SADC INDEPENDENT TELECOMMUNICATIONS AUTHORITY

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SADC INDEPENDENT TELECOMMUNICATIONS AUTHORITY

• PRESENTER Z. NTOZINTLE JOBODWANA
• DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC, CONSTITUTIONAL, AND
  INTERNATIONAL LAW
• COLLEGE OF LAW
• UNISA
• JOBODZN_at_UNISA.AC.ZA

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BROAD OBJECTIVES

• Separation of policy, regulatory and operations
  functions and the creation of regulatory
  agencies
• ? Liberalization
• ? Competition amongst network operators and
  service providers
• ? Granting of a second fixed line license
• ? Privatisation
• ? Universal access strategy..

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DISPARITIES IN REGION (REASONS)

• Lack of political will to develop ICT Policies
• legislative framework on paper but not in
  practice
• lack of awareness by policy makers/legislators
  of impact of ICT policy on market development
• Absence of clear strategic vision/framework
• Capacity constraints to support policy
  formulation
• Inadequate legal structure - not conducive for
  ICT

4
REGIONAL DISPARITIES

• Conflicting mandate/overlap of regulatory bodies
• Insufficient Investment - foreign exchange
  restrictions, high Tax levies and import duties)
• Small market size of many African countries
• Concentration of infrastructure in urban areas
• Absence of convergence policy framework on ICT
• Lack of strategies on e-Commerce
• Inefficient spectrum utilisation

5
REGIONAL DISPARITIES

• Inadequate efforts on harmonization of policies
  and regulations at regional and continental
  levels
• Unavailability of Reliable Statistics
• Lack of an established mechanism for countries
  to share information and experiences
• Weak Regional Cooperation/Coordination

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CONTINENTAL BROAD OBJECTIVES

• Establish harmonized policy, legal and regulatory
  frameworks at the regional and continental levels
  to
• create an enabling environment that will attract
• investment and foster the sustainable development
  of competitive African Telecom/ICT regional
  markets, infrastructures, and to increase access

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CONTINENTAL BROAD OBJECTIVES

• Develop African human resource and increase
  awareness to ensure active participation of
  Africa in the global information and
  knowledge-based economy
• ? introduce relevant and valuable applications to
  encourage the deployment and utilization of
  Telecommunication/ICT across all socio-economic
  sectors in Africa in order to improve efficiency
  and productivity
• ?

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CONTINENTAL BROAD OBJECTIVES

• Promote and develop African content to increase
  global presence of African values, cultures,
  languages and indigenous knowledge
• Mobilize financial resources by strengthening
  regional cooperation and multi stakeholder
  partnerships and promotion of public and private
  partnerships.

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CONTINENTAL BROAD OBJECTIVES

• 1.Establishment of harmonized policy and
  regulatory framework
• ? Engage highest level authorities to enhance
  political will
• ? Develop harmonized regional and continental
  strategies.
• ? Develop regulatory guidelines at regional and
  continental levels.
• ? Establish mechanisms to strengthen stakeholder
  participation in the harmonization process

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BROAD CONTINENTAL OBJECTIVES

• 2. Support to Industrialization, Research
  Development
• ? Encourage developed software and hardware in
  Africa.
• ? Encourage research development and
  industrialization of African to develop
  Telecommunication/ICT systems.
• ? Establish regional common research centres.

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STRATEGIES TO ACHIEVE OBJECTIVES

• 4. Development of Integrated Infrastructures and
  Access Networks
• ? Promote regional and intra-continental
  connectivity.
• ? Promote open access to infrastructure
• ? Promote infrastructure sharing.
• ? Promote digital broadcast infrastructures/networ
  ks.
• ? Promote infrastructure/networks convergence, in
  particular migration to IP/NGN networks

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STRATEGIES TO ACHIEVE OBJECTIVES

• Promote appropriate and innovative technologies
  that can improve universal access/service and
  affordability.
• Implement technologies/networks that complies to
  internationally accepted and widely spread
  standards, taking into account regional
  interconnectivity and interoperability.
• Promote African participation in the development
  of standards at the regional and international
  levels.

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STRATEGIES TO ACHIEVE OBJECTIVES

• Development of Human Resources and Increase of
  Awareness
• ? Promote attitudinal change and confidence for
  the adoption of Telecom/ICT in the economy as a
  mode of life.
• ? Increase Telecom/ICT awareness among political
  leaders and policy makers at the highest level.

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STRATEGIES TO ACHIEVE OBJECTIVES

• Increase the pool of African professionals in all
  areas of Telecom/ICT competencies encourage
  their mobility and their retention within Africa.
• ? Develop mass e-literacy and promote wide usage
  of Telecom/ICT.
• ? Establish and develop centres of excellence and
  Telecom/ICT research institutions, and promote
  effective cooperation among them,

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STRATEGIES TO ACHIEVE OBJECTIVES

• ? ? Establish and develop institutions for
  capacity building for Telecom/ICT at various
  levels, particularly for regulators and policy
  makers.

