Sierra Leone – ICTs and Freedom of Expression

Sebastian Buettrich has begun doing research on the ICT industry in Sierra Leone, and he has just posted his first draft report on Sierra Leone – ICT’s and Freedom of Expression.

Interestingly he say’s that Sierra Leone is often over looked when it comes to research and statistics due to the small population size.

Here are some of the points i found interesting:

ICT – Availability

• Monopoly fixed line network operator Sierra Leone Telecommunications Company (Sierratel)‏
• Entry and backbone controlled by Sierratel – however, unclear for VSAT providers, ACE cable
• Fiber: Undersea cable ACE landing in Freetown
• Five GSM networks (Africell, Tigo, Zain, Comium and Sierratel, 2008) and up to three more expected to launch shortly
• April 09: Sierratel launches CDMA network

ICT – Affordability

• Computer and internet penetration: Internet 0.2 of population (2008)‏
• All available Indexes of ICT development (ITU, Worldbank, etc) see the country close to an absolute zero
• Problem: as so often, data are outdated. Sierra Leone is excluded from many data collections, because of size of the country

ICT – Accessibility

• Fixed-line penetration at < 0.5% (2004)‏
• Mobile penetration: 123.3 / 1000, rank 185/220 – low
• Internet penetration: 13,000 Internet users, 0.2% of the population, per ITU (March 2008)
• Internet penetration / Growth by factor 2 every 4 years (2000 – 2004 – 2008)‏
• Internet hosts: 8 (2008) (CIA) – outdated!‏
• ITU DAI 2002: 0.10 = bottom end worldwide (only 3 countries are lower)‏
• .sl domain: nic.sl: Government of Sierra Leone has appointed AFcom as the registry for the .SL zone
  Afcom is a supplier of internet connectivity services via its’ own dedicated wireless network for Freetown metropolitan area as well as in Bo, Lunsar, Makeni, Kenema and Kono.
• Pricing example: GPRS connection – modem cost $150, monthly subscription $50

Internet users 2002 - worldmapper.org

Popularity: 33% [?]