Regional Infrastructure Development Master Plan · SADC ICT SECTOR INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT...

Regional Infrastructure Development Master Plan Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Sector PlanAugust 2012

SADC ICT SECTOR INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT MASTER PLAN: July 2012

TableofContents

Abbreviations.....................................................................................................................1

Definitions..........................................................................................................................4

ListofTables.......................................................................................................................7

ListofFigures.....................................................................................................................8

ExecutiveSummary..........................................................................................................10

1. Introduction..............................................................................................................14

1.1 SectorPurposeandObjectives.......................................................................................14

1.2 PolicyandLegislativeFrameworksGuidingtheICTSector..............................................151.2.1 TheRegionalIndicativeStrategicDevelopmentPlan(RISDP).......................................151.2.2 ProtocolsandOtherDocumentsandStatutes..............................................................16

2. SituationAnalysis...................................................................................................18

2.1 CurrentSectorStatus.....................................................................................................182.1.1 VoiceTelephony............................................................................................................182.1.2 InternetandBroadbandAccess....................................................................................212.1.3 OpticFibreInfrastructure.............................................................................................252.1.4 TerrestrialCommunicationInfrastructure.....................................................................272.1.5 PrivateTelecommunicationInfrastructureProviders...................................................302.1.6 NationalandRegionalInternetTrafficExchange..........................................................332.1.7 PostalInfrastructure......................................................................................................372.1.8 Communications,eServicesandApplications.............................................................412.1.9 ICTCosts/Tariffs.............................................................................................................422.1.10 Research,Innovation,Training,Content&IndustryDevelopment...............................45

2.2 EnablingEnvironmentandInstitutionalArrangements...................................................462.2.1 International/ContinentalLevel....................................................................................462.2.2 RegionalCooperation(policies,strategiesandplans)..................................................472.2.3 DynamicsattheMemberStateLevel...........................................................................51

2.3 ProjectionsandTrendsfor2027InfrastructureRequirements......................................522.3.1 BackboneInfrastructure................................................................................................522.3.2 PostalSector..................................................................................................................552.3.3 AdditionalICTInfrastructureRequirements.................................................................56

2.4 AssessmentofGapbetweenCurrentSituationand2027Requirements.........................572.4.1 Infrastructure................................................................................................................572.4.2 ConfidenceandSecurityinNetworksandServices......................................................602.4.3 EServices&ApplicationsandCapacityBuilding&Content.........................................612.4.4 Research,InnovationandIndustryDevelopment.........................................................612.4.5 EnablingPolicyandRegulatoryEnvironment...............................................................622.4.6 PostalSpecificGaps......................................................................................................632.4.7 CrosscuttingGaps........................................................................................................64


3. StrategicFramework..............................................................................................66

3.1 StrategyforAddressingGapsandExpectedResultsby2027...........................................663.1.1 SignificanceofSectorandPriorityGoals......................................................................663.1.2 PolicyandRegulatoryFramework.................................................................................663.1.3 InstitutionalArrangements...........................................................................................673.1.4 ProjectsandInterventions............................................................................................69

3.2 InterrelationshipsandIntegrationwithotherInfrastructureSectors.............................73

3.3 AssumptionsandRisks...................................................................................................753.3.1 Assumptions..................................................................................................................753.3.2 RisksandPotentialMitigationActions..........................................................................75

3.4 PreparingforFutureSectorTrends(beyond2027)..........................................................77

4. ImplementationStrategy.......................................................................................78

4.1 ImplementationPlan.....................................................................................................784.1.1 PriorityListofProjectsandResourceRequirements....................................................784.1.2 ImplementationModalities...........................................................................................83

4.2 CriticalFactorsforSuccessfulImplementation................................................................88


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Abbreviations

AFD L'AgenceFranaisedeDveloppementAfDB AfricanDevelopmentBankAIP AdministrativeIncentivePricingAISI AfricanInformationSocietyInitiativeAMSIX AmsterdamInternetExchangeARPU AverageRevenuePerUserASN AutonomousSystemNumberATU AfricanTelecommunicationUnionAU AfricanUnionBGP BorderGatewayProtocolBPS BitsperSecondBRICS Brazil,Russia,India,ChinaandCDN ContentDistributionNetworkCEC CopperbeltEnergyCorporationCERT ComputerEmergencyResponseTeamCIDA CanadianInternationalDevelopmentAgencyCoE CentreofExcellenceCOMESA CommonMarketforEastandSouthernAfricaCRASA CommunicationandPostalRegulatoryAssociationofSouthernAfricaDBSA DevelopmentBankofSouthernAfricaDFID DepartmentforInternationalDevelopmentDID DirectInwardDiallingDNS TheDomainNameSystemDRC DemocraticRepublicofCongoDTT DigitalTerrestrialTelevisionDVB DigitalVideoBroadcastingDWDM DenseWaveDivisionMultiplexingEAC EastAfricanCommunityEAIF EmergingAfricaInfrastructureFundEASSy EasternAfricaSubmarineCableSystemECCAS TheEconomicCommunityofCentralAfricanStatesECOWAS TheEconomicCommunityofWestAfricanStatesEIA EnvironmentalImpactassessmentEIB EuropeanInvestmentBankEU EuropeanUnionFAP FrequencyAllocationPlan(forradiospectrum)Gbps GigabitspersecondGDP GrossDomesticProductGigabit OnebillionbitsGIZ DeutscheGesellschaftfrInternationaleZusammenarbeitGMS GlobalMonitoringSystemGNI GrossNationalIncomeGPS GlobalPositioningSystemGSR GlobalSymposiumofRegulatorsgTLD GenericTopLevelDomainHIPSSA HarmonisationofICTPoliciesinSubSaharanAfricaHOS HeadsofStatesIASP InternationalAssociationofScienceParksICA InfrastructureConsortiumforAfricaICT InformationandCommunicationTechnologyIDRC InternationalDevelopmentResearchCentre


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IFC InternationalFinanceCorporationIGAD IntergovernmentalAuthorityonDevelopmentIICD InternationalInstituteforCommunicationandDevelopmentIP InternetProtocolIPP IndependentPowerProducerIPS InternationalPostalSystemIRU IndefeasibleRightofUseIS InternetSolutions

IsDB IslamicDevelopmentBankISOC InternetSocietyISP InternetServiceProviderIT InformationTechnologyITU InternationalTelecommunicationUnionIXP InternetExchangePointLINX LondonInternetExchangeLION LowerIndianOceanNetworkLTE LongTermEvolutionMbps MegabitspersecondMDG MillenniumDevelopmentGoalMegabit OnemillionbitsMEO MediumEarthOrbitMoU MemorandumofUnderstandingNEPAD NewPartnershipforAfrica'sDevelopmentNGN NextGenerationNetworkNICI NationalInformationandCommunicationInfrastructureNICTBB NationalICTBroadbandBackboneNIXP NationalInternetExchangePointNorAID (Irish)NorthernAidCommitteeNPCA NEPADPlanningandCoordinatingAgencyNRA NationalRegulatoryAuthorityNREN NationalResearchandEducationNetworkNSC NorthSouthCorridorNSO NationalStatisticsOfficeOAU OrganizationofAfricanUnityOGP OpenGovernmentPartnershipOSBP OneStopBorderPostOPGW OverheadPowerGroundWireOSISA OpenSocietyInitiativeforSouthernAfricaPAPU PanAfricanPostalUnionPCU ProjectCoordinatingUnitPIDA ProgrammeforInfrastructureDevelopmentinAfricaPIM ProjectInformationMemorandumPKI PublicKeyInfrastructurePOI PointofInterconnectionPOP PointofPresencePPDF ProjectPreparationandDevelopmentFacilityPPDR PublicProtectionandDisasterReliefPPP PublicPrivatePartnershipPPIU ProjectPreparationandImplementationUnitPSTN PublicSwitchedTelephoneNetworkQoS QualityofServicePTO PublicTelecomOperatorREC RegionalEconomicCommunity


