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Telecommunications
Source: APC
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The year of 1984 was the starting date for the modern history of telecommunications. It saw the introduction of competition into the US market and privatisation in the UK with the divestiture by AT&T of seven regional Bell operating companies (the Baby Bells), the privatisation of British Telecom as a public limited company and the establishment of the British Regulator, Oftel.1
The same year also saw the publication of the report of the ITU’s Maitland Commission (“The Missing Link”), which firmly established for the first time the link between access to telecommunications and development, and drew attention to the benefits networks could deliver to emergency operations, social services, administration and commerce.
Thus began two decades of parallel and sometimes intersecting work on telecommunications reform and communications for development programmes, culminating in December 2003 with the World Summit on the Information Society held in Geneva. WSIS is a test of whether the telecommunications revolution can meet the twin demands of liberalisation and public service and reconcile the interests of big business, governments and civil society.
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On Telecommunications in the APC Monitor
View all news on Telecommunications
 Bandwidth pricing should be transparent 
01/08/2006 (Russell Southwood - Balancing Act) --
Over 30 policy-makers, regulators and operators met in Johannesburg recently to discuss what will happen when the self-awarded monopolies of Africa’s SAT3 consortium members comes to an end in June 2007. This is the first time policy-makers and regulators have come together to address issues that affect more than one country, writes Russel Southwood.
International | Bandwidth and Infrastructure, Telecommunications
Survivor joins telecoms pledge drive
14/10/2006 (Tectonic) --
A South African Survivor contestant, Zayn Nabbi, has put down his R200 towards the Telecoms Action Group's (TAG) advert campaign this week. TAG plans to take out a full-page advert in a South African newspaper complaining about the lack of pace of change in the country's telecommunications environment. It has drummed up considerable support for its effort.
South Africa | Telecommunications
Telkom SA bleeds top brass
06/04/2007 (Tectonic) --
Telkom SA's CEO Papi Molotsane has left the operator after just 18 months; and under apparently less than amicable circumstances. He is the third senior executive to leave the operator in the past month. Telkom SA has come under heavy fire recently, both from the South African government and disgruntled consumers.
South Africa | Access, Telecommunications
Vodacom's 'dodgy dealings' in Africa
13/04/2007 (Mail & Guardian) --
Vodacom's corporate governance is coming under media scrutiny after it was revealed that the cellphone operator has apparently formed political partnerships in at least four countries in Africa. The Mail & Guardian reports that while the operator has defended its dealings in Mozambique, Lesotho, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, there is a lot left wanting.
International | Telecommunications
South Africa: State shows the money
20/04/2007 (IT Web) --
Cabinet has approved the establishment of the Broadband Infrastructure Company (Infraco), a state-owned enterprise that will provide electronic communications network services.
By leveraging state infrastructure, Infraco will offer nationwide connectivity for telecoms providers at low cost.
South Africa | Access, Telecommunications
Telkom SA's monopoly will go, insists minister
28/05/2007 (ITWeb) --
South Africa's communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri has slammed media reports that a four-year period to unbundle the local loop extends Telkom's monopoly. This follows criticism after her budget speech before parliament last week.
South Africa | Telecommunications
South Africa: Have a heart, minister tells editors
14/06/2007 (WAN) --
South Africa's deputy president has told editors from across the world that the government is embarrassed at the high cost of telephony in the country. Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka was speaking at the 60th World Newspaper Congress held in Cape Town recently. She also asked the editors to help in the country's PR department, if they had a heart.
South Africa | Media, Telecommunications
How privatization pillaged South Africa's economy
29/09/2007 (Business Report and Slashdot) --
A damning paper published in a United States academic journal has suggested that the South African economy was literally sucked dry by the sale of 30% of Telkom South Africa to the Thintana Communications consortium, made up of SBC and Telekom Malaysia.
It says that the shareholders' agreement signed by the South African government placed both companies above the country's laws.
The paper has been written by APC's policy manager Willie Currie, and Robert Horwitz, a member of the department of communication at the University of California in San Diego. Currie was a former councilor at the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA). According to Slashdot.org the paper says SBC played a major role in the failure of South Africa's telecoms policy to develop a competitive telephone service. Under SBC's control, it says, Telkom not only failed to meet its roll-out obligations but behaved as a tax on industry and a drag on economic growth.
Temporary link to paper:
Another Instance Where Privatization Trumped Liberalization:
The Politics of
Telecommunications Reform in South Africa – A Ten Year Retrospective
Talkshop: Death of a dinosaur?
How bad is the state of play with Telkom SA?
Send us your views: chakula at apc.org [replace 'at' with @]
Related links:
The Great Telkom Sell-off
Telkom bleeds top brass
Telkom's monopoly will go, insists minister
Telecoms Action Group
South Africa | Access, National ICT Strategies, Telecommunications
South Africa: Can Telkom SA bear it?
22/10/2007 (ITWeb) --
While the South African government says it backs the sale of Telkom assets to mobile operator MTN, the fixed-line telecommunications giant has been rocked by another resignation, and an investigation by the country's Financial Services Board.
