Sénégal : la couverture mobile

Ce que veulent dire les chiffres de Sénégal

Deux nombres comptent et un seul est celui que tout le monde cite. Le débit habituel, 29 Mbit/s, dit à quoi ressemble un bon moment.

Le dixième centile, 6 Mbit/s, c'est celui qu'il faut lire. C'est le débit du dixième le plus mauvais de la journée, quand l'antenne au-dessus de la gare est saturée et que tout le monde autour de vous est dessus. Un pays à médiane haute et à plancher bas, c'est un pays qui marche à merveille jusqu'au moment où vous en avez vraiment besoin.

Si le voyage dépend des appels vidéo ou du partage de connexion, organise toi en fonction du chiffre en heure chargée plutôt que du débit habituel.

Ce qui se passe en Sénégal quand le réseau est saturé

La congestion n'est pas une panne, c'est un mardi soir. La question est ce que votre eSIM peut y faire, et pour la plupart des eSIM de voyage la réponse est rien : un accord de gros par pays, un réseau, et aucune issue sauf acheter une deuxième eSIM chez quelqu'un d'autre, debout dans la rue.

Ici le trafic Orbislo passe par Orange et Free. Quand le réseau où vous êtes se dégrade, nous vous basculons sur un autre, en plein voyage, sans que vous demandiez, et nous vous le disons après plutôt que de vous interrompre sur le moment.

Les opérateurs mobiles en Sénégal

• Orange (Sonatel): Orange, operated by Sonatel, held 55.17 percent of Senegal's 24.8 million active mobile lines at 30 June 2026, according to the regulator ARTP. About 24.4 million of those lines are prepaid.
• Yas: Yas, the former Free network, held 24.35 percent of mobile lines at 30 June 2026 and had gained share in every quarter over the previous year, up from 22.92 percent in June 2025.
• Expresso: Expresso held 14.95 percent of mobile lines at 30 June 2026. The virtual operator Promobile had 5.40 percent and Hayo 0.12 percent.
• Orange (Sonatel): Sonatel paid 100 billion CFA francs in 2016 to renew its licence for 17 years, including 32 billion for the extension to 4G.
• Expresso: Expresso's operating licence had been due to expire in 2027. A decree of 20 March 2024, days before the presidential election, extended it by ten years, a renewal that a government review later called unjustified.
• Orange (Sonatel): The Sonatel group, present in Senegal, Mali, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone, reported 43 million customers at 30 June 2026 and said it aims to bring fibre within reach of about 13 million people in Senegal by the end of December 2026.

La 5G en Sénégal

• In the 2023 5G tender the base lot was 10 MHz at 700 MHz plus 70 MHz at 3.5 GHz, with a reserve price of 19.5 billion CFA francs. Sonatel was the only compliant bidder and took 10 MHz at 700 MHz and 120 MHz at 3.5 GHz for 34.5 billion.
• Decrees signed on 18 April and 28 May 2025 withdrew the 5G frequency approvals later granted to Expresso and to Yas, after a government review found those awards had bypassed the tender and fell below its reserve price.
• Sonatel started a commercial 5G pilot on 6 March 2024 under the Orange brand, beginning with fixed 5G broadband for homes and businesses before mobile offers.
• Orange launched mobile 5G on 8 June 2024 with 176 sites across six cities, and said it planned to extend 5G to the whole Dakar region by the end of 2024. A 5G-compatible phone is needed to use it.

Le réseau en Sénégal : à savoir

• During the Grand Magal of Touba in August 2026 the regulator drive-tested calls on the A2 and RN3 pilgrim routes and in Touba and Mbacké. Orange completed 99.03 percent of call attempts, Yas 93.81 percent and Expresso 90.72 percent, against a 96 percent threshold.
• On the first day of the Magal tests, on the roads into Touba, 28.23 percent of Expresso call attempts were blocked, against the regulator's 2 percent ceiling. Orange's blocking rate over the four days was 0.85 percent.
• 3G still carries traffic alongside 4G and 5G: for the 2026 Gamou pilgrimage Orange raised 3G+ capacity by 29 percent in Tivaouane and ran 64 3G sites around Kaolack, together with 16 5G sites.
• Sonatel commissioned the 2Africa submarine cable at its Senegal landing station in December 2025 and announced it operational in February 2026. The 45,000 km system links 33 countries across Africa, Europe and Asia.