Telecommunications in Sudan includes fixed and mobile telephones, the Internet, radio, and television. Approximately 12 million out of 45 million people in Sudan use the Internet, mainly on smartphones and mobile computers. Pre-privatization era (up to 1994) Sudan had telecommunication services as early as 1897. All of the organizations established to deliver telecommunications services were government-owned. They were, for all practical purposes, entities with little or no operational and financial autonomy and little control over their own destiny. Despite many development plans and efforts, the state of telecommunication sector in the country remained extremely poor through 1994. At that time, Sudan had one of the lowest penetration rates (0.23%) even by regional standards. Privatization era (1994 and beyond) The Three-Year Economic Salvation Programme (1990–1993), adopted by the Government of Sudan, emphasized the role of telecommunications in the socio-economic development process and called for the removal of the monopolistic environment in the sector and for the involvement of the private sector—whether local or foreign—in the telecommunication sector as well as in other sectors to overcome the persistent shortfalls in investment and performance. As an outcome of this programme, the structure of the telecommunication sector in the country at present is as follows: a) The Ministry (Ministry of Information & Communications): in charge of policies and legislation. b) The Regulator (National Telecom Corporation, NTC): in charge of regulatory functions. c) The licensed operators and service providers: in charge of the operation of licensed networks and of the provision of services. The liberalization and privatization of the telecommunication sector, the policies, the regulations and plans adopted by the Government of the Sudan have created a capital–attracting, pro-competitive policy environment that have fostered the build–up of a modern, fully–digital infrastructure in the country and furnished a climate suited to enhance Information and communications technology (ITC) development nationwide. The transformation and achievements witnessed in the Sudanese Telecommunication sector coupled with the growing and diversifying use of the ITC services including those of the Internet and its applications have made Sudan to be widely held among the most developed in Africa, if not in the Middle East. But the market is still considered to be virgin and huge investment opportunities exist and shall explode with the full realization of peace and stability throughout the country. Providers {| class="wikitable" |- ! Operator/service provider ! Date of licence ! Technology ! Network Capacity ! Country wide Coverage !