Gartner says investment from Europe can assist in overcoming the inhibitors of telecommunications infrastructure in Africa.
One of the most important aspects of deregulation in Africa is the need for a strong, independent regulatory body, where the said regulator is objective and the rules do not change at a whim. After all, the key objective of privatisation is the need to introduce more, better and less expensive services to customers.
"One of the biggest inhibitors in terms of telecommunication's infrastructure in Africa is the continent's tendency to use copper obsolete networks, which are further congested due to bandwidth constraints. What is needed to overcome this obstacle is sustained investment in Africa, which will boost Africa's ailing infrastructure, with this investment predominantly coming from Europe," says Margot Hooley, Senior Analyst at Gartner.
European telecommunications operators are currently experiencing a revenue slow-down in fixed and mobile services and as a result are looking for high-growth opportunities in emerging markets, including Africa, to pull them out of this slump. Gartner's predictions for investment in Africa are positive, hinting that there will be an influx in investment from Europe in the years to come.
According to the research conducted by Gartner, the countries in Africa can be divided into three categories according to the reform process. The first of these categories is the 'laggards', the second is the 'could-do-betters' and the third is 'leading-the-pack.'
The 'laggards' are countries whose governments do not intend to introduce private sector capital into the capital structure of the incumbent, or, in some instances the government intends to privatise the incumbent, but has not done anything to activate privatisation. 'Could-do-betters', which include South Africa, are those African countries where the ownership of the incumbent has shifted from the public to the private sector, however the sector is still a monopoly and the government has introduced a lengthy exclusivity period. The last category, 'leading-the-pack' includes countries like Ghana, Uganda and Tanzania.
'Leading-the-pack' countries - unlike other African countries - have opened up the sector to competition with no exclusivity period. Ghana, for example, implemented 77 000 telephone lines between 1957 and 1996/1997. Two years after privatisation an additional 70 000 telephone lines were installed. This is a working example of a healthy privatisation process.
South Africa is beginning to see the fruits of its labour as it is beginning to open up the telecommunications sector to competition and this will hasten the decrease in prices, increase the deployment of infrastructure and hasten the introduction of new services, ultimately putting the country on a more equal footing with international competitors.
Gartner is launching Symposium/ITxpo Africa at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, from 29 July to 1 August 2001. At the symposium a number of topics, pertinent to businesses and technology, will be presented by more than 16 Gartner international analysts.
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