subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: less than 1 (2018 est.)
total subscriptions: 3,434
subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: less than 1 (2019 est.)
Telephones - mobile cellular
total subscriptions: 12.873 million
subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 105.63 (2019 est.)
total subscriptions: 6,729,804
subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 103.77 (2019 est.)
Internet country code
.gn
.sl
Internet users
total: 2,133,974
percent of population: 18% (July 2018 est.)
total: 568,099
percent of population: 9% (July 2018 est.)
Telecommunication systems
general assessment:
Guinea's mobile subscribership growing through investment of South African telecom operators and Chinese Huawei management; m-transactions supported commerce; broadband still limited and expensive though submarine cable and IXP improved reliability of infrastructure; 4G Wi-Fi in the capital; National Backbone Network will connect regional administrative centers; ECOWAS countries to launch free roaming; importer of broadcasting equipment from China (2021)
(2020)
domestic: there is national coverage and Conakry is reasonably well-served; coverage elsewhere remains inadequate but is improving; fixed-line teledensity is less than 1 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular subscribership is expanding rapidly and now 101 per 100 persons (2019)
international: country code - 224; ACE submarine cable connecting Guinea with 20 landing points in Western and South Africa and Europe; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean (2019)
note: the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on production and supply chains globally; since 2020, some aspects of the telecom sector have experienced downturn, particularly in mobile device production; many network operators delayed upgrades to infrastructure; progress towards 5G implementation was postponed or slowed in some countries; consumer spending on telecom services and devices was affected by large-scale job losses and the consequent restriction on disposable incomes; the crucial nature of telecom services as a tool for work and school from home became evident, and received some support from governments
general assessment:
telecom sector is recovering from the decades of war, yet still constrained by inadequate power and pervasive corruption; recently installed terrestrial fiber backbone infrastructure; telephone service improving with the rapid growth of mobile sector; operators increased investment to provide national coverage; LTE available in some parts of the country; construction of 600 km ECOWAS Wide Area Network completed; fiber link to Guinea completed; importer of broadcasting equipment from China (2021)
(2020)
domestic: fixed-line less than 1 per 100 and mobile-cellular 86 per 100 (2019)
international: country code - 232; landing point for the ACE submarine cable linking to South Africa, over 20 western African countries and Europe; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2019)
note: the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on production and supply chains globally; since 2020, some aspects of the telecom sector have experienced downturn, particularly in mobile device production; many network operators delayed upgrades to infrastructure; progress towards 5G implementation was postponed or slowed in some countries; consumer spending on telecom services and devices was affected by large-scale job losses and the consequent restriction on disposable incomes; the crucial nature of telecom services as a tool for work and school from home became evident, and received some support from governments
Broadcast media
government maintains marginal control over broadcast media; single state-run TV station; state-run radio broadcast station also operates several stations in rural areas; a dozen private television stations; a steadily increasing number of privately owned radio stations, nearly all in Conakry, and about a dozen community radio stations; foreign TV programming available via satellite and cable subscription services
(2019)
1 government-owned TV station; 3 private TV stations; a pay-TV service began operations in late 2007; 1 government-owned national radio station; about two-dozen private radio stations primarily clustered in major cities; transmissions of several international broadcasters are available
