Mauritania has three operators, the original monopoly, (now owned by ), Mattel (owned by ) and Chinguitel, which started operating in December 2006. The country only has around 1000 DSL subscribers, and 300,0000 internet subscribers in total, out of a population of 4.5 million. Monthly DSL charges were high, around US$30 per month, but have now dropped to MRO 10,000 (around US$20) per month.