Telecommunications in Mali

Children watch television in a village in rural Mali.

Mali, a large, landlocked, multicultural country in West Africa, consistently ranks low in the Human Development Index. The infrastructure of communications in Mali, while underdeveloped, is crucial to the nation.

## History

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Prior to the 19th century, the area which became Mali was crisscrossed by trade and communication links, the most important being the Niger River, and important southern terminals of the Trans-Saharan trade routes. Only the most basic infrastructure (notably the Dakar-Niger Railway) was constructed during the period of French colonialism. During the first two decades of independence, Mali received major technical and financial support from the former Soviet Union, China, and their allies, especially in the area of radio and television broadcasting.

Since the 1980s, the government has instituted major infrastructural drives, primarily funded by European government partners, to improve and expand communications. Cellular phone usage, due to the vast and sparsely populated distances in the north and west, has grown tremendously since the 1990s.

Internet connectivity, very low by developed world standards, has been the focus of decentralised commune based development projects since the year 2000, while the government participates in the UN's Global Alliance for ICT and Development and the Connect Africa projects to further provide computer and internet availability in the country.

## Telephone service

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See also: Telephone numbers in Mali

There are some 112,000 (2012) [1] fixed line telephone lines in Mali, far outstripped by 14.613 million (2012)[1] mobile cellular phone lines.

There are two major mobile telephone operators, Ikatel (a subsidiary of Sonatel, of Senegal) and Malitel (a subsidiary of SOTELMA, the state owned telecommunications company).

In June 2003, legislation passed a bill allowing other private telecommunications operators to enter the market.

Telephone system: the domestic system is unreliable but improving and provides only minimal service
domestic: network consists of microwave radio relay, open wire, and radiotelephone communications stations; expansion of microwave radio relay in progress
international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean)

## Radio and television

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See also: Media_of_Mali § Radio

Radio broadcast stations: Government funded: AM 1, shortwave 1.

Mali has since 1994 allowed for private (as in non-state) radios to begin operating. Foreign funding, and some commercial funding (mostly in the capital) have helped to establish 160 FM stations in Mali, though many of those are small community "suitcase radio stations". Private radio are required to be members of URTEL, the radio union.[2]

The state-operated radio is ORTM (office de Radiodiffusion au Television de Mali), which operates 2 FM stations and 1 television station, with repeaters throughout the country.

note: The shortwave station in Bamako has seven frequencies and five transmitters and relays broadcasts for China Radio International (2001)

Radios: 570,000 (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 1 (plus repeaters) (2001)

Televisions: 45,000 (1997)

## Internet

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A computer training center in Bamako.

See also: Internet freedom in Mali

Top-level domain: .ml

Internet users: 414,985 users or 2.9% of the population (2011). Internet usage is low by international standards, ranked 123 of 125 by the UN in 2002.[3]

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 13 (2001). There are an estimated 25 private internet service providers. Recently an association has been formed called AFIM (Association de Fournisseurs de l'Internet au Mali), which is intended to represent these providers.

SOTELMA the state telecom, provides X.25 and dial-up telephone services. Many operators offer dial-up internet service, and wireless internet services. Most ISPs are small Bamako based providers with a VSAT connection, a cyber cafe and use wireless systems (Alviron, 802.11a,b, g, Motorola) to share their service with their clients. Bamako has at least 21 wireless providers, ranging from small VSAT operators, to sophisticated, multi-access point, full services providers.

## See also

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* Telephone numbers in Mali
* Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision du Mali: State Radio and Television broadcaster.
* Union des Radios et Televisions Libres (URTEL)
* Media of Mali

## References

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1. ^ a b "Mali". The World Factbook. CIA. March 26, 2024. Archived from the original on Mar 21, 2024.
2. ^ "URTEL". urtel.radio.org.ml. Archived from the original on Mar 12, 2007.
3. ^ "Mali - Internet users". Globalis. Archived from the original on 2007-07-13.

