Senegal’s Regulation Authority for Telecommunications and Posts (L’Autorite de Regulation des Telecommunications et des Postes, ARTP) launched a public call for applications for 5G licences on Wednesday. Only companies registered in Senegal and in possession of a licence to establish and operate networks providing electronic communications services to the public can apply, the regulator said in a statement, adding the launch of 5G services forms part of the government’s strategy ‘to strengthen very high speed connectivity and digital use in the country’. Interested candidates have until 1 July to request the tender documents containing the model specifications and concession agreement. The deadline for applications is 14 July.

Senegal’s mobile operators have been preparing for 5G since 2020. Orange Senegal staged the country’s first 5G test in Dakar in November 2020, in partnership with Chinese hardware vendor Huawei, and conducted a second trial in collaboration with Nokia in December 2021. Its rival Free Senegal announced the deployment of a 5G pilot network in Dakar in June 2022, with support from Ericsson. Orange Group also opened a 5G Lab in the country in July last year, the group’s first such facility on the African continent for the testing and development of fifth-generation products and services.