Geographic Region (ITU/UN)
ISO 3166 Code
M49 Code
MCC
ITU Member
ITU-R Region
Overview
Guinea-Bissau (Guiné-Bissau), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, is a country in West Africa. Guinea-Bissau is bordered by Senegal to the north and Guinea to the south and east.
Regulatory Environment
Guinea-Bissau is a member of the ITU and as such follows radio frequency harmonisation principles according to ITU-R Region-1. The regulatory body governing communications policy is the Ministério dos Transportes e Comunicações, and the Autoridade Reguladora Nacional das Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação (ARN) is charged with regulating the country's radio frequency spectrum activities such as planning, allocations, and licencing.
Telecommunications Market
After having privatised the fixed-line state-owned operator, GuineTelecom, in 1989 (with a 40 percent stake taken by Portugal Telecom, the remaining 60 percent held by the Government), the Government created GuineTel, a mobile operator subsidiary, and awarded a global system for mobile communication license to the company, which launched its services in 2004. The Government then liberalised the mobile market by awarding two additional licenses to international operators: Mobile Telecommunications Network (MTN) in 2003, and Orange-Bissau (subsidiary of Sonatel) in 2007.
National Mobile Network Operators
There are 2 mobile network operators servicing this region.