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STRATEGIES TO ACHIEVE OBJECTIVES

• 5. Development of Telecommunication/ICT
• applications
• ? Encourage the deployment and utilization of
• Telecom/ICT across all socio-economic sectors
• with focus on priority areas e-Government, e-
• Education. e-Commerce, e-Health, e-Culture.
• ? Build confidence in the development and use of
  Telecom/ICT applications, taking into
  consideration better management of the
  cyberspace, from the producer as well as from the
  consumer point of view.

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STRATEGIES TO ACHIVE OBJECTIVES

• ? Promote the development and use of open source
  software, and build applications on such
  platforms.

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STRATEGIES TO ACHIEVE OBJECTIVES

• 6. Development of African Content
• ? Preserve the African heritage in digital
  format, and its relevant Intellectual property
  rights.
• ? Encourage the creation of African content in
  diverse languages.
• ? Promote global presence of the African
  heritage, cultures, and indigenous knowledge

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SADC ICT POLICY

• Pursues and deepens SADC integration agenda to
• Achieve economic growth
• Accelerate poverty reduction
• Achieve sustainable development and
• Attain regional integration and development
  goals.
• The harmonization of policies, legislation and
  regulations.

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MEMBERS PARTICIPATING

• Angola
• Botswana
• Democratic Republic of Congo
• Lesotho
• Malawi
• Mauritius

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MEMBERS PARTICIPATING

• Mozambique
• Namibia
• South Africa
• Swaziland
• Tanzania
• Zambia
• Zimbabwe

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GOALS OF REGULATORY AUTHORITY

• promote network development and universal service
• promote customer service improvement
• promote human resources development
• promote service availability to less advantaged
  sectors of the community
• granting licenses
• harmonize rules and regulation
• promoting competition
• regulating tariffs and interconnection
• administering frequency spectrum and numbering
• prescribing technical standards

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MANDATE

• Development of Policy Framework and Conducive
  Environment for
• Investment,
• Development of infrastructure and services.
• Quality of service and Services Accessibility
• Service Affordability

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ICT-PENETRATION IN THE SADC

• In spite of its recognized benefits, the
  availability of ICTs in SADC has remained
  inadequate.
• For example, in SADC in 1998, the penetration of
  personal computers (PCs) was 1.97 per 100
  inhabitants on average and the tele-density was 5
  fixed telephone lines per 100 inhabitants on
  average.
• In the same period, the world average for
  penetration of personal computers (PCs) was 6.43
  per 100 inhabitants and the tele-density was
  14.26 fixed lines per 100 inhabitants.  

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DIGITAL DIVIDE

• The gap is wide and limits SADC's ability to
  develop competitiveness and to effectively
  participate in the global economy.
• Therefore, effort is needed to bridge this
  digital divide. This gap calls for the design and
  implementation of policies to turn SADC into an
  information-based economy.

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INADEQUACY OF INFRASTRUCTURE

• Promotion of ICT entails the availability of
  telecommunications and broadcasting
  infrastructure in both the urban and rural areas,
  along with computers.
• Special incentives need to be granted to
  potential investors to implement development
  activities and licenses delivered accordingly.
• Regional initiatives should also be considered in
  achieving national development.

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UNIVERSAL SERVICE

• Telecommunications Services are now considered to
  be a basic necessity of all citizens in order to
  enable them participate in the new information
  economy.
• In the past the burden of meeting the universal
  access was borne by monopoly operators who in
  most countries were government owned.
• By that time, operators managed to do so, i.e.,
  delivering services to uneconomic areas, through
  cross-subsidies from profitable market segments.
• (international, long distance services, business
  users and urban).

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UNIVERSAL SERVICE

• In the new competitive environment such system is
  untenable/not possible anymore.
• Government have now to look for other measures to
  meet such objectives.
• The development of telecommunications
  infrastructure can no longer be taken as a goal
  in itself, but as a catalyst for enabling
  information and communications for everyone.
• Access to information and communications will
  enhance community participation in social and
  economic development, by providing opportunities
  for learning, acquiring and sharing of
  information and for commercial activities.
• Universal access/service needs to be redefined in
  the context of the advancement of the information
  and communications sector in the world and the
  new business environment.

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OBJECTIVES OF UNIVERSAL POLICY

• Achieve higher tele-density in both urban and
  rural areas
• Liberalisation - effective market competition in
  the information and communications sector in the
  SADC is the cornerstone for achieving universal
  access/service
• Affordability telecommunication services should
  be provided at affordable rates
• Quality of service services provided should be
  of good quality and acceptable standards
• Geographic access telecommunications services
  should be made available or accessible regardless
  of geographical location
• Availability telecommunications services should
  be accessible to a larger proportion of the
  population in a country.