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RICTSP RegionalICTSupportProgrammeRIO ReferenceInterconnectionOfferRIR RegionalInternetRegistryRISDP RegionalIndicativeStrategicDevelopmentPlanRIDMP RegionalInfrastructureDevelopmentMasterPlanRIXP RegionalInternetExchangePointROI ReturnonInvestmentROW RestoftheWorld,orRightsofWayRTN RoadTransportNetworkSABA SouthernAfricaBroadcastingAssociationSADC SouthAfricanDevelopmentCommunitySAEx SouthAtlanticExpressSAFE SouthernAfricaFarEastWestAfricasubmarinecableSAPOA SouthernAfricanPostalOperatorsAssociationSAPP SouthernAfricanPowerPoolSAPRA SouthernAfricanPostalRegulatorsAssociationSARUA SouthernAfricaRegionalUniversitiesAssociationSATA SouthernAfricaTelecommunicationsAssociationSIDA SwedishInternationalDevelopmentCooperationAgencySLA ServiceLevelAgreementSMP SignificantMarketPowerSPV SpecialPurposeVehicleSRD ShortRangeDeviceSRII SADCRegionalInformationInfrastructureTCM Transport,CommunicationsandMeteorology(Protocol)Terabit OnethousandgigabitsTLD TopLevelDomainTMSA TrademarkSouthernAfricaTTA TripartiteTrustAccountUNCSTD UnitedNationsCenterforScienceandTechnologyforDevelopmentUNCTAD UnitedNationsConferenceonTradeandDevelopmentUNDESA UnitedNationsDepartmentofEconomicandSocialAffairsUNECA UnitedNationsEconomicCommissionforAfricaUNESCO UnitedNationsEducational,ScientificandCulturalOrganizationUNIDO UnitedNationsIndustrialDevelopmentOrganizationUPU UniversalPostalUnionUSAID USAgencyforInternationalDevelopmentUSF UniversalServiceFundVoIP VoiceoverInternetProtocolVNO VirtualNetworkOperatorWACS WestAfricanCableSystemWATRA WestAfricanTelecommunicationsRegulatorsAssemblyWiFi WirelessFidelityWiMax WorldinteroperabilityforMicrowaveaccessWIPO WorldIntellectualPropertyOrganizationWSIS WorldSummitontheInformationSocietyWTO WorldTradeOrganization


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Definitions

4G 4G is the latestmobile broadband cellular network technology LTEAdvanced andWirelessMANAdvanced are officially designated IMTAdvanced by the ITU the new standard for 4G wirelessnetworks.

ASN AutonomousSystemNumberuniqueASNsareallocatedtointernetoperatorsbytheregionalinternetregistries(RIRs)foruseinmultipathroutingandareakeycomponentofindependentnetworkswhichBGProutingtoensuretheyareconnectedasdirectlyaspossibletoasmanyothernetworkoperatorsaseconomicallyandtechnicallyfeasible(seeTransitandPeering).

Backbone The trunk routesofanetworkusedas thepath for transporting trafficbetweendifferentnetworks.Backbones canbe thephysical telecommunication infrastructure,or the internet circuitsestablishedoverthembyaparticularinternetoperator.

Bandwidth Thesizeorcapacityofacommunicationschannel to transferdata,usuallymeasured in thespeedofdatatransfer,inbitspersecond(BPS),althoughalsooftenstatedinthefrequencyrangeassignedtothechannel,measuredinHertz(Hz).

BGP BorderGatewayProtocoltheprotocolstandardusedtoensurethatthere ismorethanoneroutetotheinternetprovidernetwork(seeASN).

BPS BitsperSecond thenumberofbitspassingapointevery second.The transmission rate fordigitalinformation, i.e. ameasureofhow fastdata canbe sentor received.Oftenexpressed asMbps, forMegabitspersecondorGbps(Gigabitspersequin)forfibreorbroadbandlinks.

Broadband A high speed (multimegabit) data connection sufficient to support multiple streaming videoconnections.

DID DirectInwardDiallingtelephonenumberslinkedtoVoIPgateways.DNS TheDomainNameSystem matcheshumanreadable/morememorablenameswiththe IPaddresses

needed toroute traffic. TheDNSusesa treestructure,whichdivides the internet intoahierarchicalstructureofdomainsandsubdomains.Topleveldomains(TLDs)includegenericdomainssuchas.com,.eduand.org,andcountrycodedomainsccTLDssuchas.uk,.za,.ghor.ke.AdministratorsofeachTLDcancreateasmanysubdomainsastheywish.AninternationalnetworkofDNSservers,maintainsuptodateinformationaboutwhichdomainnamegoeswitheachIPaddress;changescanbemadeonanyoneserverandarerapidlypropagatedthroughthenetwork.

DTT DigitalTerrestrialTelevisionthenewstandardfortelevisionbroadcastingtowhichmostcountrieshavecommitted firm time frames for migrating their TV services away from the Analogue wavebands,particularly in the 700Mhz band which will release it for broadband use, in the socalled DigitalDividend.

DWDM DenseWaveDivisionMultiplexingthecurrentstandardfordatatransmissionoverfibreopticcable.HIPSSA Harmonisationof ICTPolicies inSubSaharanAfrica a joint ITU/EU/GIZprogrammetosupportpolicy

andregulatoryreform.Internationalgateway

Technically, this is a facility to consolidate and share the costof international links and terminationpoints.Inpracticeitisalicensingtermusedbymanydevelopingcountrygovernmentswhoonlyallowthe state owned monopoly operator to carry international traffic. In some countries, one or twoadditionalinternationalgatewayoperatorshavebeenlicensed,oftenthemobileoperators.

Internet A globalmesh of computer networks using the same communications protocol called TCP/IP. Theinternets national and international backbones are highspeed fibre trunk lines owned bytelecommunicationcompanies.NationalTier1serviceprovidersaggregatedatatrafficandpassitoverthebackbones.Theyworkwith local serviceproviderswho connect to customersviadigital linksormodems.

IP Internet Protocol the packet based data interchange standard on which the internet is based,increasinglybeingusedforvoicetraffic(VoIP).

IPS InternationalPostalSystemaninternationalpostalmanagementsystemdevelopedbytheUPU,whichincludestrack&traceandvariousotherfunctions.

IRU IndefeasibleRightofUse acommonmethodofpurchasingfibreoptic infrastructure,ona longtermbasis(usually1015years),onacapacity(MbpsorSTMx)basisorasawavelengthordarkfibrepair.PreferredbylargeroperatorsasaonceoffCAPEXitem.


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ISP InternetServiceProvideragenerictermfororganisationsprovidinginternetservicessuchaswebsitehosting and internet access. Internet Service/Access Providers purchase bandwidth from othercompaniesthathavedirectlinkstotheinternet.TheInternetService/AccessProvidersinturnsellthatbandwidth to consumers and businesses in smaller chunks. For example, an ISP may take thebandwidthofa45Mbps connection to the internetand sell it to two thousand256Kbpsbroadbandusersata10:1contentionratio.

IXP Internet Exchange Point a locationwheremany internet providersmeet each other to exchangetraffic.Astheinternetbecomesmoredense,IXPsalsoneedtobecomemorewidespreadtohelpensurethatlocaltrafficstayslocal.RegionalIXPsarehublocationsconnectedtomanyfibreopticcableswhereinternationalinternetprovidersexchangetraffic.

LTE LongTermEvolutionLTEAdvancedandWirelessMANAdvancedareaccordedtheofficialdesignationofIMTAdvancedthenewstandardfor4Gwirelessnetworks.

Mbps Megabitspersecondaunitoftrafficorcapacitymeasurement.NGN NextGenerationNetworkapurelyIPbasednetworkforcarryingvoiceanddata.O3B Other3BillionaMediumEarthOrbitsatellitecommunicationssystembeinglaunchedshortly.Itoffers

muchlowerlatencythantraditionalGeoStationarysatellitelinks.OFC OpticFibrecableatechnologyusingglassfibreforthetransmissionofdata.Thesignalisimposedon

thefibreviapulses(modulation)oflightfromalaseroralightemittingdiode(LED).Becauseofitshighbandwidthandlackofsusceptibilitytointerference,fibreopticcableisusedinhighcapacity,longhaulor noisy applications.With advances inmodulation technology, international fibre cables are nowusuallydeployedwithterabitcapacities.

