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[email protected] VVSSAATT CCaassee SSttuuddiieess (Nigeria, Algeria and Tanzania) Research Report prepared by Steve Esselaar, Aki Stavrou and Jennifer o’Riordan on behalf of the LINK Centre for the IDRC, CATIA and GVF Date: 12 March 2004 Enquiries to: Alison Gillwald
[email protected] Executive Summary This report covers three country case studies on the status of VSAT commissioned by the IDRC through the GVF as part of CATIA component 1a on low cost satellite access in Africa. The country case studies were conducted in Nigeria, Algeria and Tanzania. The report analyses VSAT from two angles: firstly, from a policy and regulatory perspective and secondly, from an economic and usage perspective. In the first instance, the report finds that Algeria, Nigeria and Tanzania are on different points of the ICT development curve. The significant explanatory factor for the various levels of development are the different levels of sophistication of the policy and regulatory bodies of each country. Nigeria has seen dramatic growth in the levels of investment in the ICT sector since 2001, coinciding with the liberalisation and deregulation of the sector. Algeria is undergoing a dramatic sector restructuring project following a previously absent policy and regulatory framework. The success of this path is limited by the lack of skills in the regulator. Tanzania rivals Nigeria in its move towards liberalisation and deregulation. However, Tanzania’s commitment to unfettered competition along with the regulators perception of its function as a revenue generator for the national treasury, have limited local investment and consequently the development of the sector.