The SADC Communications Environment
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Strengthening of economic and trade related capacities and competences in SADC The SADC Communications Environment An Assessment of Communications Policies, Laws and Regulations in SADC Member States Presented to GIZ – Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH Germany / Botswana October, 2013 Assessment of SADC Communications Policies, Laws & Regulations Your contact person within GFA Consulting Group GmbH is Christopher Smith Strengthening of economic and trade related capacities and competences in SADC The SADC Communications Environment: An Assessment of Communications Policies, Laws and Regulations in SADC Member States Short‐ term Report Prepared by: Charley Lewis & Luci Abrahams, LINK Centre, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg http://link.wits.ac.za Address GFA Consulting Group GmbH Eulenkrugstraße 82 22359 Hamburg Germany Phone +49 (40) 6 03 06 – 352 FaxPrepared by:+49 LINK (40) Centre, 6 03University 06 – of119 the Witwatersrand 2 E‐mail christopher.smith@gfa‐group.de Assessment of SADC Communications Policies, Laws & Regulations 4.7 MAURITIUS 4.7.1 TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES Services Framework: The 2001 Information and Communication Technologies Act distinguishes between two major classes of licence, those for an “information and communication network" and those for an “information and communication service", but goes on to specify an elaborate classification comprising upwards of 50 distinct categories677. This has subsequently been revised, but by no means simplified, to include 19 categories of “commercial” licence, 1 category of “private network” licence, 46 categories of “engineering” licence, 4 categories of “network spectrum” licence and 39 categories of “fixed radio spectrum” licence678. Some of the licensees in these categories are listed on the website of the regulator679. The licensing regime in Mauritius is thus only a partially converged (or horizontal or unified or multi‐service) framework, distinguishing primarily between infrastructure and services, but retaining a complex classification largely based on vertical technology‐specific categories. In neither respect does it match the much simpler vertical framework as set out in W/120. FOCUS AREA 1: MARKET STRUCTURE Market Structure: BuddeComm lists Mauritius Telecom and Mahanagar (using CDMA2000) as fixed‐ line operators, and, as GSM mobile providers, lists Orange (formerly Cellplus), Emtel and Mahanagar. Internet Service Providers include: Bharat Telecom, Network Plus, DCL Internet and Outremer Telecom680. 677 Mauritius (2001) ‘Information and Communication Technologies Act 2001’, Act No 44 of 2001, Republic of Mauritius, Port Louis, available online at http://www.gov.mu/portal/goc/telecomit/file/GN-96-2003.pdf, Sections 2 & 24 & First Schedule. 678 Mauritius (2003) ‘The Information and Communication Technologies Act 2001, Regulations made by the Minister, after consultation with the Board of the Authority, under section 48 of the Information and Communication Technologies Act 2001, Government Notice No 96 of 2003, Republic of Mauritius, Port Louis, available online at http://www.gov.mu/portal/goc/ncb/file/ictact.pdf. 679 ICTA (nd) ‘Licence Holders’, Information and Communication Technologies Authority, Pert Louis, available online at http://www.icta.mu/telecommunications/licences.htm. 680 BuddeComm (2012) ‘Mauritius - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts: Executive summary’, BuddeComm, Bucketty NSW, available online at http://www.budde.com.au/Research/Mauritius-Telecoms-Mobile-Broadband-and-Forecasts.html. The full report is available on a for sale basis. Prepared by: LINK Centre, University of the Witwatersrand 190 Assessment of SADC Communications Policies, Laws & Regulations The most recent comparative figures for telecomms market share date from December 2012. Mauritius: Fixed & Mobile Subscribers 2012 (Dec) Subscribers Market Share Mauritius Telecom (fixed) 345 000681 20% Mahanagar Telephone Mauritius Limited (MTML) 106 000682 6% (fixed) Orange (mobile) 752 000683 43% Emtel (mobile) 529 000684 30% Mahanagar Telephone Mauritius Limited (MTML) 18 000686 1% (mobile)685 Total 1 750 000687 681 Mauritius Telecom (2013) ‘Annual Report 2012’, Mauritius Telecom, Port Louis, available online at http://www.mauritiustelecom.com/pdf/MT%20annual%20report%202012.pdf, p16. 682 MTML (2012) ‘Director's Report’, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd, New Delhi, available online at http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/mahanagar-telephone-nigam- ltd/directorsreport/companyid-12462.cms. The available figures are as at March 2012. 683 Mauritius Telecom (2013) ‘Annual Report 2012’, Mauritius Telecom, Port Louis, available online at http://www.mauritiustelecom.com/pdf/MT%20annual%20report%202012.pdf, p16. 