The Department of
Posts and Telecommunications was dissolved in 1992 resulting in the creation of Telecom
Namibia. Telecom Namibia was granted a full monopoly over all basic
telecommunications services, and it is owned by Posts and Telecom Holdings, which is a
state-owned enterprise. To promote decentralization and increase efficiency, Telecom
Namibia was structured along four regional lines with Northern, Central, Windhoek and
Southern divisions.
The Telecom Namibia is
able to provide 64 kbit lines from Windhoek to 4 large towns in the northern region, and
dedicates leased lines to three other towns. X.25 services are available in the major
towns in the Northern region. There is also a digital backbone from Windhoek to the North,
and plans are underway to install digital backbones between major towns in the Northern
region.
Some telephone
exchanges in Namibian towns are still manually switched via an operator, making data
connections virtually impossible. Recently the PTO replaced its microwave link to South
Africa with a fibre-optic cable, which greatly improves the reliability and availability
of the primary international telecommunications route.
The Namibia Communications
Commission was established as a quasi-independent regulatory body in 1992. The
Commission reports to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, and is responsible for
licensing, frequency management and other regulatory functions. The Commission's first
major licensing action was the approval of cellular service by Mobile Telecommunications
Ltd. (MTL).
Mobile
Telecommunications Ltd. (MTL) is a joint
venture between Posts and Telecom Holdings (51%), Telia of Sweden (26%) and Swedfund
International (23%). Telia has taken responsibility for the management operations.
According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the number of cell phone
subscribers in Namibia leapt from 6,644 in 1996 to 30,000 in 1999.
The Namibian Telecommunications
Policy and Regulatory Framework was approved by Cabinet in 1999. This is expected to pave
the way for further liberalization of the sector, and open up the market to private
companies and investors, including possible competitors to Telecom Namibia. A
telecommunications bill was drafted by a consultancy. However, with the termination of the
consultancy in 1999, the restructuring process was left unattended.
The Ministry
of Information and Broadcasting conducted a national workshop entitled
"National Information and Communications Infrastructure for Namibia" in
Windhoek from the 11th to the 13th of May 1998. The objective of the workshop
was to generate the information required by the Namibian Government in order to create a
course of action which would develop the country's national information and communication
infrastructure and to promote its utilization for socio-economic development. Various
topics such as the current information and communication infrastructure in Namibia, global
trends in NICI development, human resource capacity building, and the implications for a
NICI strategy and policy were discussed and debated for three days. The outcome of the
workshop will enable the government to develop and improve its information and
communication sector in line with the set of actions adopted by the African Information Society
Initiative (AISI).
The Ministry of
Information and Broadcasting is also responsible for establishing the government's
official web site.
The Data
Systems and Services (DSS) Unit and the Namibian Internet Development
Foundation (NAMIDEF) have been active in supporting government and
research/academic networking in the country. DSS was established for the Office
of the Prime Minister with the main responsibility of coordinating systems
development and national networking in the public service sector. NAMIDEF,
a non-profit association created in 1994, was the first initiator of Internet in Namibia.
It turned over its Internet activities in 1996 to UUNET Internet Africa Namibia (UIAN) (Pty) Ltd., but
still managing the router on behalf of DSS.
The University of Namibia (UNAM) was the
first institution in Namibia connected to the Internet. It was the host for the NAMIDEF
hub until the introduction of commercial ISPs. The University has an active Department
of Information and Communication Studies.
Commercial Internet
operations started in early 1996 in Namibia, and there are currently more than six Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
in the country.
The Ministry
of Environment and Tourism has an on-line reservation system which is accessible
via the X.25 network.
