President Yahya Jammeh on Saturday launched a new GSM mobile Network Company COMIUM Gambia Limited, bringing the number of GSM operators in the country to three.

Speaking at the occasion, President Jammeh described the day as a demonstration of his government’s commitment to encourage the participation of the private sector in the development of the country. "I am informed that COMIUM Gambia Limited will provide access to new and innovative mobile services with high quality coverage, affordable and accessible to Gambians for both local and international calls," he said.

According to president Jammeh, COMIUM will also introduce services such as GPRS, which will give customers the opportunity to send emails and instant messages among other things.

He said the coming of COMIUM would no doubt accord the ever-eager Gambian customers the opportunity of more choices and hopefully better and cheaper services. He expressed hope that with the coming of COMIUM network problem that consumers usually encounter in the country would be resolved.

For her part, the Secretary of State for Information, Communication and Technology, Mrs. Neneh Macdouall-Gaye, said the launch of COMIUM mobile operator is a remarkable achievement for the government.

According to her, it will boost government’s effort to bring to the people of the country not only the benefit of choice of service provider, but also to encourage affordable and cost effective mobile communication services in a competitive environment.

"The arrival of COMIUM in the Gambia with its demonstrated performance in the West African Sub-region and Asian peninsula will no doubt increase value, variety and expertise to the industry. Having a third GSM operator will give more choices to consumers, encourage competition which has great benefits such as costs reduction, better service delivery and innovative ideas," she noted. Secy Macdouall Gaye stressed the need for interconnection to prevail among mobile operators in a non-discriminatory manner.

She added that every one connected to any network had to enjoy the leverage of uninterruptible access to any other networks through genuine inter-connection.

Mr. Amer Atwi, Managing Director of COMIUM Gambia Limited, said his company would offer Gambians a wide range of advanced value added services than those that are being provided. "We will offer the most efficient and the highest-quality coverage the Gambia has ever experienced. COMIUM Gambia will be the first to provide coverage to the entire country. Whether you are in Banjul or Brufut, Gunjur or Gambissara, wherever you are, wherever you go, COMIUM will cover you," he said.

Mr. Ali Dalloul, Chairman COMIUM board of Directors, revealed that COMIUM Group is an international telecommunications group present in ten countries offering GSM, internet and value added services. He promised that they wanted to give Gambians accessible, quality and affordable services.