The Southern African region could soon see a proliferation of VSAT (very small aperture terminal) satellite installations as regulatory changes make them attractive.
"I am firmly of the opinion that in the short-term, [or] maximum medium-term, the support we have in Southern Africa will lead to some big changes [in regulation]," says Martin Jarrold, director of international program development for the Global VSAT Forum (GVF).
<B>Regulatory reform advocated by the GVF</B>
Transparency in the licensing requirements for different regions;
Blanket licensing of VSAT terminals;
Satellite access or open skies policies;
Equipment type approval through mutual recognition or self-declaration; and
Liberalisation or competition in the provision of services.
Speaking at the first day of the Satcom Africa conference in Midrand today, Jarrold based his belief on earlier meetings in SA. He would not expand on his expectations, saying it "would not be very diplomatic" to do so. Several members of the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) were in attendance.
The changes advocated by the GVF, a non-profit industry body advocating regulation that makes VSAT use economical, could see large changes in the Internet landscape. Jarrold uses the example of India, where he says 250 000 Internet subscribers in 1998 became 1.5 million subscribers by 2000. His organisation believes the "open skies" policy adopted in the interim can be largely credited for the growth. Under an open skies system operators, in this case Internet service providers, are given near-complete freedom in their use of satellite bandwidth.
The combination of open skies and two-way VSAT terminals is ideal for Internet connections, says Andrew Werth, a partner in the Washington Advisory Group, a telecommunications consultancy. He believes such terminals, now priced at around $2 000, could be priced at $200 instead.
"A colour TV is a much more complicated technology than a VSAT station," he says. "Volume [production] is the answer. Volume is clearly the answer."
Some African countries are adopting the steps recommended by the GVF: Nigeria is opening its skies, while Botswana, Swaziland and Mozambique are among the countries bringing competition to VSAT provision. Jarrold contends that such a piecemeal approach is not enough, and cites Asia as an example.
"In Asia you have a honeycomb effect," he says. Some countries are VSAT-friendly while their neighbours are not. The result is a difficult environment for companies looking for cross-border communication, stifling growth. Regional co-ordination is required.
"We say think regionally, act nationally," says Jarrold.
If his hopes for imminent reform in Southern Africa are not dashed it could see Internet access proliferate. But that does not automatically mean that the benefits of Internet access such as telemedicine and distance learning will follow, warns Werth.
"The barriers to telemedicine and distance learning are economical and political," he says." Economically the question is who is going to pay? Politically the issue for governments is losing control over content."
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