section_path: Economy/Infrastructure/Telecommunications
section_name: Telecommunications
paragraph_text: Telecommunications
  
  The telecommunication system is basic and expensive, with fixed telephone services provided by the state telephone company SotelTchad. In 2000, there were only 14 fixed telephone lines per 10,000 inhabitants in the country, one of the lowest telephone densities in the world.
  
  Gateway Communications, a pan-African wholesale connectivity and telecommunications provider also has a presence in Chad. In September 2013, Chad's Ministry for Posts and Information & Communication Technologies (PNTIC) announced that the country will be seeking a partner for fiber optic technology.
  
  Chad is ranked last in the World Economic Forum's Network Readiness Index (NRI) – an indicator for determining the development level of a country's information and communication technologies. In September 2010 the mobile phone penetration rate was estimated at 24.3% over a population estimate of 10.7 million.