Temporary link to paper:
Another Instance Where Privatization Trumped Liberalization:
The Politics of
Telecommunications Reform in South Africa – A Ten Year Retrospective
Talkshop: Death of a dinosaur?
How bad is the state of play with Telkom SA?
Send us your views: chakula at apc.org [replace 'at' with @]
Nigeria, South Africa | Censorship, Telecommunications
KENYA: Nokia tackles e-waste
21/01/2008 (eWasteguide.info) --
Leading mobile phone handset maker, Nokia, has announced it will set up waste dumping centres across East Africa to reprocess old mobile phone waste, including batteries.
Kenya | Telecommunications
See all documents on Telecommunications
No information found
Telkom competitors now have licences, but will they compete?
03/03/2009 --
After months of legal wrangling and delays, over 400 value added network service providers (VANS) now have electronic communications network service licences in hand. This means these companies have virtually the same rights as incumbent Telkom: they can build networks as they choose. The irony is that VANS effectively now have the same rights as Neotel, which paid R100m for its licence. But will they compete?
South Africa | Telecommunications
Cameroon Telecommunications Sector Performance Review
22/10/2004 --
Almost 6 years after the introduction of the market reforms in Cameroon, this research seeks to determine the degree to which policy outcomes match policy objectives in order to assess the success of policy and regulatory reform in terms of performance of the ICT sector. This is the first step of a process which will, hopefully, provide a baseline assessment of the ICT sector in Cameroon that can be built annually, and to provide basis for studies required for appropriate policy formulation and effective regulation.
Cameroon | Telecommunications
GETTING STARTED: What is 'net neutrality'?
16/07/2007 --
The principle of 'net neutrality', sometimes referred as “network neutrality” or “internet neutrality”, is about equal access to the internet. It is concerned with the fact that everybody's content should receive equal treatments in terms of speed and reliability, and be transmitted on a first-in-first-out basis. It also refers to an internet network that is free of restrictions on the kinds of equipment attached and the modes of communication allowed. GenderIT.org has compiled a useful reference for ICT jargon.
Dem. Rep. of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe | Access, Content and Language, Gender , Intellectual Property, Internet Governance, Media, National ICT Strategies, Security and Privacy, Software, Telecommunications, WSIS
Sierra Leone: More telecom taxes likely
08/03/2006 --
Sierra Leone needs to brace up for what the future may hold for telecom taxation. In the not so distant future, it may see the introduction of more taxes, surcharges and fees to the sector and consumers are bound to be significantly impacted, argues Maxwell Massaquoi.
Sierra Leone | Telecommunications
Pan-African regulatory agency mooted
01/03/2006 --
The head of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation has called for a pan-African ICT regulatory agency that deals specifically with ICT issues that have a continental bearing. Dr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah says such a body could help reduce the costs of communications to African governments, businesses and individuals.
International | Telecommunications
Sudan: ICTs and the 'smell of money'
06/03/2006 --
Despite the continuing sanctions imposed on Sudan by the United States, international investors are interested in what has been described as the "smell of money" in the country. Sudan's oil revenues have created a building boom in its capital and attracted telecoms investment from the UAE and Kuwait. Russel Southwood explores the telecommunications environment in a country emerging from 20 years of civil war.
Sudan | Telecommunications
Kenya: Policy watch - key documents
11/06/2007 --
Kenya's new Media Bill and amended Communications Bill is stirring up a hornet's nest in a country otherwise praised for its transparent and inclusive ICT and communications policy processes. Activists say the Kenyan government has not consulted the people it should have properly, and that consumers are getting a raw deal. The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANeT), a multi-stakeholder network in that country, has collected some of the key texts for you to browse. And it is asking for your input.
Kenya | Communication Rights, Media, Telecommunications
A Draft Discussion Paper On Liberia Telecommunications
07/07/2005 --
This document presents the Government of Liberia’s (GoL) policy for the telecommunications sector. It reflects the GoL’s vision for the evolution of the sector and describes the main policy steps towards achieving that vision. This Policy establishes the framework for the evolution of the Liberian telecommunications sector, and the transformation of Liberia toward an information-based economy and society. The policy is based upon the following objectives and vision for the major elements of this framework.
Liberia | National ICT Strategies, Telecommunications
Telecommunications sector policy review (2005)
10/01/2005 --
The current telecommunications policy and regulatory environment in Uganda was established through the telecommunications sector policy framework of 1996, the Uganda Communications Act of 1997 (Laws of Uganda Cap 106), and the licences that were issued to the two national operators. Key components of the policy strategy were the creation of an independent regulator, implementation of a limited competition period (specifically in basic telephony services, cellular telecommunications and satellite services) and the unbundling of the Uganda Posts and Telecommunications Corporation.
Uganda | Telecommunications
La Coopération Multilatérale dans le Secteur des Télécommunications
19/07/2004 --
Après avoir constitué pendant des décennies le cadre privilégié de la majorité des actions en faveur du développement des télécommunications dans les Pays en Développement, la coopération multilatérale a été gravement affectée par la déréglementation de ce secteur au Nord comme au Sud, notamment sous l'égide de l'Union Internationale des Télécommunications (UIT).
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