● All MACs should have enhanced web presence on all online platforms 3.0 SECTOR STATUS 3.1 ICT Market Indicators According to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), in 2000 the proportion of Liberians with a mobile phone subscription was just 0.05%, while the proportion of the population that used the Internet was only 0.02%. By 2018, the proportion of mobile phone subscribers had risen to 78%, while those with a mobile 3/4G SIM card increased to 44%. 2017 data by the GSMA indicates approximately 50% of the population had access to a 3G mobile network signal, while only 17% could access a 4G signal at the end of the same period.6 Unfortunately, no data is available to examine access and use in terms of gender or income groups. However, a study focusing on cyber-cafe users in Monrovia found that 90% of respondents were male and half were between the ages of 25-34.7 As in other countries with a similar level of economic development, internet affordability is a challenge. According to the ITU, the average income earner in Liberia had to spend as much as 13% of their monthly income to purchase a 500MB mobile prepaid data plan in 2015.8 3.2 Wireless Market Liberia’s wireless market is liberalized, open to new operators and currently has two major Mobile Network Operators (MNOs): Lonestar Cell MTN, Orange GSM (previously Cellcom), which provide 3/4G services in Monrovia as well as in some locations outside the capital, and 2G services in most populated parts of the country. Libtelco has also been a part of the wireless market. LTA’s 2016 market assessment9 found that the mobile voice and data market was ‘highly concentrated’ by industry standard measures used to assess the level of competition in the telecom sector and this was prior to the purchase of Novafone by MTN, which reduced the mobile market to two players. Nine private ISPs provide wireless broadband services mainly to businesses in Monrovia, primarily via WiFi frequencies and VSAT. The networks of the operators generally use microwave transmission to link their switching facilities due to the lack of a national fiber backbone, and as a result the capacity that can be provided to the end-user is limited. 3.3 Wireline Market Liberia’s wireline market is under-developed, and apart from the National Operator Libtelco’s 100-200 fiber local loops, there is no fixed access network. Certain licensees (Libtelco, Orange) use fiber to connect their core networks to the ACE cable facility. Progress has been made in bringing International fiber capacity to the country, with the landing of the 4 ITU (2017) World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database. Geneva: International Telecommunications Union. to unique subscribers and not number of connections; GSMA Intelligence 2017. 6 GSMA Intelligence 2017. 7 World Bank (2013) “Cables, Commissions, and Cybercafés: ICT in Post5 Refers 20