OpenAccess Whenreferring to Infrastructure,OpenAccessservicedeliverymodelsensure thatalloperatorshaveequaltermsofuse,usually foraccessto fibreopticcablesonacapacity (Mbps),wavelength,ordarkfibrebasis,oftensoldas1015yearIRUs.

OPGW Overhead PowerGroundWire a location for fibre cabling on power lines poles or hightensionpylons.

Peering Peering,alsoknownasSenderKeepsAll,orBillandKeep,isazerocompensationarrangementwherenetwork operators agree to exchange traffic at no charge. This arrangement is commonwhere thenetworkshaveroughlythesamecharacteristicsandtrafficvolumes,suchthatnetfinancialburdenfromtrafficflowsbetweenthemislikelytobesmall.Theprocessbywhichanetworkqualifiesforpeeringisusually privately negotiated based on network coverage, volume of traffic, and network reliability.Peeringisthealternativeto 'Transit'wheretheISPpaystohavetheirpacketsdeliveredtotheremotenetwork.PeeringandTransitoftentakesplacemostefficientlyatIXPs,butbilateraldirectphysicallinksbetweendifferentnetworkoperatorsisalsocommon.

PKI Public Key Infrastructure a set of hardware, software, people, policies, and procedures needed tocreate,manage,distribute,use,store,andrevokedigitalcertificates.

PSTN PublicSwitchedTelephoneNetworkthetraditionalvoicetelephonesystem,basedonswitched(ratherthanpacket)networkingprotocols.

PTO Public TelecomOperator usually refers to the incumbent stateownedmonopoly operator, althoughtechnically, the distinction between fixed line, cellular operators and ISPs is becoming increasinglyblurred.

Redundancy ConnectionRedundancyanalternativeroute,usuallyonasecondphysicallink.RIR Regional InternetRegistry the fiveorganisations responsible forallocating IPaddresses tonetwork

operators in their respective regions Africa,USA,Asia Pacific, LatinAmerica and Europe AfriNIC,ARIN,APNIC,LACNICandRIPENCC.

SMP SignificantMarketPower adefinitionusedby regulators tohelpensurea levelplaying field in thepresenceofanoperatorwhichisdominantinthemarketandthereforeabletochargeuncompetitiveprices(usuallytheincumbentpreviouslystateownedmonopoly).AnSMPdeterminationwillallowtheregulatortosettariffschargedandplaceotherconditionsontheoperator.

Transit Transit is an arrangement inwhichnetworks sell access to their customers,usuallyothernetworks.Transit charges are set by negotiation, and are often not disclosed publicly. Transit arrangementstypicallyprovideaccesstoanarrayofnetworks,notlimitedtoonecountry.Inmanycasesoneinternettransitarrangementwithalargenetworkcanprovideasmall,remotenetworkwithaccesstotheRestoftheWorld(ROW).


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WACS WestAfricanCableSystemasubmarinefibrecablelinkinganumberofSADCandothercountriesonthewestcoastofAfricaandtoEurope.

WiFi Wireless Fidelity themost common spread spectrum data protocol used in Hotspots to share ordeliverabroadbandlink.

WiMax World interoperability forMicrowave access a data interchange standard developedwith supportfromIntel,nowgivingwaytoLTEAdvancedandWirelessMANAdvanced.

WirelessManAdvanced

OneofthetwoofficialITU4Gmobilebroadbandstandards.


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ListofTables

Table1: TelecommunicationsLicensingStatusinSADCMemberStates..........................................21

Table2: BroadbandpenetrationlevelsinSADCMemberStates......................................................25

Table3: SADCMemberStateunderseafibreroutestotherestoftheworld..................................26

Table4: CrossBorderInterconnectionMatrix..................................................................................29

Table5: SADCMainlandInterconnectivitySummary.......................................................................35

Table6: ListofoperatorsexchangingtrafficdirectlywitheachotherintheSADCmainland..........36

Table7: ICTInfrastructureStatusofSADCPostalOperators............................................................38

Table8: PostalBranches,PostOfficeBoxesandPostalCodeAddressinginSADC...........................39

Table9: ICTPriceBasketforSADCRegion........................................................................................43

Table10: NationalICTStrategies........................................................................................................51

Table11: ForecastNationalandInternationalCapacityRequirementsby2027................................54

Table12: PostalBranchesrequiredtoreachUPUrecommendationsof1:10000peoplein2027....56

Table13: CrossBorderInterconnectionStatusandNeeds................................................................59

Table14: LinkswithOtherInfrastructureSectors..............................................................................73

Table15: SummaryofICTMasterPlanRegionalProjectsandResourceRequirements....................81


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ListofFigures

Figure1: DigitalSADC2027................................................................................................................11

Figure2: GrowthintotalmobilesubscribersintheSADCregion......................................................18

Figure3: TrendsinmobilesubscriberdensitySADCMemberStates................................................18

Figure5: TrendsinfixedlineaccessintheSADCregion....................................................................19

Figure7: Numberofmobileoperatorspercountry...........................................................................20

Figure8: TrendsininternetpenetrationintheSADCregion.............................................................22

Figure10:WiMaxdeploymentsinSouthernAfrica.............................................................................23

Figure11:TrendsinfixedbroadbandpenetrationintheSADCregion...............................................24

Figure13:TrendsininternationalbandwidthcapacityuseSADC.......................................................25

Figure15:SADCFibreandMicrowaveTelecommunicationInfrastructureby2012/13.......................28

Figure16:SAPPNetwork.....................................................................................................................30

Figure17:LiquidTelecommunicationCurrentandPlannedRegionalBackbone................................32

Figure18:ASNsinSADCMemberStates.............................................................................................37

Figure19:NumberofpostofficebranchesintheSADCregion..........................................................40

Figure21:InternetProtocol(IP)addressespercapitaintheSADCRegion.........................................41

Figure23:FacebookuserpenetrationinSADCMemberStates..........................................................42

Figure24:FixedlineinternationalcalltariffsperminuteinSADCMemberStates.............................44

Figure25:MobileincominginternationaltariffsperminuteinSADCMemberStates.......................44


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ListofAnnexures

ANNEXURE1PROJECTIMPLEMENTATIONSTRATEGYSUMMARY&TIMELINE..................................89

ANNEXURE2MilestonesandPerformanceObjectives....................................................................100

ANNEXURE3ICTProjectDetails.......................................................................................................110

ANNEXURE4PROJECTBUDGETDETAILS..........................................................................................133

ANNEXURE5SADCPreExistingOngoingActivities..........................................................................142

ANNEXURE6PIDAICTInfrastructureRecommendations................................................................149


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ExecutiveSummary

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have become the lifeblood of the knowledgeeconomyor,as somehaveobserved, theelectricityof the21stCentury. Ineithercase,affordableaccess to ICTs isahuman rightaswellasa significant contributor toeconomicgrowthand socialwellbeing.Thegoalofthe ICTChapteroftheMasterPlan istooutlinethemeasuresnecessarytoensurethateveryMemberStatecitizenhasfullaccesstothisvitalresource.

Moretangibly,thevisiontoachievea'DigitalSADC'by2027,isdrivenbysomekeybenefitsthatareexpectedtoresultfrombecomingaknowledgebasedsociety:

Wellinformedrapiddecisionmakingefficient,transparentgovernance,globallycompetitiveindustriesandknowledgeablepublic;

Lifelonglearninginstantaccesstoknowledgeandbetterjobs; Socialandculturalinclusiontheendofisolationanddiscrimination; Morewealthandlivelihoodcreationoptionsandemploymentopportunities; Efficientcrossbordertravelandseamlessmarketsforgoodsandservices; Increasedagriculturalproductionandmoreefficientproducemarkets; Accessiblegovernment,commercialandfinancialservices,culturalheritageandindigenous

knowledge;and Ahealthier,happierpopulation.

