There are a number of private cellular companies with good coverage in Liberia as well as 4G and 3G services. Registration of sim cards is fairly straightforward and data plans are available. There is also access to fibre connection in Monrovia with Libtelco being the main provider. However, outside of the capital, the infrastructure is reliant on microwave links that are hampered with power issues. There is still a reliance on VSAT technology in remote areas of Liberia.
Telephone Services |
|
---|---|
Is there an existing landline telephone network? |
No |
Does it allow international calls? |
N/A |
On average, number and length of downtime periods |
N/A |
Mobile phone providers |
Cellcom, Lonestar, Novafone, and Comimum |
Estimated availability and coverage |
Difficult to estimate but roughly 60-70% |
Telecommunications Regulations
The government control is not very strict in Liberia when it comes to regulations as well as satellite communications equipment importation for the humanitarian community. Rules were especially relaxed during the peak of the Ebola emergency response and UN agencies were using allocated frequencies from the past.
Regulations |
||
---|---|---|
Regulations on usage or import of: |
Yes / No |
Regulating Authority |
Satellite |
Yes |
Ministry of Telecoms |
HF Radio |
Yes |
Ministry of Telecoms |
UHF/VHF/HF radio: handheld, base and mobile |
No |
N/A |
UHF/VHF repeaters |
Yes |
Ministry of Telecoms |
GPS |
No |
N/A |
VSAT |
Yes |
Ministry of Telecoms |
Individual Network Operator Licenses Required
Frequency Licenses Required
|
Existing Humanitarian Telecoms Systems
UN agencies rely heavily on UNMIL country infrastructure for security telecommunications and Internet services. There is currently an MoU between UNMIL and UN agencies to provide services across most of Liberia. The Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC) has provided services to NGOs in the locations listed in the table below. UNDSS is the lead inter-agency for managing security telecommunications. ETC will handover the existing security telecommunications infrastructure to UNDSS by end of December 2015.
Existing UN Telecommunication Systems |
|
---|---|
Organisations |
WFP |
VHF frequencies |
TX162.3000 RX157.2750 |
HF frequencies |
TX 4736 KHz RX 4736 KHz TX 5185 KHz RX 5185 KHz TX 6896 kHz RX 6896 kHz TX 8998 kHz RX 8998 kHz |
Repeaters (Locations) |
Monrovia |
VSAT |
Monrovia |