Telecommunications
Structure and Policy
Basic postal and
telecommunications services used to be a government department run as a state monopoly
under the Ministère des Postes et Télécommunications (MPT). The
Ministry was also responsible for regulating the telecommunications sector. Agence
de Regulation des Telecommunications (ART), established in July 1998 by the
Telecoomunication Act, became operational in November 1999. It is Cameroon's
telecommunciation regulatory body.
In September 1998, two public
enterprises, CAMTEL (fixed telephony) and CAMTEL MOBILE
(mobile telephony), were set up to take over from the telecommunication section of the
Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. In June 1999,a mobile telephony licence
was granted to a private firm. CAMTEL MOBILE was privatized in February
2000. CAMTEL's privatization was due in October 2000.
Intelcam is planning to install a
VSAT network with a hub earth station in Yaounde. It will be used for private networking
and for Internet access applications in various parts of the country. A few multinational
companies are permitted to operate private VSAT circuits using a hub earth station outside
Cameroon.
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ICT
Networking Development
Responsibility for ICT policy
rests with the Comité Interministériel composed of representatives from the following
ministries:
- Ministère de la
Communication;
- Ministère des Postes et
Télécommunications;
- Ministère de l'Enseignement
Supérieur;
- Ministère de l'Education;
- Ministère de l'Economie et
des Finances;
- Ministère des Relations
Extérieures et des Services du Premier Ministre.
Various technical committees
structured thematically (Internet, infrastructure, ICT training, content development,
etc.) and composed of IT experts were set up to advise the Comité Interministériel.
The Centre National de
Développement de l'Informatique (CENADI) is the leading institution responsible
for government data processing and computer networking. CENADI's tasks involve setting-up
computerised financial payroll system for the civil service, standardising the use of ICT
and establishing Internet connectivity in government departments.
The Université de Yaounde 1
(UniYaounde 1) and the Ecole Nationale Supérieure Polytechnique (ENSP) form the major
academic networking in Cameroon. UniYaounde 1 operates the UniNet on behalf of the
Ministère de l'Enseignement Supérieur, and with support from a project led by the
Cooperation Francaise "Projet d'Appui à l'Enseignement Supérieur et àla Recherche
dans les Universités Camerounaises (PAESRUC)". All the departments on campus were
linked by a fiber optic network. On the other side, ENSP has two active centres active in
networking: Automation Control Laboratory (ACL) and Laboratoire
d'Electronique et Traitement de Signal (LETS).
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ICT Partners and
Projects
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