South Sudan Communications - 2024

Telephones - fixed lines

total subscriptions: (2018 est.)

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: (2018 est.)

Telephones - mobile cellular

total subscriptions: 3,276,146 (2022 est.)

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 30 (2022 est.)

Telecommunication systems

general assessment: following a referendum, oil-rich South Sudan seceded from Sudan in 2011 and became an independent nation; having been deprived of investment for decades, it inherited one of the least developed telecom markets in the world; there was once investment activity among mobile network operators who sought to expand their networks in some areas of the country; operators in the telecom sector placed themselves in survival mode and are hoping for a political settlement and a return to some degree of social stability; South Sudan has one of the lowest mobile penetration rates in Africa; growth in the sector in coming years is premised on a resolution to the political crisis and a recovery of the country’s economy; the virtually untapped internet and broadband market also depends to a large extent on the country gaining access to international fiber cables and on a national backbone network being in place; sophisticated infrastructure solutions are needed to reach the 80% of the population that live outside of the main urban centers; some improvement has followed from the cable link in February 2020 which connects Juba directly to the company’s submarine landing station at Mombasa; the cable was South Sudan’s first direct international fiber link, and has helped drive down the price of retail internet services for residential and business customers; a second cable linking to the border with Kenya was completed in December 2021 (2022)

domestic: fixed-line less than 1 per 100 subscriptions, mobile-cellular is 30 per 100 persons (2021)

international: country code - 211 (2017)

Broadcast media

a single TV channel and a radio station are controlled by the government; several community and commercial FM stations are operational, mostly sponsored by outside aid donors; some foreign radio broadcasts are available

(2019)

Internet country code

.ss

Internet users

total: 869,000 (2021 est.)

percent of population: 7.9% (2021 est.)

Broadband - fixed subscriptions

total: 200 (2019 est.)

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: (2019 est.)