handled mobile communications), although it hoped to eventually re-privatise the company. The Minister of Communications stated that the process had "failed", and the government would retain a 100% share in SONITEL, and form a new administration of the company. [9] An attempt to sell both companies to Libya's sovereign wealth fund in 2011 failed because of the beginning of the First Libyan Civil War. The nationalisations were completed in 2012.
On 28 September 2016, the Nigerien government merged SONITEL with SahelCom to create Niger Telecoms.
Telecommunications in Burkina Faso include radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet.
Telecommunications had an early beginning in Mauritius, with the first telephone line installed in 1883, seven years after the invention of the telephone. Over the years, the network and telephony improved. By the late 20th century, the rapid development and convergence of information and telecommunications technologies gave rise to an ICT industry on the island along with many incentives provided by the government. The government thus aims to make the ICT sector the 5th pillar of the Mauritian economy and Mauritius a Cyber Island. Historically, the country is known for tourism, rather than its call centers and business process outsourcing.
Telecommunications in Niger include radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet.
The Niger Armed Forces includes military armed force service branches, paramilitary services branches and the National Police of Niger. The Army, Air Force and the National Gendarmerie are under the Ministry of Defense whereas the National Guard and the National Police fall under the command of the Ministry of Interior. With the exception of the National Police, all military and paramilitary forces are trained in military fashion. The President of Niger is the supreme commander of the entire armed forces. The National Assembly of Niger passed a statute for the Army of Niger in November 2020, planning for the army's size to increase from 25,000 personnel in 2020, to 50,000 in 2025 and finally 100,000 in 2030.
Mercury Communications was a national telephone company in the United Kingdom, formed in 1981 as a subsidiary of Cable & Wireless, to challenge the then-monopoly of British Telecom (BT). Although it proved only moderately successful at challenging BT's dominance, it led the way for new communication companies to attempt the same.
A postal, telegraph, and telephone service is a government agency responsible for postal mail, telegraph, and telephone services. Such monopolies existed in many countries, though not in North America, Japan or Spain. Many PTTs have been partially or completely privatised in recent years. In many of these privatisations, the privatised corporation was completely renamed, such as KPN in the Netherlands, Orange S.A. in France, BT Group in the United Kingdom, Eir in the Republic of Ireland, Swisscom in Switzerland, Telstra in Australia, Spark in New Zealand, Proximus Group in Belgium, A1 Telekom Austria Group in Austria, TDC Group in Denmark, Telia Company in Sweden and Finland, Telenor in Norway, Chunghwa Telecom in Taiwan and Singtel in Singapore; whereas in others, the name of the privatised corporation has been only slightly modified, such as Telkom Indonesia in Indonesia, Telekom Malaysia in Malaysia, Deutsche Telekom in Germany, Kosovo Telecom in Kosovo, KT in South Korea, Post Luxembourg in Luxembourg and Síminn in Iceland.
Stade Général Seyni Kountché (SGSK) is a multi-purpose stadium in Niamey, Niger. Used for football matches, it is home to the Niger national football team, as well as Niger Premier League clubs Sahel SC, Olympic FC de Niamey, Zumunta AC and JS du Ténéré, as well as club competitions such as the Niger Cup. The venue is also sometimes used for rugby union. It is the largest stadium in Niamey, followed by the 10,000-capacity Stade municipal.
Sure, a trading brand of Batelco, is a telecommunications company in the Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey, the Falkland Islands, St. Helena, Ascension Island, and the British Indian Ocean Territory. Sure is the largest tri-island mobile operator across the Channel Islands and Isle of Man.
