Born of the fusion between the branch of the national telecommunications of the ex-TPO and the International Telecommunications of Mali (ITM), the Company of Telecommunications of Mali SOTELMA was created in 1989 after its separation of the Post Office.
As a government corporation which capital belonged fully to the State (100 %), SOTELMA had a duty of presence on the national territory, to offer the services of telecommunications to all the citizens of the country in affordable prices.
Specific Goals were set:
Increase the range of phone services and facilitate the access to the services of telecommunications in users' largest number and particularly in rural area,
- Offer varied and good quality services to competitive prices based on the real costs,
- Increase the national and international productive investments in the telecommunications sector,
- Build a national network of telecommunications reliable and connected to information routes,
- Promote telecommunications as essential branch of industry to seek the development of a competitive economy, open to the world and where the service sector represents an important part of the GDP (GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT),
- Promote the creation of new jobs and the development of the new technologies.
SOTELMA has always fought against poverty, a will was always expressed by the highest authorities of the country.
Despite this obligation of public service, SOTELMA, has never profited from no tax benefit and has been forced to long procedures of procurement.
This was a major handicap to the development of the company in an unfavorable competitive environment.
Consequences:
- Low rate of efficiency of the calls, saturation of capacity on the market segment of the mobile which is the most the expanding, limited sales
- Specific restrictions led by the status of national company regarding management,
- Operational existence of a large-scale competitor (danger of creaming of the market).
This situation led the government of Mali to approve the guidance law of the privatization of the SOTELMA on December 15th, 2004.
This law planned the opening of the capital of the SOTELMA as follows:
51 % to a large-scale strategic partner, 20 % in the State, 19 % to the national carriers, 10 % to the workers The Privatization
Thanks to an international call for tenders, the group Maroc Telecom saw attributing in July, 2009, the 51 % of the capital dedicated to a strategic partner for an amount of 180 billion FCFA
Maroc Telecom is the leader of telecommunications in Morocco, in Mauritania through MAURITEL, in Burkina Faso through ONATEL and in Gabon through GABON TELECOM.
Maroc Telecom inherits from a company which claims 747.707 subscribers, as follows:
- 672.045 mobile subscribers Malitel
- 1.282 subscribers in the landline
- 4.080 subscribers in the Internet.
The strategic partner Maroc Telecom, which has a knowledge turned out in the field of telecommunications, aspires to invest 150 billion FCFA over five years.
The vision of Maroc Telecom:
It is to preserve and to strengthen the leading position on the segments of the Landline and internet telephony, to take more important market shares on the segment of the mobile telephony.
Installation and the putting into service of leading-edge equipment with many offers, and capacity of 6 million subscribers, establish the will to make of the new SOTELMA-SA, a reference in the field of telecommunications in Mali and in West African region.
