http://developing-telecoms.blogspot.com/2009/08/balancing-with-profit-motive-with.html

Thanks!

Your point on the role of governments is well-made and the crux of the problem.

Right now most countries in Africa have multiple operators stemming from the liberalization of the markets on the last few years. World wide few countries except the very largest can sustain more than 4 operators, so the operator competitive situation in Africa is actually pretty good. Coverage competition is another matter, but the nature of dispersed populations and large land mass means this is never going to easy to fix.

For an investor point of view, governments in Africa are at best ineffective. Ministers are all too often ignorant of technology and ignorant of implications such as levying taxes, as many do, on mobile services.

To invest the sort of sums of money needed to roll out a nationwide network or new service eg data, and operator needs to show to the investor how to get a return on the money with some sort of security over time that rules won’t change.

Every change of government, minister or tax policy creates a cost for us in terms of risk management.

But equally distorting is where governments try to “promote” an industry ie seeing telecoms as an enabling infrastructure and then using governmental power whether subsidies, rules or legislation to force the pace along. All too often this actually results in certain companies being favoured, even to the point of unanticipated monopoly.

In the absence of good policy, we would all prefer the governments to set policy and then allow the market to proceed under the national commission supervision.

Where we can discuss good policy with government, they quickly realise your point that telecoms IS an enabling infrastructure.

For your information my company is planning a major investment in a country where we are able to link up with various ministries such as towns, power, water and roads. An effective policy here we are promoting is to obtain multiple benefits from the investment. So the machinery needed to dig fibre routes will be used at very marginal added cost to dig power lines and building foundations. The equipment that follows to build the repeater stations or cellular towers will, when finished, then build the village school and clinic – again at marginal cost for the authorities.

It has taken a very patient three years for our team to arrive at this point. As soon as contracts are signed I will let you know our website and track progress.