These benefits are based on the promise of alwayson affordable broadband connectivity, richcontentandusefulapplications,witheasytouseaccessdevicesandpostalsystems.Makingsurethishappensby2027willrequirerapidandconcertedeffortsbyall.Thiswould ideallybeginatheadofstatelevel,withallocationofclearrolesandresponsibilities,andbasedonasystematicapproachtoeliminatingbottlenecksand identifyingthebestmethodstomoveforward.Theframeworkforthiscan be seen as four pillars based on platforms of ICT Policy & Regulatory Harmonisation, andConfidenceandSecurityofNetworks&Services,asshowninthediagrambelow.

Pillars: Infrastructure;

Eservices&applications;

Research,innovation&industrydevelopment;and

Capacitybuilding&content.

Platforms: Confidenceandsecurityofnetworks&services;and

Policy&regulatoryharmonisation


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Figure1:DigitalSADC2027

The identification and prioritisation of projects that support the platforms and pillars of thisframeworkarethekeyoutputofthischapter.

Analysis of the current status of ICTs in the region shows that one of themain problems is thatalthoughmostoftheunderlyinginfrastructureisinplace,itisnotefficientlyused.LandlockedSADCMemberStatesstillpaymoretogettothecoastortotherestofAfricathantheydotogetfromthecoasttoEurope,theUSorAsia.NationalfibreopticbackbonesinmanySADCMemberStatesneedbettermanagement,upgradingandextensiontocovermorepopulation,andaffordablepricing.Anddue to limited development of traffic exchange points, much domestic and regional traffic isexchanged overseas, leading to poor network performance andmillions of dollars in transit feesannuallypaidtoforeignoperators.

Asaresult,highaccesscostsprevailacrosstheregion,severelylimitinguse,especiallyforbroadbandservicesamongthegeneralpublic,andthisinturnconstrainsdemandforthedevelopmentoflocalapplicationsandservices,sothatinefficientmanualprocessescontinue.Whencombinedwithsparsehumancapacity, low levelsof researchanddevelopmentand immatureecommerce facilities thatlack payments and physical delivery systems, this leads to a low criticalmass of ICT innovators,investors,employers,skilledworkersandICTusers.Theseissuesassumeevengreatersignificanceinrural populations, remote areas and disadvantaged groups,where costs and unmet demand foraccess to ICTsaremuchhigher,and theopportunities touse information technology toacceleratetheirdevelopmentisperhapsgreater.

Toaddresstheseissues,whichaffectcountriesallovertheworld,nationalbroadbandplansarebeingimplemented tohelpensure thateveryone, including those in rural areas,has access to fast andaffordable internetservices.Policyandregulatorymodernisationandharmonisation isattheheartofaddressingtheseissues,totakeintoaccountthelatesttechnologicaldevelopmentsandtoensurethatbestpracticesarepropagatedthroughouttheregion,creatingeconomiesofscale,opportunitiesforcostsharing,andleveragingthefullpotentialofICTstosupportregionalintegration.


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BuildingtheenvironmentinwhichICTsaretothriveispartofastrategicframeworkwhichhasbothshortandlongtermobjectives.Intheshortterm,themainaimistoassistMemberStatesinsharingthecostofensuring thekeybuildingblocksare inplace secureandaffordableconnectivityandaccessdevices,usefulapplicationsandrichcontent,andsufficienthumancapacitytomaximisetheirpotential.Thiswould laythebasis foradynamic ICTmarket inwhichdemandandsupplyarewellbalanced,allowingeachMemberState tomeet their longertermpolicyobjectives toensure thateveryone,regardlessofincomelevelorgeographiclocation,canreapthefullbenefits.Dependingonthe country, the priorities would likely include; network extension to the most remote areas,reducing access costs to levelswhich donot exclude even the poorestpeople, ensuring networkreliabilitybyimplementingbackuproutes,andstrengtheningthesupportinginfrastructurenotablypostalsystemsandenergysupplies.Butfirst,thekeypolicybottlenecks ineachMemberStateneedtobeaddressedtoensurethatthefull ICT programme can progress as quickly and as cost effectively as possible. Using a rapidassessmentmethodology to yield fast results, the top policy and regulatory constraints in eachcountrywouldbe identifiedforpriorityshorttermtreatment(


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c) Infrastructure b) Strengthening the Postal sector. Implementing Postal Code and addressingsystems,extendingpostalbranchnetworksandsecurity,revitalisingandimprovingtherangeofpostalservices, inparticulardevelopingfinancialservicesaspartofthe integrationofphysicalandelectronicnetworks.

d) Capacitybuilding&content.MaximisinghumancapacitytotakeadvantageofICTsbyregionalsharing of the costs of: a) raising awareness of ICT supported development strategies,governance innovations and business opportunities, b) developing regional certificationstandardsfor information literacy,c)establishingcentresofexcellence(CoEs) inICTandPostalServicesandregionalrepositoriesofonlinelearningmaterials.

e) Regional eservices and applications. Sharing softwaredevelopment costs across the region,improving efficiencies in public service delivery and commerce, facilitating administration ofregionalflowsofpeople,goodsandservices,andprovidingopenaccesstopublicdata.

f) Research, innovationand ICT industrydevelopment. Strengthening research institutions andSMEsworking in the ICT sector, promoting national and regional institutional collaboration,innovationandthedevelopmentoflocalICTmanufacturingindustries.MinimisingthenegativeeffectsofICTsontheenvironmentandusingICTstomitigatetheeffectsofclimatechange.

g) Monitoring progress toward digital SADC 2027. Ensuring the availability of uptodateinformationon levelsof ICTuse ineachMemberStateand,asa region, to support strategicdecisionmakingandmeasureprogresstowardthe2027goals.

In termsof the financingneeded tosupport this,which isestimatedataboutUS$436million, it isnoteworthy that the returnon investment in ICTprojects canbe relativelyhigh compared to theother infrastructuresectors,either inprofitsorefficiencygains.At thesame time, the investmentcostsarerelativelysmall,whiletheir impactcutsacrossvirtuallyallothersectors.Asaresult,oncethe enabling policy and regulatory environments are more uniformly in place, much of theimplementationcostwillbemetbytheprivatesector,orthroughpublicprivatepartnerships.Asaresult,the ICTMasterPlannecessarilyplaces initialemphasisongrantfundedprojectsforcapacitybuilding and to ensure the enabling environment is in place to provide better access to existinginfrastructureandtoattractmoreinvestmentinnewinfrastructure.

Finally,theICTChapteroftheRegionalInfrastructureDevelopmentMasterPlan(RIDMP)alsotakesintoaccount the ICTcomponentsof thebroaderongoing infrastructuredevelopment initiatives inAfrica,inparticular,atthecontinentwidelevel,withtheProgrammeforInfrastructureDevelopmentinAfrica (PIDA).At the regional level theRIDMPwillalso formpartof the inputs to theproposedCommon Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA)East African Community (EAC)SADCTripartiteInterregionalInfrastructureMasterPlan,andwouldalsobeexpectedtotakeintoaccountthe initiativestakingplace inthetheEconomicCommunityofCentralAfricanStates(ECCAS)regiontowhichAngolaandtheDemocraticRepublicofCongo(DRC)alsobelong.


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1. Introduction

The InformationandCommunicationTechnologies (ICT)Chapterof theMasterPlan isbasedonadetailed review of the current ICT infrastructure status and plans in the SADC region, and anevaluationoftheiradequacytomeettheneedsforecasttoyear2027.

Thekey institutionsthatwouldbe involved intheRIDMPand itsdevelopmentwouldbetheSADCI&SDirectorate, theCommunicationandPostalRegulatoryAssociationofSouthernAfrica (CRASA),Southern Africa Telecommunications Association (SATA), Southern African Postal OperatorsAssociation (SAPOA), the National Regulatory Authorities, ICT Ministries, related institutions CompetitionBoards,CommissionsandTribunals,developmentpartnersandideallytheofficeoftheHeadofStateineachMembercountry.

