By Manny Pham

State-owned operator Guinee Telecom, formerly known as Sotelgui, will not relaunch operations until next year, dismissing reports claiming the operator will do so this year.

The confirmation was from telecom minister Ousmane Gaoual Diallo speaking to Guinee News, as reported by Comms Update. Diallo explained the operator is still conducting network testing which will continue until the end of this year, and marketing of 4G and 5G SIM cards can being in early 2023.

‘Antennas in Kaloum [in central Conakry] have undergone testing and are now operational. It will take until the end of the first half of the year to complete all of Conakry and then gradually move into the interior of the country to activate all Guinee Telecom’s antennas. Only then can marketing operations begin,’ said Diallo.

Sotelgui’s relaunch has been widely speculated by local media, with the most recent report claiming it was going to relaunch as Guinee Telecom in January this year. Sotelgui ceased operations in 2013 after going bankrupt from years of mismanagement. The government has been looking to revive its telecoms operation in telecoms since 2019.

Guinea currently has three operators serving its telecoms market, which is dominated by MTN and Orange according to BuddeCoom.