* Peter Coles, "Turn your radio on". New Scientist, 7 October 1995.
* "Mali (2007)". Freedom House. Archived from the original on Sep 8, 2011.
* "Six radio station staff freed on completing sentences: Mali". Reporters Without Borders. 26 September 2006. Archived from the original on Oct 30, 2007.
* "Silicon Mali". Silvia Sansoni, Forbes, Feb 4, 2002.
* "VOA Training African Affiliates: Broadcasters' Fiscal Health Key 'To Guarantee Pluralism'". Voice of America. 13 September 2005. Archived from the original on May 15, 2009.
* "Fact Sheet - Mali Market Information Study - Food Security II Cooperative Agreement between U.S. Agency for International Development and Michigan State University: in-country Time Period: July 1987 - December 1994". MSU Agricultural Economics. Archived from the original on Feb 28, 2013. "statistical evidence is consistent with anecdotal reports from both farmers and traders that the SIM radio broadcasts have fundamentally changed bargaining relationships between traders and farmers, forcing traders to offer more competitive prices in isolated rural markets."
* Cécile Leguy. Revitalizing the Oral Tradition: Stories Broadcast by Radio Parana (San, Mali). Research in African Literatures, Fall 2007, Vol. 38, No. 3, Pages 136–147.
* Radio Bamakan - Mali. InteRadio, Vol. 5, No.2, June 1993.

## External links

[edit]

* PanAfriL10n page on Mali

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Mali articles

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Telecommunications in Africa

Sovereign states|

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States with limited
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Dependencies and
other territories

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Telecommunications

History|

* Beacon
* Broadcasting
* Cable protection system
* Cable TV
* Communications satellite
* Computer network
* Data compression
* audio
* DCT
* image
* video
* Digital media
* Internet video
* online video platform
* social media
* streaming
* Drums
* Edholm's law
* Electrical telegraph
* Fax
* Heliographs
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* Information Age
* Information revolution
* Internet
* Mass media
* Mobile phone
* Smartphone
* Optical telecommunication
* Optical telegraphy
* Pager
* Photophone
* Prepaid mobile phone
* Radio
* Radiotelephone
* Satellite communications
* Semaphore
* Phryctoria
* Semiconductor
* device
* MOSFET
* transistor
* Smoke signals
* Telecommunications history
* Telautograph
* Telegraphy
* Teleprinter (teletype)
* Telephone
* The Telephone Cases
* Television
* digital
* streaming
* Undersea telegraph line
* Videotelephony
* Whistled language
* Wireless revolution

Pioneers|

* Nasir Ahmed
* Edwin Howard Armstrong
* Mohamed M. Atalla
* John Logie Baird
* Paul Baran
* John Bardeen
* Alexander Graham Bell
* Emile Berliner
* Tim Berners-Lee
* Francis Blake
* Jagadish Chandra Bose
* Charles Bourseul
* Walter Houser Brattain
* Vint Cerf
* Claude Chappe
* Yogen Dalal
* Donald Davies
* Daniel Davis Jr.
* Amos Dolbear
* Thomas Edison
* Philo Farnsworth
* Reginald Fessenden
* Lee de Forest
* Elisha Gray
* Oliver Heaviside
* Robert Hooke
* Erna Schneider Hoover
* Harold Hopkins
* Gardiner Greene Hubbard
* Bob Kahn
* Dawon Kahng
* Charles K. Kao
* Narinder Singh Kapany
* Hedy Lamarr
* Roberto Landell
* Innocenzo Manzetti
* Guglielmo Marconi
* Robert Metcalfe
* Antonio Meucci
* Samuel Morse
* Jun-ichi Nishizawa
* Charles Grafton Page
* Radia Perlman
* Alexander Stepanovich Popov
* Tivadar Puskás
* Johann Philipp Reis
* Claude Shannon
* Almon Brown Strowger
* Henry Sutton
* Charles Sumner Tainter
* Nikola Tesla
* Camille Tissot
* Alfred Vail
* Thomas A. Watson
* Charles Wheatstone
* Vladimir K. Zworykin
* Internet pioneers

Transmission
media|

* Coaxial cable
* Fiber-optic communication
* optical fiber
* Free-space optical communication
* Molecular communication
* Radio waves
* wireless
* Transmission line
* telecommunication circuit

Network topology
and switching|

* Bandwidth
* Links
* Network switching
* circuit
* packet
* Nodes
* terminal
* Telephone exchange

Multiplexing|

* Space-division
* Frequency-division
* Time-division
* Polarization-division
* Orbital angular-momentum
* Code-division

Concepts|

* Communication protocol
* Computer network
* Data transmission
* Store and forward
* Telecommunications equipment

Types of network|

* Cellular network
* Ethernet
* ISDN
* LAN
* Mobile
* NGN
* Public Switched Telephone
* Radio
* Television
* Telex
* UUCP
* WAN
* Wireless network

Notable networks|

* ARPANET
* BITNET
* CYCLADES
* FidoNet
* Internet
* Internet2
* JANET
* NPL network
* TANet
* Toasternet
* Usenet

Locations|

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