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 4.6 MALAWI 4.6.1 TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES Services Framework: The 1998 Communications Act of Malawi appears to foresee a horizontal licensing framework, distinguishing only between “telecommunications networks and services”589. The legislation also provides for the issuance of both “general” (ie class) and “individual” licences, and requires that the “provision of voice telephony” and the “operation of a cable television network”590 may only be done via the acquisition of the latter. However, the licensing framework applied by the regulator remains an explicitly vertical one, providing for “Fixed, Cellular, Internet Service Providers (ISP), Satellite and Data” and “paging”591. The licensing of frequency spectrum is treated separately in the legislation592, and is regulated under 13 service‐specific categories by the regulator593. Currently still in draft, the 2010 [sic] Information and Communications Act of Malawi appears to retain the horizontal categorisation of “electronic communications networks” versus “electronic communication services” in its licensing framework594. It remains to be seen whether the legislative change when the new law is finally enacted, will alter the regulator’s current vertical categorisation. The licensing regime in Malawi is thus a vertical one along the lines of the technology and service specific framework as set out in W/120, albeit with a differing categorisation. 589 Malawi (1998) ‘The Malawi Communications Act’, Republic of Malawi, Lilongwe, Part III, available online at http://www.macra.org.mw/downloads/Communications%20Act%201998.pdf. 590 Malawi (1998) ‘The Malawi Communications Act’, Republic of Malawi, Lilongwe, Section 18, available online at http://www.macra.org.mw/downloads/Communications%20Act%201998.pdf. 591 MACRA (nd) ‘Information’, Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority, Lilongwe, online at http://www.macra.org.mw/index.php?page=pages&pid=32. There are, presumably, official regulations in which this framework is set out, but these are not readily available to the public. 592 Malawi (1998) ‘The Malawi Communications Act’, Republic of Malawi, Lilongwe, Part IV, available online at http://www.macra.org.mw/downloads/Communications%20Act%201998.pdf 593 MACRA (nd) ‘Information’, Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority, Lilongwe, online at http://www.macra.org.mw/index.php?page=pages&pid=32. 594 Malawi (2010) ‘Malawi Communications Amendment Act 2010’, Republic of Malawi, Lilongwe, Part III, last seen at http://www.macra.org.mw/downloads/Communications_Act.pdf. The new legislation remains in draft format. Prepared by: LINK Centre, University of the Witwatersrand 173 Assessment of SADC Communications Policies, Laws & Regulations FOCUS AREA 1: MARKET STRUCTURE Market Structure: BuddeComm lists the market as comprising two fixed‐line operators, Malawi Telecommunications (MTL) and Access Communications (ACL), and two mobile licensees, Airtel (formerly Zain) and Telecom Networks Malawi (TNM). Two other mobile licences were awarded to G‐Mobile (which has yet to roll out, despite being licensed in 2008), and, in 2011, to Celcom. BuddeComm further notes that 15 ISPs have been licensed, including MalawiNet, MTL Online, Skyband, Globe Internet, Broadmax and Burco595. The most recent comparative figures for telecomms market share date from December 2009. Malawi: Fixed & Mobile Subscribers 2009 (Dec) Subscribers Market Share596 Malawi Telecommunications (MTL) (fixed) 125 000597 5% Access Communications (ACL)598 (fixed) Airtel (mobile) 1 735 65% 000599 Telecom Networks Malawi (TNM) (mobile) 828 000600 31% 595 BuddeComm (2012) ‘Malawi - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts: Executive summary’, BuddeComm, Bucketty NSW, available online at http://www.budde.com.au/Research/Malawi-Telecoms-Mobile-Broadband-and-Forecasts.html. The full report is available on a for sale basis. 596 The Market share figures are very approximate because the combined subscriber figures given by the two mobile operators in their respective annual reports are about 100 000 in excess of the total number of mobile subscribers given by the ITU. 597 Figures from an undated report, circa 2010 - TNM (nd) ‘Telecommunications in Malawi’, Telekom Networks Malawi Limited, Blantyre, available online at http://www.tnminvestor.com/TelecomsInMalawi.aspx. 598 No accurate data from circa 2009 is available. The company appears to have just under 30 000 active subscribers in mid-2012. See: Gondwe, G (2012) ‘Data services offer ACL opportunity to grow’, BizCommunity, Cape Town, available online at http://m.bizcommunity.com/Article/129/16/79581.html. 599 Zain (nd) ‘Financial Highlights’, Zain, Bahrain, available online at http://www.zain.com/investor-relations/facts-figures/. 600 TNM (2010) ‘TNM Annual Report for the year ended 31 December 2009', Telecom Networks Malawi, Blantyre, available online at http://b2icontent.irpass.cc/1701%2F110917.pdf. Prepared by: LINK Centre, University of the Witwatersrand 174 Assessment of SADC Communications Policies, Laws & Regulations Total 2 660 600601 According to the ITU, the market in Malawi as at 2011 was broken down as follows: 173 500 fixed‐line subscribers602; 3 855 800 mobile subscribers603. This translates to a per capita market penetration rate in the telecommunications sector for Malawi as at 2011 of 1,1% for fixed‐line, 25,1% for mobile and 3,3% for the Internet (from 1,0%, 20,9% and 2,3% respectively in 2010604. Malawi Telecommunications Limited (MTL) is essentially 100% state‐owned, with the “Government of Malawi [having] 99% share ownership and the office of the Chief Executive Officer [holding] 1% in trust”605. Access Communications (ACL) has the following ownership structure606: 27,0% ‐ Fags Investments (Malawi)607; 26,0% ‐ Dynamic Communications (South Africa); 24,0% ‐ VoiceCom Investments; 23,0% ‐ Gestetner Malawi; 601 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 & 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. 602 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. 603 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 604 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. 605 MIPA (nd) ‘Communication Networks: Malawi Telecommunications Limited (MTL)”, Malawi Investment Promotion Agency, Lilongwe, available online at http://www.malawi- invest.net/business_opp_costs_cell.html. 606 Gondwe, G (2012) ‘Data services offer ACL opportunity to grow’, BizCommunity, Cape Town, available online at http://m.bizcommunity.com/Article/129/16/79581.html. 607 Unaccountably, the ACL website omits Fags Investment. It also gives no shareholding breakdown. See: ACL (nd) ‘About us’, Access Communications, Blantyre, available online at http://www.access.mw/about-us/. , Prepared by: LINK Centre, University of the Witwatersrand 175 Assessment of SADC Communications Policies, Laws & Regulations Airtel is 100% owned by Bharti Airtel of India. Telekom Networks Malawi (TNM) prides itself on being 100% Malawian‐owned, with the following shareholder structure608: 44, 4% ‐ Malawi Telecommunications Limited (MTL); 21,7% ‐ Public and other; 12,9% ‐ Livingstone Holdings Telecom; 10,5% ‐ Press Corporation Limited; 10,5% ‐ Old Mutual. No detailed information is currently available on the licensed ISPs, nor on their market share. International communications access is provided by Gateway Communications