Atabroadergeographic level,ongoing liaisonwithavarietyofrelated initiativeswillneed to takeplace to benefit from synergies and minimise overlap. These are: the Tripartite InterregionalInfrastructureMasterPlan,theCOMESATCS/PIPandPIDA,aswellastheprogrammesofECCAS(duetotheDRCandAngola'smembership inthisRegionalEconomicCommunity(REC)and inparticulartheNorthSouthcorridorprojectwhichwilllinkthetwocountries).

1.1 SectorPurposeandObjectives

ICT infrastructure comprises a wide range of electronic technologies computing,telecommunications, internetandbroadcastingaswellasrelatedapplicationsandresourcessuchasdigitalmapsandradiospectrum,andthephysicalinfrastructureofaccessdevices,ductsforfibrecable,mastsandantennae to convey radio signals,aswellas thephysicaland financialnetworksprovided by banks and postal services. Together, these are recognised as enablers of social andeconomicdevelopmentwhoseimpactcutsacrossvirtuallyallothersectors.The objective of the ICT section of the RIDMP thus aims to ensure that these technologies areaccessibleandaffordable forallcitizens intheSADCregion,andthat ICTsarefullyabletosupportthenationaldevelopment agendas andpoliciesof theMember States, aswell as the region as awhole. This includes accelerating regional integration, inclusion of rural and isolated populations,enhancingcompetitiveness,maximisingeconomicdevelopment,attainingMillenniumDevelopmentGoal (MDG) targets,eliminatingsupplysideconstraintsand reducing thecostofdoingbusiness intheregion.Bythesametoken,byprovidingmoreuniversalaccesstocommunicationsandICTs,theregionwillbebetterabletoaddressitsoverarchingobjectiveofreducingpoverty.To support the universal broadband services needed,major improvements to the quality of ICTinfrastructurewithin the regionwillbe required, inparticularwithaview tomakingaccessmoreaffordableandextendingcoverageintoruralareas.Asidefromaddressingthesupplyside,increasingthepervasivenessand reducing the costof theunderlying infrastructure, the ICTSectorPlanalsoaimstostimulatethedemandside,forexample,byimprovingproductionofcontentandeservices.Overall,thecoreareasofinterventionnecessarytoachievetheseobjectivesare: Improvingthe ICTpolicyandregulatoryenablingenvironmenttomakemoreefficientuseof

existing infrastructure, minimise its costs of use, and encourage investment in newinfrastructure;

Facilitating interconnectionwithin and among SADCMember States, aswell as among theTripartiteMember States, by establishing lowcost high capacity communication links usingterrestrialfibreroutesbetweenneighbouringSADCMemberStatesandadjoiningregions;

Improvingthecoverage,reliabilityandsecurityofICTinfrastructure;


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Increasing the extent of ICT skills and human resources, investment in ICT research &development,andprivatesectorcollaborationforindustrydevelopment;

Accelerating theadoptionof ICTswithingovernment,parastatals, theprivatesectorand thegeneralpublic inorder to increaseservice levels,efficiencies,profitability,and transparency,whichwillinturnattractfurtherprivateinvestmentinthesector;

Using ICTs to help reduce the region's carbon footprint andminimise other environmentalimpactsbyusing'smartmonitoring'systems,remotesensingandcrowdsourcing;and

UsingrelevantprogressmarkerstomonitorthelevelsofICTuseandidentifybottlenecks.Ascanbeseen,themajorityofactivitiesproposedfortheICTSectorPlanaresoftprojects,withoutadirect returnon investment,designed toput inplace the requiredhuman capacity, institutionalframeworksandenablingpolicyenvironments.Once theseareestablished, it isexpected that theprivatesectorwillbekeentoimplementmostofthehardprojects.InthisrespecttheICTsectorissomewhatdifferenttomostoftheotherinfrastructuresectorscoveredbytheRIDMP,inthatcapitalcostsarerelativelylowandthereturnoninvestmentislikelytobehigher.Andalthoughtheextentofpublic financing required for the soft projects is not insignificant, there will ultimately be largeindirect returns on the investment provided by themuch increased efficiency and transparencylevels,highertaxreturnsresultingfromthewealthcreatedbythe'oil'oftheICTrevolutionseepingmoreextensivelyintoalltheothercommercialsectors.

1.2 PolicyandLegislativeFrameworksGuidingtheICTSector

The following key policies and frameworks provide the context for the broader objectives of theRIDMP,allofwhicharedirectlyor indirectlyrelevanttoICTs,duetothecrosscuttingnatureofthetechnology: SADCTradeProtocol(1996); SADCProtocolonFacilitationofFreeMovementofPersons(2006); TheproposedCOMESAEACSADCGrandFreeTradeAreaFramework(2010); TheSADCRegionalIndicativeStrategicDevelopmentPlan(RISDP)2005; TheSADCProtocolonTransport,MeteorologyandCommunications(1996); TheSADCTelecommunicationPolicyGuidelines(1998); SADCDeclarationonICTsbyHeadsofState(2001); TheeSADCStrategy(2010);and TheAfricanUnionProgrammeforInfrastructureDevelopmentinAfrica(PIDA)(2012).

TheSectorPlanalsobuildsonglobalandcontinentalframeworksand initiativessuchastheWorldSummit on the Information Society (WSIS), PIDA, the COMESA TCS/PIP, Connect Africa and theAfrican Information Society Initiative (AISI), aswell as best practices in national ICT policies andparticularlybroadbandpolicies.

Building on these well established goals, policies and plans, the ICT Sector Plan is a strategicframework document to guide the implementation of regional ICT infrastructure development,forming the basis for priority setting, feasibility assessments, preparation for bankability andinvestment.TheRIDMPwillinthisrespectconstitutethebasisforSADCMemberStatescommitmenttoacommonICTinfrastructuredevelopmentprogramme,intheformofaDeclaration,aswellasthebasisforregularreviewofitsimplementation.

1.2.1 TheRegionalIndicativeStrategicDevelopmentPlan(RISDP)

In2003theRISDPwasadopted,providinganindicativeframeworktoguideSADCMemberStatesintheachievementoftheSADCobjectivesovera15yearperiod.TheRISDPdefinedthevision,mission


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and strategic objectives for a broad range of development goals, including the basis for ICTdevelopment,focusingon ICTsrole intransformingSADC intoan informationbasedeconomywithspecificobjectivesanddeadlines.AsidefromICTinfrastructurerelatedareas,estrategiesrevolvingarounddevelopmentofeservicesandapplicationswerealsoamajorcomponentoftheRISDP ICTstrategy. In2009,at itsmeeting inDRC,theSADCCouncilofMinistersdirectedtheSADCSecretariattoconductamidtermreviewofRISDP in accordancewith thedirectivemade in2003 that theRISDPbe regularlymonitored andevaluated.