The 2007-2009 Tuareg rebellion was an insurgency that began in February 2007 amongst elements of the Tuareg people living in the Sahara desert regions of northern Mali and Niger. It is one of a series of insurgencies by formerly nomadic Tuareg populations, which had last appeared in the mid-1990s, and date back at least to 1916. Populations dispersed to Algeria and Libya, as well as to the south of Niger and Mali in the 1990s returned only in the late 1990s. Former fighters were to be integrated into national militaries, but the process has been slow and caused increased resentment. Malian Tuaregs had conducted some raids in 2005–2006, which ended in a renewed peace agreement. Fighting in both nations was carried on largely in parallel, but not in concert. While fighting was mostly confined to guerrilla attacks and army counterattacks, large portions of the desert north of each nation were no-go zones for the military and civilians fled to regional capitals like Kidal, Mali and Agadez, Niger. Fighting was largely contained within Mali's Kidal Region and Niger's Agadez Region. Algeria helped negotiate an August 2008 Malian peace deal, which was broken by a rebel faction in December, crushed by the Malian military and wholescale defections of rebels to the government. Niger saw heavy fighting and disruption of uranium production in the mountainous north, before a Libyan backed peace deal, aided by a factional split among the rebels, brought a negotiated ceasefire and amnesty in May 2009.
Foumakoye Gado is a Nigerien politician who is currently the President of the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS-Tarayya). He served in the government of Niger as Minister of Mines and Energy from April 1993 to October 1994, and held the same post for a second time from April 2011 to September 2011. He has served as Minister of Oil since September 2011, with responsibility for energy as well until October 2016.
Seasonal migration, locally called the Exode, plays an important part of the economic and cultural life of the West African nation of Niger. While it is a common practice in many nations, Niger sees as much as a third of its rural population travel for seasonal labour, during the Sahelian nation's long dry season. Common patterns of seasonal travel have been built up over hundreds of years, and destinations and work vary by community and ethnic group.
Denis Retaillé was a Professor of Geography at the University of Bordeaux III and the Director of the CNRS ADES Research Unit, UMR 5186. Professor Retaillé holds a PhD in Geography from the University of Rouen (1983) dedicated to the study of the Nigerien region of Koutous, and a Habilitation from the Paris-Sorbonne University (1993) dedicated to the study of space in the Sahel. From 1993 to 2008, he was a Professor of Geography at the University of Rouen, France.
Ousmane Issoufou Oubandawaki is a Nigerien politician. An engineer by profession, specializing in civil aviation, Oubandawaki held various posts at ASECNA and served in the government of Niger under President Ibrahim Baré Mainassara, first as Minister of National Defense from 1996 to 1997 and then as Minister of Transport from 1997 to 1998. He was Director-General of ASECNA from January 1999 to December 2004.
Bankilaré is a village and rural commune in Niger. Bankilaré commune, centered on the town of the same name, is in Téra Department, Tillabéri Region, in the northwestern corner of the country. The town lies 60 km north of Departmental capital Téra, and around the same distance from the Burkina Faso border and the Mali border. As of 2012, it had a population of 84,893.
Tassara is a village and rural commune in Niger.
Inwi is a telecommunications company in Morocco. One of the three major Internet service providers in the country, it is a subsidiary of the group SNI and the Kuwaiti group Zain.
Abdoulaye Hamani Diori was a Nigerien political leader and businessman. The son of Niger's first President, he waged a political and abortive military struggle against the Military regime that overthrew his father. With the return of democracy to Niger, Abdoulaye became head of his father's political party, and maintained a small but influential place in the political life of Niger until his death in 2011. Abdoulaye was married with four children. A Muslim, he earned the honorific 'Hadji' after making the pilgrimage to Mecca. He died 25 April 2011 at National Hospital in Niamey, aged 65, following an illness.
Niger Telecoms is the Nigerien national telephone and telecommunications carrier. It was created on 28 September 2016 as a fusion of SONITEL, which handled fixed telephony, and SahelCom, which controlled mobile telephony and connections. After privatisations in 2001, both merged companies had faced financial difficulties, and had been renationalised by the government for that reason in 2012. Niger Telecoms had capital of 23.5 billion CFA francs upon its formation.
The Tazalit attack, also known as the Tazalit massacre, occurred on October 6, 2016, when unknown jihadists attacked Nigerien forces at the Tazalit refugee camp in Niger, killing dozens of Nigerien soldiers. The attack was the deadliest attack on Nigerien forces so far during the jihadist insurgency in Niger.