Société des Télécommunications du Mali

Sotelma is Mali-based telecommunication company. It provides local, international and mobile telephone services as well as internet services. It is the official ICANN accredited registrar for .ml domain names, which began giving away free domains through Freenom in 2013. As a mobile operator Sotelma is the second largest in the area, ikatel being the first. Sotelma has 70,000 GSM subscribers, 60,000 of which are pre-paid.

Type:	Private
Industry:	Telecommunications,Registry
Founded:	1989
Ownership:	The Moroccan telecommunications group (2008)
Headquarters:	Society of Mali's Telecommunications BP: 740 Bamako, Mali
Country:	Mali
Businesses:	Malitel
Employees:	1001-5000
Revenue:	MAD 17 million (2010), MAD 112 million (March 2011)
Website:	malitel
Facebook:	Sotelma
LinkedIn:	Sotelma
Key People
Aboubacar Cisse,Technical contact Noureddine Boumzebra, Director General Dioukamady Sissoko, Secretary General Sidi Mohamed Naim, CFO Sidi Ali Zacour, Sales Director Gaoussou Maiga, Director Infrastructure Jacques Bertha, Director Human Resources

The Moroccan telecommunications group bought 51% shares of Sotelma for 275 million euros in 2008.

Second-level domains (Closed or Restricted Registration)

Registrations are at the third level beneath these names:

• .net.ml: Internet providers
• .org.ml: Associations (must show registration); international organizations permitted, but must be registered with the local administration
• .edu.ml: Local schools
• .gov.ml: Governmental organisations
• .presse.ml: Local press

Privatization

Its privatization started in 2008 by the government of Mali. The shares are divided as:

• 51% for The Moroccan telecommunications group.
• 20% retained by the government.
• 10% for employees.
• 19% sold by public offer.