Back Home

Plenary Session Two: Global Connectivity for Africa: Options and Issues

• A report presented by infoDEV outlined key issues for decision-makers pertaining to Global Connectivity. Among other issues, the report outlined decisions that must be taken about proposals for cable and satellite systems for Africa with due recognition to the fact that promoters of cable and satellite systems want licenses and other regulatory permissions.

• The report pointed out that new international telecommunications systems infrastructure offers greatly improved access to information of all kinds, lower costs of provision of international services and, by creating global coverage, offer better access to existing national networks.

• Governments were advised not to back particular schemes but rather to carefully evaluate the available options. On the other hand, regulatory authorities should ensure that appropriate rules were put in place and that authorizations were not unduly delayed.

• The report projected that a number of countries, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa were likely to become regional hubs because the volumes of traffic expected on Global Mobile Personal Communications Services (GMPCS) were too small for it to be economic to warrant a service provider in each country. The use of regional service providers would make it possible for international calls made via satellite to bypass the public network in countries without GMPCS earth stations and this would create the necessity of regional cooperation which could lead to a drop in price of international telephone calls.

• On creation of an enabling environment, the session was told of the importance of correct policies that lead to expansion of infrastructure and efficiency with the participation of the private sector.