1.2.2 ProtocolsandOtherDocumentsandStatutes

Inmanyrespectsthe initiativesthatwereproposed intheRISDPareverysimilartothoseoutlinedhereintheICTSectorPlan.IntheinterveningnineyearssincetheRISDPwasadopted,progresshasbeen slow, largelybecauseof the limited reform in the telecommunication sector, leading tohighcostsofaccessresultinginlowlevelsofdemand.WhileSADCMemberStateshavemade ICTsapriorityatapolicy level formore thanadecade, inpractice, itwas recognised that implementationposed several challenges.Toaddress these,moreconcerted effortsweremade to assistMember States to develop their national ICT policies andstrategic plans based on the SADC guidelines. As part of this process SADC created an ICTdevelopment strategy called the eSADC Strategy Framework. Developedwith support from theUnited Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), this became the overarching strategydocument,approvedby theSADCMinisters responsible forTelecommunications,Postaland ICT inLuandainMay2010.The eSADC framework addresses convergence issues and harmonisation of ICT infrastructure,services and indicators; promotes ICT usage for regional economic integration, enhancement ofconnectivityandaccess to ICT services.Aside fromaddressingpolicy, legislationand regulation, italso focusedoncrosscutting issues suchasensuringgender is taken intoconsideration,aswellascapacity building programmes and the development of eapplications such as egovernance, eparliament, ecommerce, eeducation, ehealth and eagriculture. The strategy also establishes amethodology for data collection and analysis, and reviewing the status of ereadiness and estrategiesadoptedbySADCMemberStates.Areviewofestrategies fromotherselectedcountriesandsubregionsinAfricaandtherestoftheworldtookplace,aswellasexaminationofthemodelsrecommendedbyinternationalorganisations.The Luanda2010 SADC ICTMinistersmeeting also approved the recommendationsmadeby theRegionalAllianceTaskTeam (RATT) for theadoptionofapolicy statement including the followingpolicyobjectives: transparency; costbasedpricing;effective competition; regulatory certaintyandpredictability; regionaldevelopment; and infrastructuredevelopment. Themeeting alsoproposedregional priorities for 2011/2012which included the setting up ofNational and Regional InternetExchangepoints;harmonisationofCyberSecurityRegulatoryFrameworks inSADC;andaRegionalprojecttoimproveinterconnectionamongphysical,electronicandfinancialpostalnetworks.Priortothis,SADCMinistersresponsibleforTelecommunication,PostalandICThaddecidedin2009to adopt the joint International Telecommunication Union (ITU)/ Deutsche Gesellschaft frInternationaleZusammenarbeit (GIZ)/EuropeanCommissionproject "Harmonisationof ICTPoliciesinSubSaharaAfrica(HIPSSA)"toassistintheimplementationofthenecessarypolicyandregulatoryreforms identified for the region. An assessment of Member States national ICT policies andlegislationwasmadeandgapsinsomecountrieswerefoundwhereregionalpolicyobjectiveswerenotyetaddressed.Bestpracticesfromtheregiontofillthesegapswerealsoidentified.


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To reflect market and technology evolution, changes were suggested to the Transport,Communications andMeteorology (TCM) Protocol, the SADC Telecommunication Policy, and theTelecommunication Model Bill. In addition a new Policy Framework on Convergence was alsodevelopedtoguideMemberStates inaddressingthechallengesofconvergenceandtoharnessthepotentialdevelopmentalopportunitiesthatemergewiththetransformationofthesector.A full rewrite of the SADC Telecommunication Policy is also being made to change it to acomprehensiveSADC ICTPolicy, insteadof justamending theexistingone.ThenecessarychangeswouldalsobeincorporatedintotheTCMProtocol,andrevisionstotheModelBilltoalignitwiththeconvergencepolicyproposed.ThesevariousstrategieshavealreadyclearlymappedoutmostoftherequirementstoachieveDigitalSADC 2027, but their implementation at the national level is still lacking inmost SADCMemberStates.AsstatedintheeSADCstrategydocument;Althoughatthepolicylevel,MemberStateshadadopted ICTasakeydrivingelementforsocioeconomicdevelopment(ICTDeclarationof2001), inpractice, at the strategic level, implementation had not taken place. This therefore called forconcertedeffortstoassistmemberStatesindevelopingtheirnationalICTpoliciesandstrategicplansbasedontheSADCguidelines.At the same time, the ICT sectorhasevolved considerably since these strategiesweredeveloped(especially with regard to the broadband imperative1) and there is a need to ensure that thestrategies incorporated into the RIDMP reflect the latest developments.Addressing infrastructurerequirementstomeetexplodingbroadbanddemand isnotauniquelySouthernAfricanproblemorevenadeveloping countryproblem.Globally,governmentsandoperatorsarenowgrapplingwiththese issues.Policymakersand regulatorsarehaving to reevaluate their strategies,andoperatornetworksare still in theprocessofmigrating fromavoicecentricmodel toabroadband capacitymodel. This affects the provision of ICT infrastructure and services at every level continental,regional,nationalandlocal.1 Goalsforconnectivityhavenowmovedbeyondsimplygettingconnectedtotheinternet,toensuringthat

every person has access to sufficient bandwidth to support realtimemultimedia applications at least1Mbps.


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2. SituationAnalysis

2.1 CurrentSectorStatus

2.1.1 VoiceTelephony

SADCMemberStateshaveprogressedrelativelywelloverthelastdecadeintermsofaccesstovoicetelephony.Encouragedbytheearlyintroductionofprepaidservices(whichnowaccountfor8090%ofsubscribers intheregion),mobileuptakestoodatanaverageof60%ofthepopulation in2010,withlittlesignofgrowthslowingdownasyet,asshowninthechartsbelow.TheaverageacrosstheSADCregionisalittlebehindworldaverages,buttheaverageobscuresfairlylargevariations(about5times)between SADCMember States,with theDRCandMalawiatonlyaround20%penetrationwhileSeychelles,BotswanaandSouthAfricaareover100%(duetotheuseofmultipleSIMcards).

Figure2:GrowthintotalmobilesubscribersintheSADCregionSource:ITU(2011)

Figure3:TrendsinmobilesubscriberdensitySADCMemberStatesSource:ITU(2011)

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 20100

20,000,000

40,000,000

60,000,000

80,000,000

100,000,000

120,000,000

140,000,000


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Figure4:AveragemobilepenetrationtrendsworldwidevstheSADCregionSource:ITU(2011)StimedistancegapanalysisontheaveragepenetrationtrendsshownaboveindicatesthattheSADCregionisalittleunder4yearsbehindtheworldaverage,butaheadoftheoverallAfricanaverage.ThedominanceofmobileoverfixedlinesubscribersintheSADCregionshowssimilartrendstothosetakingplaceinAfricaasawhole,andtherestoftheworld,withfixedlinesonlyrepresentingabout6% of total voice subscribers (2% if SouthAfrica is taken out of the equation), and this actuallydeclinedmarginallybetween2009and2010to6.14millionlines,ofwhichover4millionareinSouthAfrica.

Figure5:TrendsinfixedlineaccessintheSADCregionSource:ITU(2011)


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Figure6:AveragefixedlinepenetrationtrendsintheSADCregionSource:ITU(2011)Except for Swaziland,mobilemarkets in the SADCMember States are relatively competitive, asshowninthechartbelow.Howeverwherethereareonlytwoorthreeoperatorspresent,theextentof competition is unlikely to be sufficient to drive prices down. Evenwhere there is significantcompetition, there is still suppressed demand (mainly through curtailed usage), because costsremainrelativelyhigh(comparedtoAsiaforexample).Highcostsoftenstillprevailduetoexogenousfactors,themostnotableofwhicharehighinputcosts(e.gdieselpoweredbasestations,equipmentimporttaxes,spectrumandlicencefees),governmenttaxesonairtime,smallmarketsleadingtoloweconomiesof scale, andhighperceived levelsofbusiness risk, leading to short timehorizons forachievingreturnsoninvestment.

Figure7:NumberofmobileoperatorspercountrySource:ITU(2011)Neverthelessmobilevoiceandtextmessagingserviceshavenowbecomea'masstechnology'acrossthe region,and thedevelopment focushasshifted tomobileand fixedbroadband,whileensuringtheremainingremoteruralandotherdisadvantagedgroupscangainaccess,suchasthroughtheuseofUniversalServiceFunds.Increasingly, convergenceof technologies isbeing reflected innational licensing environments, asshowninthetablebelow.