684 Millicom (2013) ‘Q4 2012 Results Presentation’, Millicom International Cellular SA, Luxembourg, available online at http://www.millicom.com/sites/default/files/Q4%202012%20results%20presentation.pdf, p49. 685 The company was only launched in November 2011, and had 25 000 subscribers by mid 2012. See: Travel Mauritius Guide (2012) ‘Mahanagar Telephone Mauritius Ltd target 30,000 suscribers [sic]’, Travel Mauritius Guide, Port Louis, 27 August 2012, available online at http://www.m-a-u-r-i-t-i-u-s.com/news/mahanagar-telephone-mauritius-target-30000- suscribers.html. 686 MTML (2012) ‘Director's Report’, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd, New Delhi, available online at http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/mahanagar-telephone-nigam- ltd/directorsreport/companyid-12462.cms. The available figures are as at March 2012. 687 Percentages for market share are approximated because this total is somewhat less than but not dramatically different from than the 1 835 000 reported by the ITU. See ITU (nd) ‘Mobile- cellular telephone subscriptions’, International Telecommunication Union, Geneva, available online at http://www.itu.int/ITU- D/icteye/Reporting/ShowReportFrame.aspx?ReportName=/WTI/CellularSubscribersPublic&Repo rtFormat=HTML4.0&RP_intYear=2012&RP_intLanguageID=1&RP_bitLiveData=False & ITU Prepared by: LINK Centre, University of the Witwatersrand 191 Assessment of SADC Communications Policies, Laws & Regulations According to the ITU, the market in Mauritius as at 2011 was broken down as follows: 374 600 fixed‐line subscribers688; 1 294 100 mobile subscribers689. This translates to a per capita market penetration rates in the telecommunications sector for Mauritius as at 2011 of 28,7% for fixed‐line, 99,0% for mobile and 35,0% for the Internet (from 29,8%, 91,7% and 28,3% respectively in 2010690. The major shareholding of both Mauritius Telecom and its mobile subsidiary, Orange, is broken down as follows691: 40% ‐ France Telecom (Rimcom Ltd); 33,5% ‐ Government of Mauritius; 19% ‐ State Bank of Mauritius; 6,6% National Pensions Fund (Mauritius). Emtel has the following shareholding structure692: 50% ‐ Currimjee Jeewanjee Group (Mauritius); 50% ‐ Millicom International Cellular (MIC) (Luxembourg). Mahanagar Telephone Mauritius Limited (MTML) is 100% owned by Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) of India693. The website of the regulator lists 18 Internet Service Provider (ISP) licensees (viz: Africa Digital Bridges Networks Ltd, Anglo African Telecommunications, Bharat Telecom, Cellplus Mobile Communications, City Call, Data Communications, (nd) ‘Fixed-telephone subscriptions’, International Telecommunication Union, Geneva, available online at http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/icteye/Reporting/ShowReportFrame.aspx?ReportName=/WTI/ MainTelephoneLinesPublic&ReportFormat=HTML4.0&RP_intYear=2012&RP_intLanguageID= 1&RP_bitLiveData=False. 688 ITU (nd) ‘Fixed-telephone subscriptions’, International Telecommunication Union, Geneva, available online at http://www.itu.int/ITU- D/icteye/Reporting/ShowReportFrame.aspx?ReportName=/WTI/ MainTelephoneLinesPublic&ReportFormat=HTML4.0&RP_intYear=2011&RP_intLanguageID= 1&RP_bitLiveData=False. 689 ITU (nd) ‘Mobile-cellular telephone subscriptions’, International Telecommunication Union, Geneva, available online at http://www.itu.int/ITU- D/icteye/Reporting/ShowReportFrame.aspx?ReportName=/WTI/CellularSubscribersPublic&Repo rtFormat=HTML4.0&RP_intYear=2011&RP_intLanguageID=1&RP_bitLiveData=False 690 ITU (2012) ‘Measuring the Information Society 2012’, International Telecommunication Union, Geneva, available online at http://www.itu.int/ITU- D/ict/publications/idi/material/2012/MIS2012_without_Annex_4.pdf. 691 Mauritius Telecom (2012) ‘Annual Report 2011’, Mauritius Telecom, Port Louis, available online at http://www.mauritiustelecom.com/pdf/MT%20annual%20report%202011.pdf, pp11 & 27. 692 Wikinvest (2009) ‘MICC 20-F’ (excerpt), 31 March 2009, Wikinvest, available online at http://www.wikinvest.com/stock/Millicom_International_Cellular_S.A._%28MICC%29/Mauritius 693 MTML (2012) ‘Director's Report’, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd, New Delhi, available online at http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/mahanagar-telephone-nigam- ltd/directorsreport/companyid-12462.cms Prepared by: LINK Centre, University of the Witwatersrand 192 Assessment of SADC Communications Policies, Laws & Regulations Enterprise Data Services, Enterprise Information Solutions, Emtel, I‐Telecom, Hot Link, Kaldera, Mahanagar Telephone (Mauritius), Mauripost Net, Mauritius Computing Services, MFDC, Telecom Plus, W Media International), along with 11 VANS licensees (Bharat Telecom, CIM Finance, Clineker Consulting, Egallys, LMP Technology, Mauritel Services, Mauritius Telecom, PlaySMS, Telecom Plus, The Mauritius Civil Service Mutual Aid Association, W Media