Towards Evidence-based Policy in Africa: ICT Access and Usage in 17 African countries.

Alison GillwaldResearch ICT Africa@The Edge InstitutePresentation at EuroCPR, Seville March 31st 2009

Research ICT Africa

Network of researchers conducting ICT policy and regulatory research in 20 African countries across the continent in the absence of data and analysis required for evidence based policy

Research ICT Africa

Towards Evidence based policy

Policy research based on series of supply and demand side research undertaken by 20 country African research network which is triangulated with a telecommunications regulatory environment survey

Integrate into an index of indicators that will provide decision-makers with an understanding of policy performance and identify points of intervention

Linkages between reform elements

Termination charges

2008 Mobile to Mobile (US$)

Mobile to Fixed (US$)

Fixed to Mobile US$

Botswana

Kenya

South Africa

Tanzania

Uganda

11c

5.27c 2c 5.27c

12c 3.5c 12c

7.83c 7.83c 7.83c

9c 9c 9c

State ownership

Telecommunications regulatory environment

Comparative FDI: SA vs Nigeria

Fixed lines: residential vs supply side

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Urban share of residential fixed lines

Fixed line willingness to pay

Line rental alone $8 p/m

Households in SA with a working fixed line

•!Households with working

fixed line – 18.2%

•!Urban share of total working fixed lines –

95.7%

•!Average monthly fixed line expenditure – US$ 31.31

•!Average monthly price a household without fixed-line is willing to pay for the

service – US$ 3.05

Supply side - mobile pricing

Mobile phone users in SA disaggregated

78.6%

17.9%

10.8%

62.1%

share of prepaid users

16+ without mobile phone and active sim and willing to pay R58.40 (US$ 5)*

or more

16+ with duplicated sim cards

16+ with mobile phone or active sim

Average monthly WTP for mobile expenditure of non-users that would be interested in getting a mobile phone - R 46.70 (US$ 4.40)*

* At Dec 2007 prices and exchange rates

Expenditure on mobile

Mobile phone users

78.6%

17.9%

10.8%

62.1%

share of prepaid users

16+ without mobile phone and active sim and willing to pay R58.40 (US$ 5)*

or more

16+ with duplicated sim cards

16+ with mobile phone or active sim

Average monthly WTP for mobile expenditure of non-users that would be interested in getting a mobile phone - R 46.70 (US$ 4.40)*

* At Dec 2007 prices and exchange rates

Have you used a public phone in last three months?

Average monthly public phone expenditure – R 34.82 (US$ 3.24)* * Exchange rates at Dec 2007

Mobile willingness to pay

Internet usage

3.8%

6.5%

6.7%

8.6%

8.7%

9.0%

17.3%

21.5%

22.0%

26.6%

26.7%

32.2%

38.3%

38.9%

43.4%

45.0%

50.8%

1.0%

2.4%

2.0%

0.7%

2.2%

4.3%

6.7%

8.7%

5.8%

5.6%

8.8%

15.0%

12.7%

13.0%

3.3%

10.1%

15.0%

Mozambique

Uganda

Rwanda

Ethiopia

Tanzania

Burkina Faso

Cote d Ivoire

Benin

Botswana

Ghana

Namibia

Kenya

Nigeria

Cameroon

Zamibia

Senegal

South Africa

Do you know what the Internet is? Do you ever use the Internet?

Computer and working internet

Internet access, usage and familiarity

Accessing the Internet

24.3%

27.9%

31.5%

45.9%

51.5%

60.0%

65.5%

68.9%

70.0%

77.1%

84.9%

85.1%

86.5%

89.0%

92.0%

95.0%

21.7%

21.2% 29.2%

28.1%

29.2%

19.6%

26.5%

35.3%

33.3%

37.9%

32.4%

52.9%

23.7%

20.2%

41.7%

15.7%

19.3%

12.7%

21.7%

Namibia

Mozambique

Botswana

South Africa

Uganda

Ethiopia

Kenya

Tanzania

Senegal

Ghana

Cote d Ivoire

Benin

Rwanda

Nigeria

Burkina Faso

Cameroon

CYBER /Internet, Café

at home

at another persons HOME

at an educational institution

(school, university, etc.)

at work

using a mobile phone

library

Internet access - South Africa50% know what the internet is, but only 5% use it

Where do they use it?

Market structure/conduct

Despite horizontal/service neutral licensing regime, operators reamain vertically integrated with same patterns of dominance

Anti competitive incentive in market remain requiring constant adjustment by regulator

Regulators largely ineffectual due to constraints on authority and absence of competencies.

Regulation

Resource intensive access regulation

Human capability and institutional capacity constraint

Independence and accountability

Information asymmetries

Policy outcomes Inefficient and expensive/high cost of services - sub-optimal use

Lack of access to full range of service - > digital divide

High input cost to business/ reduce growth/employment opportunities

Not globally competitive - BPO/2010

Conclusions & RecommendationsFixed lines access and usage charges in major obstacle to usage

Remedy: Reduce access charges even if increase access charges

Mobile phone access and usage constrained by high costs

Remedy: Remove any additional levies and taxes on services and handsets below a certain level

Pay-phones still widely used as part of multiple access and usage strategy of individuals

Introduce competition or regulate pay phone extension and prices for mobile and fixed networks to ensure access and extend to Internet provision

Arising policy issuesInstitutional arrangements and capacity?

Economic growth and development? Critical mass.

Mobile the future? Cost? Devices?

International bandwidth costs? Funding of broadband - state backbones, protectionism/conflicts of interest? Broadband as public utility?

Old assumptions about continent challenged -

Nigeria and Ghana overtaking South Africa in mobile users, Egypt & Morocco on ADSL

e-skills indicator for e-readiness tertiary/secondary education on the continent not primary education

mobile banking, lowest regulated termination charges, end or roaming charges.

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