Who connects Somalia: the phone companies, from Somali Telecom Group to Hormuud

The short version

When the government of Siad Barre fell in 1991, the state telephone network, which had held a complete monopoly, collapsed. Private Somali firms filled the gap, with no taxes, no licences and no regulator. Golis Telecom spent $2.7 million on Chinese equipment and had repaid the whole sum two years later (Hassan M. Osman, Somali Economic Forum, in Hogan Lovells Africa newsletter, September 2012). By 2012 there were about 11 operators, and a fixed line cost about $10 a month with free unlimited local calls (same source). For the regulator, cables and internet use, see Telecoms and internet in Somalia.

The companies

Sources for each row are in the sections below.

Somali Telecom Group and Netco. STG was founded in 1993 in Rockville, Maryland, in the United States, and opened its first service in Bosaso in 1994 under the name North Eastern Telecommunications Company (Netco). It then opened in Hargeisa (1994), Galkayo (1997), Mogadishu (1998), Burao (1999) and Garowe (2000) (Wikipedia, Somali Telecom Group). The 2012 Hogan Lovells newsletter calls Somali Telecom "the first private telecommunication company to open in Somalia in 1994" (Hogan Lovells). Netco is owned by Ismael Haji Abdi (Wikipedia, Netco (Somalia)).

NationLink. Founded in September 1997 by the businessman Abdirizak Ido, who Forbes listed among Somalia's multi-millionaires in 2017 (Forbes, 29 August 2017; Wikipedia, NationLink Telecom).

Telcom. Headquartered in Bakaara market, Mogadishu, with about 750 staff and offices in Dubai and London. It ran linked networks in Mogadishu, Hargeisa and Bosaso (Wikipedia, Telcom (Somalia)). With Hormuud and NationLink it jointly owned Global Internet Company, which in 2009 was the largest internet provider and the only dial-up provider in south and central Somalia (Wikipedia, Communications in Somalia).

Hormuud. Founded in Mogadishu in 2002 by a group of small shareholders, starting with 16 sites. In 2021 it said it had about 20,000 full- and part-time staff, 45 percent of them engineers, and more than 800 customer service centres, and that 3 million people used EVC Plus (Total Telecom, 5 November 2021). In 2012 its sales were about $40 million a year (Hogan Lovells). See Hormuud Telecom.

Golis. Founded in 2002 in Bosaso. It is the largest operator in Puntland, covering more than 50 districts, and runs the Sahal mobile money service (Wikipedia, Golis Telecom Somalia; Hogan Lovells). In August 2011 Salaam Bank launched a service called Kaaftoon with Golis (Wikipedia, Golis Telecom Somalia).

Telesom. Founded in Hargeisa in 2002 by local investors, the first telecom company to operate in Somaliland. It runs the Zaad mobile money service (Telesom, About; GSMA).

Somafone. Set up in 2003 in Mogadishu as a subsidiary of Somafone FZ LLC of Dubai Internet City, with more than 150 staff (Wikipedia, Somafone).

Somtel. Based in Hargeisa. The money transfer company Dahabshiil bought a majority stake in 2008; Wikipedia gives its ownership as 95 percent Dahabshiil and 5 percent public shares (Wikipedia, Somtel; Wikipedia, Communications in Somalia). It runs eDahab and co-owns the DARE1 undersea cable landing (NCA, submarine cables). See Dahabshiil.

Amtel. Listed by the National Communications Authority as one of seven mobile operators holding a spectrum licence (NCA, licence register).

How the companies work together

• In 2005 several operators signed an interconnection deal to set prices and maintain their networks (Wikipedia, Communications in Somalia). The Hogan Lovells newsletter describes them as cooperating "to maintain their networks and set prices" (Hogan Lovells).
• In July 2014 Hormuud, NationLink and Somtel agreed to set up the Somali Telecommunication Company so their customers could call across the three networks (Wikipedia, citing TeleGeography, 23 July 2014).
• In 2022 the National Communications Authority set an interconnection framework, which Golis joined (NCA, interconnection framework).

Pressure from armed groups

On 30 September 2011 al-Shabaab ordered NationLink, Telcom and Dahabshiil to stop operating in areas it held. The order was withdrawn a few days later on condition that the firms paid it zakat. Hormuud was not named in the order (IRIN, October 2011). In January 2014 al-Shabaab ordered telecom companies to shut down mobile internet in areas it controlled (Al Jazeera, 9 January 2014).

Sources disagree

• Who came first. The 2012 newsletter calls Golis "among the first" to set up, but in the same article names Somali Telecom as the first private operator, in 1994. Golis gives its own founding year as 2002 (Hogan Lovells; Wikipedia, Somali Telecom Group). Netco's founding year is given as 1993, but STG lists its Bosaso service as opening in 1994.
• Golis profit. The 2012 newsletter says Golis reported over $40 million of profit in 2005, the same figure it gives for Hormuud's yearly sales (Hogan Lovells).
• Hormuud's size. Reported staff numbers run from about 7,000 to more than 35,000, and shareholder counts from about 12,000 to 189,000, depending on the source and year (Total Telecom; Wikipedia, Hormuud Telecom).
• The 2011 date. IRIN dates al-Shabaab's order to 30 September 2011 (IRIN); the trade union federation ITUC gave 2 October (ITUC OnLine, 5 October 2011).