RASCOM'S PROGRAMME

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At the inception of RASCOM in May 1992 and the beginning of full activities in 1993, the RASCOM's programme was split into two main phases comprising the transitional phase and the ultimate phase.

Transitional phase

This phase which started in January 1994 concluded with the pooling of some eight African countries into one identified Intelsat satellite by the turn of 1998. Despite some difficulties encountered by RASCOM in the prepayment and pooling of transponders used by African countries, RASCOM through a steady optimisation of utilisation of transponder to provide space capacities to other African users, was able to generate sufficient revenue while guaranteeing financial incentives paid to countries whose transponders were used.

The revenue generated from this activity enabled RASCOM to cover its operational costs up to the end of 1997 without resorting to the initial amount contributed by African countries at the inception of RASCOM.

Implementation of the ultimate phase of the RASCOM programme

In order to implement the ultimate phase of the RASCOM programme and having been inspired by the difficulty encountered in raising funds for the transitional phase of the RASCOM programme, it was decided in the RASCOM Assembly of Parties in May 1997 in Johannesburg that this phase which consist of launching the first dedicated satellite system for Africa should be implemented through a strategic partnership in the form of a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) scheme.

Status of the implementation of the ultimate phase of the RASCOM programme The implementation of the RASCOM dedicated satellite system for Africa is in full progress and the following activities are being performed:

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Creation ofthe RASCOMSTAR-QAF Company

The project company was formed in June 2001 in Mauritius called RASCOMSTAR-QAF company. RASCOM has pursued discussions with the other founding shareholders of the RASCOMSTAR-QAF with a view to finalizing and signing all the documents required for the commencement of activities planned for the pre-closing.

Industrial contract

The industrial contract is at the level of the system baseline design review and the system definition final review which would meet the requirements of the RASCOM mission letter. The industrial phase B Contract shall be signed between RASCOMSTAR-QAF company and Alcatel Space Industries as soon as the cost of the contract is finalized and the Chief Executive of RASCOMSTAR-QAF is appointed.

Pilot project

The main objective for RASCOM at this phase is to test the ground terminals to be used on the RASCOM system and to demonstrate in real conditions the suitability and functionality of the proposed solution to the network operators in Africa.

RASCOM has also provided the pilot project mission requirements which are being designed by the industrial partner to meet the overall mission requirements of the RASCOM system. This pilot project shall be implemented in some selected African countries in early 2002.

RASCOM Assistance and support programme to African countries (RASPAC)

With the coming into operation of the dedicated satellite system for Africa through a strategic Partnership, it is necessary to establish an incentive package for African countries by RASCOM in order to achieve a critical mass to make the RASCOM project a viable one. The rationale is to induce all African countries to be able to use the space resources to be provided by the RASCOMSTAR-QAF company.

This programme consist of financing and procurement assistance, technical assistance, an enabling regulatory environment and training programmes.

• Financing and Procurement Assistance

It will consist of creating a pool of finance under favorable conditions which can be accessed by African countries for the purchase of ground terminals. Besides, RASCOM shalt negotiate bulk purchase on behalf of all African countries to enable them benefit from the economies of scale. Availability of soft loans, coupled with low unit cost to be achieved through the bulk purchase shall encourage countries to update and expand the networks to deeper rural areas.

Technical assistance by the RASCOMSTAR-QAF company shall be given to individual African countries to plan, develop, upgrade and extend their terrestrial systems. The technical assistance should be able to study and identify the best approach towards improving or developing ground segment to be able to use the space segment once it is available.

• Enabling Regulatory Environment

RASCOM organisation, in collaboration with the RASCOMSTAR-QAF company shall encourage African countries to create enabling policy and regulatory environments conducive to private sector participation in the offering of telecommunications services to end-users. The programme seeks to spur

interest and opportunities for private investment in member-country networks.

• Training Programmes

The training programmes, which should be conceived for on-the-job training and classroom training, will be implemented in global manner for countries whose technicians need to be trained to operate and maintain the ground systems as well as develop skills for the operation of the space segment. ■<•

Integrating role of the RASCOM system in Africa

The satellite system to be set up by RASCOM will have a considerable multiplier effects and real impact on other socio-economic, political and cultural development sectors in all African states.

National, Regional and continental interconnectivity

The RASCOM system shall lead to the national, regional and continental interconnectivity. It will enable the interconnection of all African states, thereby, reducing significantly the high annual transit costs incurred by national telecommunications operators and passed on to the end-users (about US $ 500) on traffic that leaves Africa to Africa through foreign telecommunications operators. The RASCOM system shall provide access of telecommunications services to all rural areas in Africa, at very low costs and in relation to the purchasing power of people of these areas. It shall provide television and sound broadcasting coverage of each African country and exchange of TV and radio programmes between all African countries. It will bring about the rapid development and a more intensive utilization of services such as VSAT, Internet, Voice over Internet (VOIP) etc...in all African countries. RASCOM is an indispensable tool and a cornerstone for the establishment of the Economic Community of Africa. As a matter of fact, RASCOM will lead to the building of an African telecommunications network fully integrated into the existing networks, capable of supporting the sustainable and thorough development, not only in telecommunications, but also in other sectors of development.

