Benin Communications - 2024

Telephones - fixed lines

total subscriptions: 1,526 (2022 est.)

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: (2021 est.) less than 1

Telephones - mobile cellular

total subscriptions: 12,731,782 (2021 est.)

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 98 (2021 est.)

Telecommunication systems

general assessment: Benin’s telecom market continues to be restricted by the poor condition of the country’s fixed-line infrastructure; this has hampered the development of fixed-line voice and internet services, and there is negligible revenue derived from these sectors; mobile networks account for almost all internet connections, and also carry most voice traffic; there is promise for considerable change in the mobile sector; slow progress is being made in developing competition in the mobile sector; in May 2021 the government sought foreign companies to bid for a fourth mobile license; improved international internet connectivity has contributed to a reduction in end-user pricing, and provided the potential to transform many areas of the country’s economy, bringing a greater proportion of the population into the orbit of internet commerce and connectivity; a 2,000km fiber project started in 2016 was finally completed in mid-2021, prompting the government to secure a loan to build additional fiber infrastructure connecting four of the country’s 12 departments (2022)

domestic: fixed-line teledensity less than 1 per 100 people; mobile cellular subscriptions are 98 per 100 people (2021)

international: country code - 229; landing points for the SAT-3/WASC and ACE fiber-optic submarine cable that provides connectivity to Europe, and most West African countries; satellite earth stations - 7 (Intelsat-Atlantic Ocean) (2019)

Broadcast media

state-run Office de Radiodiffusion et de Television du Benin (ORTB) operates a TV station providing a wide broadcast reach; several privately owned TV stations broadcast from Cotonou; satellite TV subscription service is available; state-owned radio, under ORTB control, includes a national station supplemented by a number of regional stations; substantial number of privately owned radio broadcast stations; transmissions of a few international broadcasters are available on FM in Cotonou (2019)

Internet country code

.bj

Internet users

total: 4.42 million (2021 est.)

percent of population: 34% (2021 est.)

Broadband - fixed subscriptions

total: 29,981 (2020 est.)

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 0.3 (2020 est.)