Despite the recent liberalisation of international gateway licences on the African continent, many countries are hanging on to or reverting back to the monopolistic trends of the past.
This is according to Gabriel Solomon, director of government and regulatory affairs at the communications networking organisation GSM Association.
International gateway routes that transport data in and out of a country are still heavily controlled by incumbent- and government-owned telecoms operators, which prevents growth in some areas of the continent, he says.
Solomon highlighted this concern at the West African GSM 3G conference in Dakar, Senegal.
According to a recent report by the GSM Association (GSMA), out of the 49 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, the number of countries with monopolies dropped from 47 (1996) to 14 (2006).
Benin, Central African Republic, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe, among others, have never considered liberalising their international gateways and some have actually reverted back to monopolies, he says.
Refusing to liberalise
The Sierra Leonean government has given exclusive gateway rights to the incumbent fixed operator, SierraTel, confirms Solomon.
According to an NGO Web site, Regulateonline.org, the Zambian government has also refused to liberalise the country's international gateway as requested by private mobile operators.
"Private mobile operators have to route their international calls through state-owned Zamtel, which has exclusive rights to an international gateway," explains the Web site.
Meanwhile, Kenyan mobile operators Safaricom and Celtel received international gateway licences in July 2006 from the Kenyan government, allowing mobile operators to cut call prices by up to 70%.
Nigeria has also liberalised international gateway links, increasing international calls by 90%, according to GSMA reports.
Research done by the GSMA reveals the liberalisation of international gateways stimulates economic growth within a country, and drives down international call prices by between 30% and 90%, increasing traffic volumes by 70%.
Countries like Zimbabwe, which attempt to maintain international gateway monopoly, ultimately lose out, says Solomon.
Mobile-centric markets
Illegal bypass through satellite and VOIP technologies accounts for 60% more traffic. Over and above this, governments are faced with significant regulatory and law enforcements costs to prevent bypassing, foregoing taxes that could be generated by legal services, the GSMA report reveals.
The use of high international prices to cross-subsidise the domestic fixed network is inappropriate in a mobile-centric world. Mobile telecoms access covers 60% of Africa's surface, outnumbering terrestrial teledensity by far, explains Solomon.
Kenyan mobile connections outnumber landline connections by 18 to one and 32 to one in Tanzania.
Anti-competitive markets dull investor interest as well, notes Solomon. "Constrained telecoms deter outside investors, ultimately keeping internal revenues and GDP [gross domestic product] at bay."
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