AngolaBotswana

DRCLesotho

MadagascarMalawi

MauritiusMozambique

NamibiaSeychelles

South AfricaSwazilandTanzania

ZambiaZimbabwe

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10


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Table1:TelecommunicationsLicensingStatusinSADCMemberStates

ServiceandTechnologyNeutralLicenceStatusAngola AwaitingCabinetapprovalBotswana YesDRC NoLesotho YesMadagascar NoMalawi AwaitingCabinetapprovalMauritius YesMozambique AwaitingCabinetapprovalNamibia AwaitingCabinetapprovalSeychelles NoSouthAfrica YesSwaziland NoTanzania YesZambia NoZimbabwe No

2.1.2 InternetandBroadbandAccess

GrowthininternetandbroadbandaccessandusageinSADCMemberStates(asinotherdevelopingregions) has not kept pacewith voice penetration. An average of only 4% of the SADC region'spopulationareinternetuserstoday.Intheabsenceofregulargatheringofdataoninternetusersbynationalregulators intheregion,the levelofreliabilityofthisestimate isnotentirelyclear.Uptodatedataisnoteasytogather inAfrica,andthedistinctionbetween'users'and'subscribers'isnotalwaysmade,orifitis,thelevelofsharingofinternetaccountscanvarysignificantly.Nevertheless,otherproxy indicators,suchasthenumberofFacebookusers inthecountry,whichalthoughquitevolatileandexhibitveryrapidgrowthinsomeSADCMemberStatesintheregion,indicatesthattheinternetuserfiguresareprobablywithin50%oftheactualnumberofusers.As shown in the chartsbelow, similar to voicepenetration figures, the average across the regionobscuresevenwidervariationsininternetpenetrationratesbetweenMemberStatesrangingfrom1% in the DRC, to almost 40% in Seychelles a 40 times variation, vs only 5 times formobilepenetration. Clearly income levels are a strong factor in determining ICT uptake, but it is alsoapparent that suppresseddemand due toother factorshas amuch larger role, at leastuntil themajor bottlenecks are removed. In terms of indicators of the progress of the RIDMP, onewouldexpect to see decreases in the level of variation in ICT uptake between SADCMember States asbottlenecksareremovedandcoveragetendstowardtheuniversal.


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Figure8:TrendsininternetpenetrationintheSADCregionSource:ITU(2011)Ascanbeseen from theabovegraph,except for thesmallermoreeconomicallydeveloped islandstatesofMauritiusand theSeychelles, thegrowth in internetusershasbeen relatively flat in theregion.Thesegenerally low levelsof internetpenetration,arepartly the resultof thehighcostofaccess,combinedwithlowincomelevels,andthelackoffixedlineinfrastructure,combinedwiththerelativelyshortperiodthat lowercostwireless internetservices(mainly3GandWiMax)havebeenavailableinmajorurbanareas.

The graph below charts the average growth in internet penetrationworldwide and in the SADCregion,andshowsthattheregionisfallingbehindcomparedtotherestoftheworld(althoughitisaheadof theaverage forAfricaasawhole).TheStimedistancegap isalsomuchgreater than formobiletelephony,withtheSADCregionbeingalmost10yearsbehindtheworldaverage.

Figure9:AverageinternetpenetrationtrendsintheSADCregionSource:ITU(2011)


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Over the last fewyearsoperatorshavebegun todeploywireless/mobile internetservices inmajorpopulationcentres2inalloftheSADCMemberStates,andwiththerecentarrivalofmoresubmarinecables in the subcontinent, alongwith fibre to the landlocked countries,mobile internet accesslevelsarecurrentlyrapidlyincreasing,andthetrendlinesabovefortheSADCregionarelikelytoticksharplyupwardoverthenextfewofyears.

Figure10:WiMaxdeploymentsinSouthernAfricaSource:Wimaxmaps.org(2011)

Ofparticularrelevance istheextentofbroadbandpenetration intheregion.WhiletheITUhasnotmade recent statistics onmobile broadband publicly available, the chart below shows the fixedbroadbandtrends intheregion.Thewidevariations infixedbroadbandsubscriberpenetrationarelargelyareflectionoftheavailabilityoffixedlinesinthecountry.Thesubsequentchart,showingtherelativeuptakeoffixedandmobilebroadbandworldwideandindevelopingcountriessince2007,islikely to be reflected in the SADC region aswell. The rapidity of this change and the extent ofbroadband penetration over the short term will largely depend on the effectiveness of theimplementationoftheRIDMP.

2 Nationally, the fixed andmobile infrastructure that is inplace todaywas initiallydimensioned for voice

servicesandwillnotbeable to fullyhandle thedemands forbroadbandwithout substantialand costlyupgrades,mainlyinvolvinginterconnectingbasestationswithfibrebackhaullinks.


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Figure11:TrendsinfixedbroadbandpenetrationintheSADCregionSource:ITU(2011)

Figure12:TrendsinfixedandmobilebroadbandworldwideSource:ITU(2011)


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Table2:BroadbandpenetrationlevelsinSADCMemberStates

Country Fixed+Mobilepenetration%ofpopulationAngola 5.7Botswana 6.9DRC 0.0Lesotho N/AMadagascar N/AMalawi N/AMauritius 28.4Mozambique 1.6Namibia 7.9Seychelles 12.0SouthAfrica 18.1Swaziland 0.1Tanzania 2.1Zambia 0.1Zimbabwe 1.0Source:SADCeCommerceStudy2012

2.1.3 OpticFibreInfrastructure

Highbandwidth fibre optic backbone networks are a particularly important element in the ICTecosystemandoftenamajorcontributortothecostofinternetaccess,especiallybroadbandaccess.Nationalbackbonenetworksconnecttownsandcitieswithincountriesandoftenacrossborders,toneighbouringcountries,aswellasprovidingthelinkstotheinternationalsubmarinecablenetworksthatcarrytrafficbetweencontinents.Bythesametoken,forlandlockedcountries,theirinternationallinks are provided by the national backbone networks of their neighbours a key rationale forregionalcooperation.

In relativelyundevelopedmarkets,suchas in theSADC region,withsuppresseddemandand littlelocal content, the bulk of demand is for international content, and the arrival of affordableinternationalcapacityisakeydemanddriverfornationalnetworkexpansion.Followingthearrivalofplentifulandcheap internationalbandwidth fromcompetingsubmarinecables, itcanbeobservedthatmajor investments inbackbone infrastructurearemadeand localbroadband services rapidlyexpand. The chart below shows use of international capacity in SADC between 2002 and 2011,indicatingthemassivegrowthwhentheadditionalsubmarinecablesbegantoarriveintheregioninmid2009.

Figure13:TrendsininternationalbandwidthcapacityuseSADC Sourcedata:Hamilton(2012)

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 20110

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

140000

160000

180000

200000

SADC Region Total International Bandwidth

(MBps)

Mbp

s


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As can be seen from Figure 14 in themap below,with theWest African Cable System (WACS)submarinecablebecomingoperational thisyear, therewillbeat least17submarinecable landingstationsintheregion.AllofSADCsMemberStatecoastalcountrieswillhaveaccesstoatleastonesubmarine cable, andmost will have direct access to two. They onlyMember State without apotentialbackupcable(eitherdirectlyorviaaneighbouringcountry)istheSeychelles.

Figure14:SubmarinecablesinAfrica

Table3:SADCMemberStateunderseafibreroutestotherestoftheworldCountry AccesstoRestofWorldandBackupRoutesAngola SAT3,WACS,(BrazilAngolaCable)Botswana NamibiatoWACSandviaSouthAfricaDRC WACS,ACELesotho ViaSouthAfrica

Madagascar EasternAfricaSubmarineCable System (EASSy), Lower IndianOceanNetwork(LION)(SEACOM)Malawi ViaTanzaniaandMozambique

Mauritius SouthernAfricaFar EastWest Africa submarine cable (SAFE), LION1(LION2,BRICS)Mozambique SEACOM,EASSy,viaSouth AfricaNamibia WACS,viaSASeychelles SEAS,nobackup

SouthAfrica SAT3,SEACOM,SAFE, EASSy,WACS, (SouthAtlanticExpress (SAex),BRICS)


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Swaziland ViaSAandMZTanzania SEACOM,EASSyZambia ViaNamibia,Botswana,andTanzaniaZimbabwe ViaSouthAfricaandMozambique

WiththeterrestrialfibrelinksbetweenSADCMemberStatesnowinplace(seebelow),thereisalsothepossibilityofaccessingthesubmarinecables inneighbouringorevenmoredistantcountries ifaccesstothelocallandingstationisnotcompetitivelypriced.Theeconomicsustainabilityofusingaforeign landing station depends on the affordability of national backbones to the neighbouringcountry, and is of particular importance for the private operators in countries surrounding SouthAfrica(wherethemostsubmarine landingstationsare locatedandthemostcompetitivepricesarelikely tobe)Botswana,Lesotho,Mozambique,Namibia,Swaziland,andZimbabwe.There isalsonow the possibility of using one of the new regional operators such as Liquid, which providecompetitivelypricedaccesstothesubmarinecablesfromanyoftheirPointsofPresence (POPs) intheregion(seebelowforfurtherdetails).

