Hargeysa, 19 July 2007 (SL Times) - Somaliland Minister of Communications & Postal Services, Mr Liban D Asayr, speaking to SL Times on 15/07/07 said that he is determined to see through the centralization and interlinking of all telephone networks operating in the country.

The minister said that, “it is compulsory for the telephone company operators to comply with my ministry’s plans to install a central gateway system for all telephone communications, in and out of the republic, and that all the operators’ networks will eventually be interlinked”.

Mr Asayr outlined that his ministry, at present, is in the process of negotiating with a foreign company by the name of Intercel which will be contracted to install the central gateway system, and that these negotiations are still in the early stages.

The majority of Somaliland telecommunication companies have expressed their doubts and shown little confidence in the ministry’s plans to unify all telephone networks in Somaliland. They are skeptical of the ministry’s intention to contract a foreign company to install and maintain the central gateway system for all the country’s incoming and outgoing local and international calls.

Source: Somaliland Times