According to a report from This Day, Nigeria's Ministry of Communications Technology has posted a draft National Information and Communications Technology (ICT) policy.

The Ministry also called on all stakeholders to review the draft policy and contribute over the next two weeks, before it is presented to the Federal Executive Council.

On August 25, 2011, the Minister of Communications Technology, Omobola Johnson, set up a committee to harmonise the policies for the sectors of the ICT industry, including telecommunications, broadcasting, information technology and postal services. The nine-person committee, chaired by the President of the Digital Bridge Institute, Raymond Akwule, had six weeks to conclude the harmonisation into a single policy. The committee has completed its task and submitted its report to the Ministry, which studied the report before releasing it for public input.

The objectives contained in the draft national ICT policy include:

·         to reflect convergence by de-emphasising the differences between the information technology (IT), broadcasting, telecommunications and postal sectors;

·         to bring all ICT-related activities under a single ministry to give policy guidance to the converged industry;

·         to create a new ICT Act to ensure a competitive and converged industry as well as provide an appropriate legal framework;

·         to develop and enhance indigenous capacity in ICT technologies;

·         to establish an administrative and legal framework for the transition to digital broadcasting and ensure a smooth switchover in accordance with ITU guidelines; and

·         to establish the framework for the implementation of community radio in Nigeria.

Intelecon comment: National ICT policies are valuable tools for encouraging, guiding and measuring the development of the ICT sector, and for achieving other social and economic development objectives. ICTs can play a significant role in improving employment prospects in developing countries such as Nigeria. Governments in many countries have worked with stakeholders to craft ICT sector policies, such as the recently completed Philippine Digital Strategy, that attempt to accelerate national development through the use of ICTs. Working with industry and the public to develop the new ICT policy is a positive move by Nigeria's government.

December 22, 2011

India: Ministry will not allow 3G roaming pacts

According to Reuters, India's Department of Telecommunications (DoT) intends to inform mobile operators that they will not be permitted to offer 3G services outside their licensed zones through roaming agreements.

In 2010, India auctioned 3G spectrum, which attracted much higher bids than expected. However, no single operator secured spectrum in all 22 zones. Currently, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular, three of the top four carriers, provide 3G services outside of their licensed zones through roaming pacts.

"Decision is clear that this is not permitted, and that is being conveyed to the companies," R. Chandrashekhar, the head of DoT, said. The ministry has not decided whether to impose penalties on the companies, he added.

The government raised USD 13 billion in the 3G auction and is in the process of updating its telecommunications regulations, but there is little clarity on issues such as the pricing of 2G spectrum and mergers and acquisitions.

Operators launched 3G services earlier in 2011 and are expanding their networks. Premium data services currently provide a small fraction of the revenue of Indian carriers but the companies see significant potential for growth, with less than 10% of India's 1.2 billion people having access to Internet. Margins from data services are also higher than voice margins.

Last month, executives from Bharti, Vodafone, Idea and sixth-ranked Tata Teleservices wrote a joint letter to Telecommunications Minister Kapil Sibal, saying they understood that 3G roaming arrangements were legal and permissible before they placed bids for 3G spectrum.

"Any determination now that this might not be the case would fundamentally alter the legal and economic basis on which the business case for 3G bids were evaluated, inevitably leading to a requirement to either refund to the bidders or re-run the auctions," the letter said.

Bharti spent USD 2.3 billion to win 3G permits in 13 of the 22 zones. Vodafone paid USD 2.2 billion for licenses in nine zones. Idea won spectrum in 11 zones for USD 1.1 billion.

Intelecon comment: Currently, India's Telecom Commission is finalizing the country's new telecom policy. According to Kapil Sibal, under the new policy, operators will be allowed to opt for a national level license or to continue with the existing system of circle-wise licensing.

December 20, 2011

Pakistan: Government bans mobile number portability

According to a report from Pakistan Today, the government of Pakistan has decided to ban Mobile Number Portability (MNP) due to threats to national security, and warned that use of MNP would be a violation of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), 1997.

A meeting held by Interior Minister Rehman Malik on the misuse of electronic equipment, including the internet, email and SMS/MMS, discussed remedial measures to curb illegal activities. The chairman and secretary of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) were directed to immediately meet with mobile operators, and convey the government's concerns to ensure that mobile service was not misused by anti-state elements. It was decided mobile operators would be required to install their own monitoring systems in coordination with the PTA to block objectionable communication being routed through their servers.

The participants in the meeting included the secretaries of Interior and Information Technology, the PTA chair, the inspector general of Sindh Police, members of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and Customs, and representatives of intelligence agencies. They observed that criminals are using unauthorised SIM cards in illegal activities such as terrorist attacks, bank robberies and target killings.

The PTA chairman was directed to revisit the whole system and ensure that all SIM cards being used on stolen identities shall be blocked. In this regard, the participants decided to ban MNP, calling it a threat to national security. They said that anyone sending threatening emails or tampering with email addresses, mobile phone via SMS and MMS shall be dealt with under the ATA and other relevant sections of the law.

The interior minister created a committee, chaired by the Interior secretary, to examine the draft bill regarding the misuse of electronic equipment. The committee will brief the interior minister on the proposed legislation.

Intelecon commment: Since March 2007, the MNP service has been managed by a mobile operator-owned company, the Pakistan Mobile Number Portability Database (Guarantee) Limited, which runs the Centralized Number Portability Clearing House.

December 15, 2011

Sri Lanka: de Silva Urges Return of Portion of Levy to Boost Broadband

According to the Daily FT, Sri Lankan MP Dr. Harsha de Silva is urging the Government to refund a portion of the telecommunications levy paid by operators to enable the acceleration of broadband rollout.

Dr. de Silva said that in the 2012 budget, the Government proposed that the levy on incoming international calls increase from USD 0.07 per minute to USD 0.09 per minute. de Silva suggested that this increase could result in incoming calls being channelled via grey market networks, which would decrease government revenue. As an alternative, de Silva recommends returning 50% of the levy increase to legal operators. These operators could then invest it broadband rollout.

Dr. de Silva was instrumental in creating the levy in 2002/3 in order to finance the Vishva Gnana Fund, which was to be used to expand the country's broadband network. The idea was to phase out the levy when there was evidence of progress in broadband rollout.

"Broadband is critical for the future competitiveness of Sri Lanka and to increasingly make Sri Lankans smart global citizens. Therefore, the Government should share the revenue so that the private sector operators could be supported to carry out the speedier rollout of broadband in the country," Dr de Silva said in Parliament.

The 2012 budget also proposes that the levy on outgoing international calls increase from USD 0.018 per minute to USD 0.026 per minute.

"The Telecommunication Regulatory Commission will implement policies and strategies to encourage telecommunication companies to give priority for the development of broadband network facilities. In keeping with development priorities, telecommunication charges on incoming and outgoing calls will be revised suitably," President and Finance Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said.

Intelecon comment: Encouraging broadband rollout has become a high priority for governments around the world. According to the ITU, in 2010 there were only 213,800 fixed broadband subscribers in Sri Lanka, which has a population of 20.86 million. The Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka reported that there were 367,764 mobile broadband subscribers by the end of June 2011. Initiatives such as the levy refund suggested by Dr. de Silva would contribute to increased broadband penetration through expanded availability of broadband services.

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