1.7.3 The East African Community (EAC)

The East African Community (EAC) which is made up of Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania plans to set up a fibre optics transmission system linking their capitals and a number of major cities. The project is aimed at improving trade relations between the three countries and it is estimated at $US 60 million.

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1.8 The African Economic community

Having reviewed the main regional economic Communities, it is now necessary to have a general view of the situation in Africa as a whole in terms of the African Economic Community whose objectives have been stated earlier on.

A. Telecommunications networks and services A.1. Physicalintegration

The major projects relating to the physical integration of Africa are:

- The Pan African Telecommunications (PANAFTEL) project, adopted in 1967 by ECA, is aimed at establishing a network of 43,000km of radio wave links through 8,000 km of submarine cables and earth stations of the Intelsat system in 41 African countries; and

- The Regional African Satellite Communications (RASCOM) project adopted by the Ministers of Transport, Communications and Planning of 44*- African countries meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, from 4 to 6 February 1991.

Many similar projects have emerged to the benefit of African countries. AT&T, at the request of ITU, has invested $US 9 million to establish the "Africa One" project aimed at laying submarine fibre optic cables of 33,600 km around the African continent to serve 41 of the continent's 53 countries. Operators plan to complete the project through links between them in some of the countries further to the interior.

The explosion, over the past few years, in mobile cellular phones (which reached the level of 11,371,800 telephones, that is a tele-density of 1.48 in 2000) in at least 48 countries, opened the way to a rapid physical integration as a result of the movement possibilities it offers. However, movement has yet to be widespread owing partly to the regulatory restrictions on international services in most countries as well as to the absence of signalling, No. 7, in some international transit centres. Should free movement become widespread, that will be very helpful for physical integration.

Internet could also be an immediate means of achieving physical integration, but like the usual telecommunications modes, it is bedeviled by the fact that there are almost no exchange points on the continent, which means that exchange is via points outside the continent. Only South Africa has two Internet exchange points. In fact, most of the Internet exchange is via the United States where AIT, Global One UUNET/AlterNet, MCI, NSN, Sprint and BBN are the main service providers. The United Kingdom, France and Italy (with one exchange point) are the other routes. France's Telecom/FCR has many more connections with Africa than any other providers because of its close links with the French-speaking countries. Apart from the fibre optic link between South Africa and Djibouti via the SEAME-WEA cable, most of the other links are via satellite except for the neighbouring countries of South Africa where the lower cost of land connections and the historical links enables Internet service providers to be connected to the South African infrastructure.

On the key issue of promoting intra-African transit, some progress has been made with the construction of a large number of international telephone transit centres and

countries all of which (including national links, between two local providers except for South Africa) are still via exchange points outside the continent.

A.2 Policy harmonization

The reform process noticeably gathered momentum from around 1996, and cruised along from 1997/1998, with the result that very few African countries today have still not embarked on institutional reform. This period also saw the transformation of regulatory bodies which were formerly divisions of government departments into regulatory bodies with their own legal personality and more or less distinct and independent from the Ministry. Today, 32 out of 53 countries have regulatory bodies that are distinct from the telecommunications network operators and service providers.

Most African countries have embarked on liberalization of the sector. Laws providing for partnerships have been adopted; measures have been taken to open up non-essential services such as data processing, radio messaging and mobile telephony.

Some countries like Ghana, Madagascar and Uganda have even gone further by authorizing a second operator to compete with the existing one.

Telecommunications reform through liberalization and private sector involvement in capital sharing, began modestly around 1994. An investigative effort initiated in 1990 by ITU led to the formal adoption in 1996 of the "African Green Paper" on African telecommunications policy as the continent's reference document for telecommunications reform. In Africa, competition is gaining ground in the telecommunications sub-sector.

Whereas South Africa or Senegal have been considered success stories, Guinea is the contrary and Telecom Malaysia has announced that it would pull out. In the case of Guinea 60 per cent of the shareholding of the national operator was sold whereas in most liberalization measures, the government as a first phase sells a minority share ranging from 30 to 40 per cent.

Gradually, consultation and coordination at a certain level have taken place among regulators. Regulators' associations have been established in the subregions and regulators meet to exchange views within the framework of the Regulators' Forum organized by !TU. In September 2001 African regulators established a network association to promote the modernization of telecommunications as well as intensifying the cooperation of African countries in telecommunications regulation, harmonizing national regulatory practices, working towards regional integration, coordinating national positions for the attainment of greater effectiveness international fora and exchanging information and experiences among regulators. Concerning coordination among regulators, the second Forum on the regulation of telecommunications in Africa, held from 17 to 21 September 2001 in Morocco, set up the Network on the Regulation of Telecommunications in Africa as an important step towards cooperation and coordination which through its structure and mode of operation, also underscores the primacy of national actions over collective actions.

