     REPUBLIC OFSOMALILAND | Monday, October 09, 2000 - 03:50 am
Internet Service Launched in Somaliland
Al-Barakat Global Telecommunications last night held a ceremony at Mansoor Hotel to
celebrate the launching of Internet and local e-mail services.
The minister of posts and telecommunications, Jama Gas Muawiyah, said al-Barakat had
played an important role in the country's development and had 150 employees.
Hon Jama Gas urged telecommunications companies to link their services. He said his office
was served by four different telephone companies and urged the companies to link their
lines and compete fairly and legally...
Al-Barakat's chairman, Abd-al-Karim Muhammad, said when the company was launched
one and half years ago at the Mansoor Hotel, it had promised to cover the whole country
especially Sool [northeastern Somalia, southeastern Somaliland] and Sanaag northeastern
Somaliland] regions by providing Internet and e-mail before the end of the year. He said
this promise had been fulfilled...
Trade Minister, Mr Rashid Abdullahi Guled, who spoke of the problems faced by subscribers
said people were forced to subscribe to four different companies, "Since you have linked us
to the rest of world why don't you link your services ?", he queried. He added that during his
tenure as the minister of posts and telecommunications, President [Muhammad Ibrahim]
Egal had released a circular saying that companies which failed to link their lines would be
deregistered...
Internal Affairs minister, Ahmad Shambir Sultan, who also spoke during the meeting, said
one of the benefits acquired from al-Barakat services was that cellular phone service was
available in Burco [central Somaliland, northeastern Somalia], Berbera [northern
Somaliland] and Boorama [western Somaliland] and that the people could find out about
their security and what was going on in the country...
Source: `Mandeeq', Hargeysa, |
