Africa's ICT Infrastructure: Building on the Mobile Revolution

by Mark D.J. Williams, Rebecca Mayer, Michael Minges

Overview

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have been a remarkable success in Africa. In just 10 years—dating from the end of the 1990s—mobile network coverage rose from 16 percent to 90 percent of the urban population and by 2009 nearly half of Africa’s rural population was also living within range of a mobile network. Large-scale investment in the sector across the continent has transformed telecommunications from a luxury enjoyed by a privileged few to a mass-market, low-cost service, used in villages and cities alike. Africa’s ICT Infrastructure: Building on the Mobile Revolution charts this ICT revolution, reviewing the rapid growth in networks and the emergence of the mobile phone as a part of everyday life in Africa. It also tracks the policy and regulatory changes that have driven this growth: the liberalization of markets, the establishment of effective competition and the emergence of institutions to regulate the sector. Africa’s ICT Infrastructure reviews how the investment in the sector has been financed and how the structure of the market has changed since the liberalization process started. It looks at the role of both private and public institutions as sources of financing for the sector and charts the emergence of investors from developing countries in leading the expansion of the sector across the region. In the context of these successful sector reforms, Africa’s ICT Infrastructure addresses one of the key questions facing regulators and policy makers: how far will this process go in delivering universal access to telecommunications services? By adopting an innovative new spatial modeling approach, the authors have mapped existing mobile network coverage in Sub-Saharan Africa and estimated the limits of commercially viable network expansion. But at the same time as voice networks are expanding across the region, the focus of sector policy makers is turning to the Internet which is becoming increasingly important in the global economy. The authors use a similar spatial approach to analyze the commercial viability of wireless broadband networks in Africa and review the development of the region’s fiber-optic network infrastructure which lies at the heart of broadband service delivery. Finally, Africa’s ICT Infrastructure draws these experiences together and offers a set of policy recommendations that will support the continued development of the sector, particularly in the delivery of affordable broadband Internet.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780821384541
Publisher:	World Bank Publications
Publication date:	06/23/2011
Series:	Directions in Development - Infrastructure
Pages:	308
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)

Table of Contents

About the AICD xiii

Series Foreword xv

About the Authors xvii

Acknowledgments xix

Abbreviations xxi

Chapter 1 Introduction 1

Access to Communications 2

Institutions and Market Reform 9

Financing 15

Future Investment Needs 17

Policy Analysis and Conclusions 20

Notes 24

References 24

Chapter 2 Access to Telecommunications in Africa 25

Access: Burgeoning, at Least for Mobile Telephony 26

Prices: Falling, Where Competition Is the Rule 33

Quality: Reliability Is a Problem 45

Infrastructure: Bottlenecks Impede Growth 50

Conclusion 66

Notes 66

References 68

Chapter 3 Market Reform and Regulation 71

Market Liberalization and the Development of Competition 73

Private Sector Participation 95

Regulation 98

Reform and Performance 108

Notes 115

References 118

Chapter 4 Financing Telecommunications in Africa 123

Private Financing of ICT Investment 124

Public Financing of ICT Investment 137

Notes 144

References 145

Chapter 5 Future Investment Needs 147

The Cost of Providing Basic Voice Network Coverage 149

Wireless Broadband Infrastructure 170

Notes 178

References 178

Chapter 6 Policy Analysis and Conclusions 181

Policy Analysis 181

Recommendations 186

Conclusion 199

References 200

Appendix 1 Access to Telecommunications in Africa 201

Appendix 2 Market Reform and Regulation 203

Appendix 3 Financing Telecommunications in Africa 237

Appendix 4 Future Investment Needs 245

Appendix 5 Rates of Penetration of ICT Services in Sub-Saharan Africa 255

Index 267

Boxes

2.1 The Challenge of Estimating the Number of Broadband Users in Africa: The Case of Nigeria 34

3.1 Fixed-Line Services in Nigeria 76

5.1 Wireless Broadband Infrastructure Basics 171

Figures

1.1 Competition in Mobile Markets in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1993-2009 10

2.1 Telecommunications Subscribers, Sub-Saharan Africa, 1998-2008 27

2.2 Growth in New Mobile Subscribers, Sub-Saharan Africa, 1999-2008 28

2.3 ICT Penetration Rates per 100 Inhabitants, 2008 29

2.4 Average Penetration Rates, Top 10 Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa versus Bottom 10, 2008 30

2.5 Access to Telephones by Rural/Urban and Income Quintile, 2007 31

2.6 Public Pay Phones in Kenya, 2001/02-2007/08 32

2.7 Wireless Broadband Subscriber Growth (2000-10), Top 10 Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa 33

2.8 Cost of Fixed-Line Monthly Basket, 2009 36

2.9 Cost of Mobile Prepaid Monthly Basket, 2009 37

2.10 Trends in Mobile Prices in Africa 39

2.11 Median Mobile Monthly Average Revenue per User, 2000-10 40

2.12 Value Added and Excise Taxes on Mobile Communications Services, 2007 41

2.13 Average (Mean) Price of a One-Minute Peak-Rate Call to the United States from Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, 2000-08 42

2.14 Price of One-Minute Peak-Rate Call to the United States from Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, 2010 43

2.15 Price of One-Minute Peak-Rate International Call within Africa, 2010 44