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STRATEGIES FOR ACHIEVING UNIVERSAL ACCESS

• Promotion of fair and effective competition as a
  fundamental strategy for achieving affordability
  and network development
• Establishment of Universal Service Fund as
  auxiliary vehicle for the financing of universal
  service / access
• Imposition of Universal access/service
  obligations on licensed operators to ensure
  delivery of services in under-served areas
• Encouragement of community participation in the
  provision of telecommunication services
• Encouragement of local loop unbundling when
  competition is introduced
• Application of preferential or discounted tariffs
  for achieving good quality access to schools,
  clinics, telecentres or other community access
  centres and

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DISCOUNTED TARIFFS

• Discounted tariffs for telecommunications
  services are essential for achieving
  affordability and universal access/service to
  those economically disadvantaged, which include
• People with physical or other types of
  disabilities
• Learning institutions in lower income areas, such
  as primary and secondary schools, libraries,
  institutes and others and
• Health institutions in lower income areas, such
  as clinics and hospitals

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CHALLENGES

• Infrastructure
• It had been proven that with the privatization of
  certain basic services, expectations had not been
  met as the private sector focused on profits and
  not building infrastructure, whilst governments
  focused on social development.
• There was therefore still a role for governments
  in building strategic infrastructure, as they do
  for roads, rail, electric power and water
  distribution

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CHALLENGES

• Tariffs
• Affordable and reliable communication services
  that will enable economic growth and development
• The Price of International bandwidth is a
  significant barrier to the national development

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CHALLENGES

• Institution
• Adjust the responsibility of the
  Ministry/Ministries (To address convergence)
• Telecommunications/information technology and
  broadcasting portfolio.
• Address the issues of ICT
• E-governance
• E-education
• E-health
• E-commerce.
• Mobile commerce..

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OPPORTUNITIES

• Market
• Urge underserved market.
• Regional integration in an environment dominated
  by open trade.
• Regional interconnectivity is as critical as
  national interconnectivity.
• Establishment of private networks, government
  transactions as well as electronic commerce.

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SADC INDEPENDENT

• Although it is not a regional regulator CRASA
  plays an important part in harmonising policies
  and best practices.
• CRASA feeds coordinated recommendations to the
  policy-making structures of SADC
• CASA organises workshop and meetings where best
  practices are exchanged informally. At a formal
  level, CRASA develops and adopts policy
  guidelines and model regulations.
• Through common training programmes, CRASA
  facilitates capacity building for its members.
  With enhanced capacity, members are equipped to
  adopt and implement national policies and
  regulations based on the regional models

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OPPORTUNITIES

• Harmonisation
• Regulatory framework for ICT development
• The Region to be seen as a whole
• Harmonised policies a regulatory frameworks
• The multiplicity of networks and service
  providers in an open environment requires
  appropriate equipment and standards to
  inter-operate. This will ensure that information
  flow is adequate to support electronic
  transactions, electronic commerce, and any such
  exchange in society.

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OPPORTUNITIES

• Technologies
• Modern technologies
• Ease to deploy
• Decreasing of costs

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REASONS FOR DISPARITY BETWEEN REGIONS

• Inadequate political will to develop ICT
  Policies
• legislative framework on paper but not in
  practice
• lack of awareness by policy makers/legislators
  of
• impact of ICT policy on market development
• Absence of clear strategic vision/framework
• Capacity constraints to support policy
  formulation

40
REASONS FOR DISPARITY

• Inadequate legal structure - not conducive for
  ICT
• Conflicting mandate/overlap of regulatory
  bodies
• Insufficient Investment - foreign exchange
  restrictions,
• high Tax levies and import duties)

41
REASONS FOR DISPARITY

• Small market size of many African countries
• Concentration of infrastructure in urban areas
• Absence of convergence policy framework on ICT
• Lack of strategies on e-Commerce
• Inefficient spectrum utilisation
• Inadequate efforts on harmonization of policies
  and
• regulations at regional and continental levels

42
REASONS FOR DISPARITY

• Unavailability of Reliable Statistics
• Lack of an established mechanism for countries
  to
• share information and experiences
• Weak Regional Cooperation/Coordination

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RECOMMENDATIONS

•  
• Establishment, through treaty and protocols of
  the SADC Independent Communications Authority
  (SADC-CA).
• The personnel should be independent of and not be
  appointees of SADC member States governments
  neither should the personnel be drawn from SADC
  related ministries

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RECOMMENDATIONS

• SADC-CA will hold quarterly consultative summit
  meetings with SADC telecommunications ministries
  and other relevant bodies, with a major mandate
  to develop and adopt Telecommunications Acts and
  other ICT related rules and regulations.
• All the functions of the already existing
  telecommunications agencies under State
  ministries, and those of existing so-called
  independent regulatory agencies would be subsumed
  under SADC-CA

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RECOMMENDATIONS

• Funding of SADC-CA will come from contributions
  made by SADC member States from each according
  to its means in terms of a certain percentage of
  a States GDP. Consequently all the employees of
  SADC are paid from the fund administered
  exclusively by the Authority.
• Foreign ICT aid presently enjoyed by respective
  individual States, will in future be directed to
  the exclusive use of the Authority to minimise
  abuse by political leaders and to avoid
  stakeholder capture.

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BIBLBIOGRAPHY

• SEE FULLY REFERENCED PAPER PART OF THE CONFERENCE
  PROCEDIBNGS PUBLICATION

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CONCLUSION

• THANK YOU