All data are collected in the Fiscal Year of 2008-2009.

Guinea / Telecommunications

Cellcom GSM Guinea is part of an American Cellcom Group established in 2004 with operations in Liberia and plans to expand throughout Africa. Cellcom GSM Guinea has been operational since May 2008. It launched its first phase with an investment of US$100 million in 40 localities.

Immeuble WAQF-BID, Almamya C/Kaloum, BP: 6567 Conakry, Guinea; Tel: +224 65 100 100; Fax: +224 65 100 101

Cellcom offers cellular network access, high-speed cellular internet and business solutions, voice calls, SMS, MMS, international communication services and a wide selection of advanced content and tailor-made business solutions.

600 employees in Guinea

Not available

2nd position with 650,000 subscribers

“Cellcom intends to be the best telecommunication network in Guinea through the launch of a stable and efficient network across Guinea, creating long-term viable business opportunities and providing better accessibility and a higher quality service”

As a new company it chooses as a starting point to invest in the best possible GSM network. Ericsson supplied the entire GSM network which consists of MINI-LINK TN and Marconi LH, both of which are scalable in capacity and well prepared for IP over Ethernet, which secures cost efficient growth for Cellcom in Guinea. The MINI-LINK TN supports long microwave site-to-site distances and the capacity can be upgraded remotely from the city-based headquarters via soft keys. The Marconi LH is a high capacity and low energy alternative to fibre transmission over long distances. The overall solution proved to be efficient for Cellcom Guinea in the early stages of its launch, providing a low capacity network with the in-built scalability to support long-term goals and gradual expansion without the need to invest in new hardware.

Cellcom was involved in the design and planning of the network, and with quality being of paramount importance, the operator decided to go for a self-built transmission network. Although this involved a large initial investment it enables Cellcom to maintain vital control of cost and quality.

Already, the solution has pushed Cellcom into second position in the Guinean market with a coverage which reaches 65 percent of the population and an impressive brand reputation.

“Cellcom's success in Africa depends on quickly and cost-effectively providing its prepaid mobile subscribers with a steady stream of new services and promotions. The Amdocs Compact Convergence solution also supports Cellcom's strategy with a rapidly implementable, end-to-end service enablement platform that lets the company design, create, deliver, and charge for new services in a matter of days and even hours in many cases.

The Amdocs Compact Convergence solution combines a complete service delivery platform with real-time convergent charging, customer care, and self-care, enabling Cellcom to deliver and support pre-built services that are available out-of-the-box, as well as create its own innovative new services for voice, SMS, and mobile data in days or even hours, versus the months typically required. With the Amdocs Compact Convergence solution, Cellcom can easily define any billing parameters and implement virtually any pricing plan for these new services, and enable its subscribers to easily personalize their services to maximize value and utility. Inexpensive, rapidly implementable, and easy to use, the Amdocs Compact Convergence solution is based on a highly efficient, state-of-the-art architecture which can be managed and maintained in-house, contributing to vendor independence and a low total cost of ownership.

Cellcom now uses Amdocs Compact Convergence to support a constantly-evolving array of offers-an average of one new service, deal, or package every two days, including Multi-Wallet, Virtual PBX, Ringback Tone, Voice and USSD-supported Balance Query, Electronic Top-Up and Money Transfer, Caller Groups, Zone Billing, Tele-voting, Music Channel through IVR, and a host of different tariff packages.”

Cellcom GSM Guinea is a wholly owned subsidiary of American Cellcom Group

The policy for telecommunications and postal services was set out and its implementation begun in 2004. In order to create a favourable environment for private investments, the government has pledged to put an appropriate legal framework and relevant regulations in place and to reform OPG, Guinea’s postal service, and Sotelgui, Guinea’s telecommuni-cations company. These reforms will enable continued liberalisation of the sector, as they will limit granting of exclusivity of services to authorised service providers. The reforms are also expected to promote a universal service covering the entire national territory. Updating the master plan for developing telecommunications and preparing a master plan for developing postal services are the two main pillars of the new legal framework.

The poor coverage of transmission equipment in the country often makes mobile telephones quite useless. Rates are charged by the second and costs per minute are cheap, at less than GNF 500, encouraging the use of mobile phones by everyone, including the poorest.

In October 2009, following the killing of nearly 200 demonstrators, it came to light that the defence minister, Sekouba Konaté, a key figure in the current power structure, has special connections with Cellcom. He has built up substantial connections within the military and business community over the years and has reportedly gained considerable control over the award of government contracts. Konaté was appointed by former President Conté to oversee operations of the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) rebels in Macenta due to his experience in the Liberian and Sierra Leone conflicts. He has strong ties with the LURD leadership and rank and file and helped secure jobs for ex-LURD combatants at the Cellcom phone company in Guinea.

Cellcom launched its “Become a Millionaire" promotion on 08 November 2008, 06 December 2008 and January 10, 2009. The draw took place on National Television. People participated by scraping and loading 30,000 Guinean francs on their phones to try to become a millionaire.