What the regulator's June 2026 dashboard shows
The Autorité de Régulation des Télécommunications et des Postes, ARTP, publishes quarterly internet market dashboards. The one for 30 June 2026 counts 23,995,156 internet lines, fixed and mobile, with a penetration rate of 122.58 per cent, and 22,834,979 mobile internet lines excluding dongles and boxes. It says Orange operates in every segment of the market, while Expresso and Yas operate in mobile internet through dongles and handsets.
On the mobile internet lines chart, the shares at June 2026 were about 62.7 per cent for the largest operator, Orange, and about 23.4 per cent for Yas, with the two smaller shares at about 8.3 and 5.5 per cent for Expresso and Promobile. These are subscription shares, not coverage figures, and the regulator's dashboard does not publish a population coverage percentage.
Identification comes with the SIM
Orange Sénégal's community help pages say that a SIM comes with identification, which facilitates access to certain services, and that a customer can have several numbers identified with different identity documents. It recommends dialling #336# to check which numbers are identified in your name. A second help answer, from 2019, says that changing the identity document linked to a number requires going to an Orange agency with both documents.
These pages describe the process for customers rather than for tourists, and they do not say which document a visitor uses. A passport is the document a short-stay visitor will have, so carry it when you go to buy a SIM, and expect the number to be registered in your name. Buying from an unofficial roadside seller risks a number registered to someone else.
Orange's offers and coverage claims
Orange Sénégal's mobile offers page presents the Jamono plans, including Jamono Max with Illimix passes usable towards all national networks, a Premium offer with an internet plan of up to 10 GB, and an international section for roaming and tariffs. We do not quote prices from it.
Orange says it has the most extensive network coverage in Senegal and describes itself as the only operator offering 4G+. Those are marketing claims. The regulator says it carries out national field measurement campaigns on coverage and quality of service and lists results of a 2025 campaign covering voice, data and SMS on 2G, 3G and 4G. We did not open that report, so we cannot say what it concluded.
Yas data passes in CFA francs
Yas Sénégal's internet page lists Pass Internet bundles activated by dialling #155# and says its network is 100 per cent 4G+ and 5G, which is the operator's claim. At the time of checking, a Pass 100 Mo cost 100 FCFA and was valid for 24 hours, a Pass 5 Go cost 1,000 FCFA for 24 hours, a Pass 2,5 Go cost 1,000 FCFA for 7 days, and 30-day passes were 7 GB for 2,000 FCFA, 12.5 GB for 5,000 FCFA, 40 GB for 10,000 FCFA and 65 GB for 15,000 FCFA.
The page does not describe buying a SIM, so the practical sequence is to visit a shop with your passport, buy a SIM, then activate a pass. The Yas pages also list passes for use in The Gambia, for example 250 MB for 1,000 FCFA valid 7 days, which matters if you cross the border.
Entry rules, protests and the airport road
The UK Foreign Office says visitors can stay in Senegal visa-free for up to three months but must show evidence of return or onward travel and proof of arranged accommodation, and that a passport must be valid for at least six months after arrival.
Its security page warns that demonstrations are frequent in Dakar and other cities, can turn violent and sometimes block major roads, including the road between Blaise Diagne International Airport and Dakar, and that foreign nationals have been prosecuted for attending protests that were not approved by the government. It also says robbery, burglary and assault have become more common in Dakar, and that pickpocketing and bag-snatching are on the increase. Keep a phone out of sight when walking, and have your accommodation's number saved in case a transfer is delayed.
Emergency numbers, including the military police
For Senegal, the UK Foreign Office gives 15 for an ambulance, 18 for fire and 17 for police, and 123 for the military police, who it says may be more responsive in the countryside. Our Senegal plan page is an option for data bought before you fly.
Networks our Senegal plans use
These are the operators named on our plans for Senegal, taken from the plan data, so the list follows the catalogue.
- Free4G
- Orange4G
- SONATEL4G
- Yas Senegal4G