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CHAPTER El

CONCLUSIONS AND PERSPECTIVES

The analysis of the telecommunications sector and the prevailing situation in the Member States have demonstrated the weaknesses and shortcomings for Africa as a whole, which include among others:

■ Lack of harmonization in the structure of the services and network markets;

■ Unsatisfactory nature of the level of interconnection and technical service quality among countries;

■ Disparity in the communication tariffs among countries; and

■ Low development of new information and communication technology.

These weaknesses and shortcomings are a reflection of the prevailing low level of

integration. ^

However, without undue comparison with international standards, Africa has the basic infrastructure, for the development of communication links, through at an unbalanced pace-between the regions. It needs a community of real interest as well as the building of the need for an internal communication. The weaknesses of the inter-African telephone traffic (MAP 4) indicates the low level of integration in the economies of the countries in the continent at least at the formal level as well as the opening of these countries which have close ties with the North. This situation has not changed since 1994. Southern Africa has remarkably built a considerable inter-African traffic in the international traffic which is an indication of real regional integration with South Africa as a pole.

The challenge of physical integration is that of transit outside the continent. The basic issue in the physical integration of the networks is the development of intra-African transit. Some progress has been made in the construction of a large number of international transit telephone centres and satellite links, but a great deal remains to be done in regard to the routing of Internet traffic among African countries which: the entire traffic transits through interconnection centres located outside the continent. With the exception of South Africa, this includes national communications from two access providers in the same country.

In order to address the problem, a content industry needs to be established in Africa, as well as information on goods and services available or accessible in one country to be known to the other countries. Literally, African countries do not talk to each other, as indicated by telecommunication traffic statistics. Excluding telephone traffic to and from South Africa, Africa accounts for only 14 per cent of the world traffic which is far below the percentage of other regions of the world. Africa should build an internally focused content industry. As part of the integration process, African countries should be better informed about other African countries and being more exposed and knowing these countries better.

Although a certain number of political organizations exist in Africa, their synergy and efficiency are limited. In Europe by contrast, the European Commission plays an active role by providing general guidelines (for example the Green Books); the European Conference on the Administration of Posts and Telecommunications (ECPT) look an active part in the preparation of common positions on certain areas (for example, the management of frequencies); development finance is handled by two investment banks which are particularly active in the telecommunications sector. These are the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development where the technical harmonization is carried out by the European Telecommunications Standard Institute (ETSI).

Perhaps one reason why regional integration appears to lack efficiency is because it must be so difficult, in such a vast and divers area, to achieve unity among the different subregions. It could also be that there are too many intergovernmental organizations.

There are a number of telecommunications agencies at the subregional and regional levels which, alongside several regional economic communities, are also involved in telecommunications matters. These organizations often function independently, with very little mutual interaction and hardly any harmony. The African Economic Community failed to provide the expected inputs to integration, nor has it offered the kind of mechanisms that can help African countries to overcome their dependency on the developed countries.

The historical links with Europe have left an indelible mark on the continent.

African countries literally do not speak to each other, as can be deduced from the statistics on telecommunications traffic. With the exception of telephonic traffic to and from South Africa, only 14 per cent of the total traffic relates to the region. This is way below the percentage for other parts of the world. Without a marked increase in trade, travel and tourism, the scope for technical cooperation in telecommunications will remain limited. Telecommunications has supported business in areas, such as Southern Africa, where trade and the movement of people occur on a large scale.

It appears that most African countries prefer to be lone rangers, more or less oblivious to the concerns of other countries. In general terms, the connecting thread that could create complementarity of tasks and interests among different countries has been lacking.

Africa seems to lack a set of operational guidelines as to the management and organization of the regional integration and cooperation process, the appropriate implementation approaches and the imperatives that must underpin the pertinent strategies.

While it is true the subregional and regional organizations have a key role to play in the whole process, it is also apparent that the requisite institutional policy frameworks and imperatives for regional cooperation and integration have been somewhat sidelined in the debate on the process. As a UNDP report observes,."the effectiveness of any regional initiative depends on its perception, acceptance and implementation at the national level."

The veritable point of departure for any regional integration and cooperation framework is political will at the national level. It is, in other words, the presence of a real, enduring commitment to the agreed regional programme. Such commitments become difficult to accommodate within the framework of subregional fora when the practical implications become apparent, and in particular, the fear of losing national sovereignty and control.

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A steadfast commitment to regional integration and cooperation is mainly linked to the way in which political leaders, and the public at large, view the attendant advantages and disadvantages from the national and personal perspectives.

It is essential, in formulating regional integration and cooperation programmes, to study the requisite competences. The more diverse the countries concerned, the greater will be the management capacities needed for such initiatives. Few African countries have the capacities nor an adequately structured national apparatus to coordinate their participation in the various regional organizations.

Better coordination among member States, promptitude in the implementation of

Better coordination among member States, promptitude in the implementation of