NationLink Telecom

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The state-owned Post, Telephone and Telegraph administration (PTT) collapsed in 1993 when the country was plunged into civil war and, in its wake, numerous unregulated private-sector telcos were established by Somali entrepreneurs. Somali Telecom Group (TSG) was an umbrella for a number of regionally based companies, including Nationlink. During 1999, Nationlink Telecom deployed a GSM network in the southern regions of Somalia based on a lower-capacity interWAVE switch. In July of 2003, Nationlink awarded a contract to US vendor interWAVE for two proprietary WAVEXchange II (WXC II) GSM switches. Each of the two 'WXC II' switches was capable of handling 100,000 subscribers. Nationlink had 15,000 fixed line customers and 1,200 mobile phone users as of 2002. It was the largest of a handful of new telecommunications companies in Mogadishu and was considered to be one of the three main telephone service providers along with Telcom Somalia and Hormud. It employed 300 guards to protect 500 staff. As of end 2006, NationLink had about 45,000 subscribers, almost even with co-market leader Telesom.

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