Africa ICT protocol to speed network building

A new framework for regulatory and policy issues recently signed by African information and communication technology (ICT) ministers should speed implementation of the continent’s biggest broadband networks, they say.

At a meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, two weeks ago, ICT ministers signed a protocol that hammers together guidelines for new and ongoing projects. The meeting was organized by the e-Africa Commission, part of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), and brought together ministers from eastern and southern Africa.

Zambian Communications and Transport Permanent Secretary Peter Tembo told the IDG News Service that the aim of the new guidelines and infrastructure plans is to integrate Africa’s telecommunications by connecting networks across the continent.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame after the meeting said the new protocol will enable eastern and Southern African governments to work together to develop the region’s telecommunications sector and to bring down the high cost of communication. The e-Africa Commission operates under the aegis of NEPAD, whose broadband infrastructure network seeks to ensure a level playing field and equal access to infrastructure.

The e-Africa Commission has two major plans: to integrate existing infrastructure, and to construct new infrastructure. The protocol commits the signatories to the construction and operation of broadband infrastructure networks including the East Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSY) project.

The other major project is Comtel, a broadband infrastructure project spearheaded by the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) in conjunction with NEPAD. It is to connect 21 eastern and southern African countries to Europe and Asia.

The protocol also calls for African countries to harmonize their national policies and regulations to facilitate the construction and operation of the infrastructure. At the moment, eastern and southern African countries have different policies and regulatory methods and agencies.

In addition, the protocol provides for the formation of a so-called special purpose vehicle (SPV), a consortium made up of regional telecommunication companies to own, manage and maintain the EASSY project and terrestrial infrastructure network.

“The protocol facilitates provision of ICT broadband infrastructures to support high-speed, high-quality and reliable telecommunication in the eastern and southern African region,” said Tembo.

The EASSY project will be built by French telecommunication giant Alcatel SA — soon to merge with the U.S.’s Lucent Technologies Inc. — at the cost of US$280 million, and is expected to be operational by the fourth quarter of 2007.

The company to construct the Comtel project has not yet been named. However, the project is expected to be operational in the third quarter of 2007 and will cost $30 million, according to Comesa assistant secretary general Sindiso Ngwenya. The Comtel project will be owned and operated by the national telecommunication organizations from the 21 countries.