2.1.4 TerrestrialCommunicationInfrastructure

There has been a tremendous improvement over the last few years in terrestrial fibre optic,microwave,andsatellitecapacityinmostSADCMemberStates.ComparedtootherregionsinAfrica,SADC now has themost pervasive regional terrestrial fibre network. The bilateral links betweennationalbackbonesoftheincumbentoperatorsineachcountryformsthebasisformostofthecrossborder terrestrial fibre in the SADC region, achieved under the aegis of Phase I of SATA's SADCRegionalInformationInfrastructure(SRII)project.

Figure15showstheextentofthecrossborderandnational fibreroutes,taking intoaccountboththe incumbent, state and private/parastatal (nonincumbent) infrastructure, and routes that arealreadyunder construction (or fully fundedwith tenders launched i.e. shouldbeoperationalbyend2012orearly2013shownbydottedlines).

Whilethemapshowsthatmuchoftheminimumrequiredcrossborderinfrastructureisinplace,thisbyitselfdoesnotguaranteethatthecapacityattheregionallevelisaffordable.Mostofitisownedanddeployedbyincumbentoperators(exceptinAngola,SouthAfrica,ZimbabweandTanzania)andalthough there is a lack of generally available information on pricing of fibre links,most of it isunlikelytobecompetitivelypriced,makingiteconomicallyunfeasibletouseefficiently.

Most efforts to address required fibre infrastructure in southern Africa (and elsewhere on thecontinent)hasapproachedtheneedtoaddressthemissinglinksbyfacilitatingtheinterconnectionofthenational infrastructureof incumbentoperators.Thisapproachhashelpedtominimiseexternalfundingrequirements(asthecostsareusuallymetbytheoperatorsthemselves),butthishasleadtonetworkdevelopmentthathasdiscriminatedagainstnewmarketentrantsbecauseitisnotbasedonopenaccessorstronginterconnectionregulation,leadingtohighpricesforaccess.

ThistrendhasmadeoperatorsinthelandlockedSADCMemberStatesevenmorevulnerablebecausetheyhave topay the fullcostof terrestrial transitacross theirneighbours' territories toget to thecoast,sothateveniftheyareinvestorsinthesubmarinecable,theymaynotbeabletoreapitsfullbenefits.ThiswasdiscoveredtoNamibia'scostwhenitinvestedinSAT3,butfoundsatellitecapacitycheaperthanrentingterrestrialcapacityfromTelkomSAtogettotheSAT3landingstationinCapeTown.ThiswasbeforetheSouthAfricanfixedmarketwasfullyopened,andatthetimeTelkomSAwas able to chargewhatever itwished for national capacity, even to its coinvestor in the SAT3submarinecableconsortium.Inconclusion,itcanbesaidthatasidefromafewexceptions,affordableregionalICTinfrastructureisnotyetwidely inplace intheSADCMemberStates.The lackofcompetitivenational infrastructure


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compared to the extent of competition in submarine cables, is demonstrated by the fact thatcapacity from a southern African submarine landing station to Europe,North America or Asia isusuallycheaperthantheincountrynationalbackbonecapacityneededtogettothelandingstation.ThisisthecasecurrentlyintheSADCMemberStateswhichhavecompetingsubmarinecables,suchasMozambiqueandSouthAfrica,whereitmayonlycostUS$200US$300/Mbps/monthforcapacityfromthecoasttoLondon,while itcostsUS$500US$2000/Mbps/monthforcapacityfrom inlandtothecoast.

Figure15:SADCFibreandMicrowaveTelecommunicationInfrastructureby2012/13Legend:Brown/purplelines:fibre,redlines:microwave,dottedlines:planned.Source:HamiltonResearch3(2012)

Theeffectofcompetitiononnationalbackbonepricingcanalsobeobservedwhencomparingpricesfor capacity between, for example South Africa (which has at least four competing backboneproviders) andNamibia,where TelecomNamibia is theonlyprovider. In SouthAfrica the costofcapacityiscurrentlyatleast45%lessthanthesamecapacityontheNamibianside.

The interconnectionmatrix shown in Table 4 below summarises the extent of cross border fibreinfrastructureinplacetoday,andalsoshowsthedegreeofcompetitiononroutes,andnationally.3 http://www.africabandwidthmaps.com


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Table4:CrossBorderInterconnectionMatrix


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Alternative/UtilityInfrastructureSADCModelsforICTUse

Powertel inZimbabwe isoneof the fewsuccessfulexamplesofanationalelectricitygridoperatorspinningoffa subsidiary toexploit thevalueaddof itsnetwork forproviding telecommunicationswholesaleservices.

Bycontrast inZambia,the incumbentoperator,Zamtel,wasabletoreachanexclusivityagreementwith theelectricityutility so thatonly it couldmakeuseof Zesco's grid.While this agreement iscurrentlythesubjectofadispute,thearrangementhasso farmeantthatotheroperatorsneedtobuildtheirowninfrastructurealongthemainroutes.

In the caseofTanzaniaandSouthAfrica, theelectricitydistributionnetworkshaveprovided theirexcess fibre, poles and rights ofway to new state owned entities taskedwith providing nationalbackbone services. In the caseofTanzania this is theNational ICTBroadbandBackbone (NICTBB)which is beingmanaged by the incumbent operator, and the network is the only one availablecurrently.

In South Africa's case, the state owned Broadband Infraco is independently run, and is also aninvestorintheWACSsubmarinecable,soitcanofferbothdomesticandinternationalservices.ItalsocompeteswithanumberofotherprivateplayersinthemarketsuchasTelkomSA,NeotelandDarkFibreAfrica.

At a regional level these and the other national electricity distribution networks are increasinglybeinglinkedtogetheraspartoftheSouthernAfricanPowerPool(SAPP),whosecoordinatingcentreislocatedinZimbabwe.Asshowninthemapbelow,thereismuchofthisregionalinfrastructurethatcouldbeusedtofurtherextendterrestrialfibrebackbonesacrossborders.

Figure16:SAPPNetwork

2.1.5 PrivateTelecommunicationInfrastructureProviders

With the spreadofmarket liberalisation in SADCMember States there are a growingnumberofprivatelyownedinternationaltelecomoperatorsprovidingservicesintheregion.Somearededicatedwholesaleoperators,butmostoperatemobilenetworksthat inmanycaseshaveconstructedtheirown transmission networks in order to carry traffic between base stations and to internationalgateways. As technologyneutral unified licensing expands, there are also a growing number ofoperators that provide amix ofmobile and fixed line services that in some cases now include amajoritystakeintheincumbentoperator.


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Mostoftheseoperatorsnotonlyreachthebordersoftheirrespectivecountries,butinmanycasestheyhaveafootprint inneighbouringcountries.Manyofthe largeroperatorshavealso invested inone or more of the submarine cables landing in the region. Where the national regulatoryenvironmentallowsthemtointerconnectinternationally,andtoresellcapacitytothirdparties,theycouldprovideasubstantialnumberofcompetitivelypricedcrossborderlinks.

The largermobileoperators,MTN,BhartiAirtelandVodacomhaveaparticularlystrong interest inconnecting their infrastructure across borders because of their recent competitive play ofimplementinga 'noroaming'oronnettariffsforcallsbetweenusersoftheirnetworks indifferentcountries. In addition, these operators can take advantage of the many communities that arebisectedbynationalboundaries,whichhaveastrongsuppresseddemandtocommunicatewitheachotherduetothehighcostofinternationalcalls.

Theinterestoftheprivatesectorindeployinginfrastructurealsohighlightstheimportanceofpolicyand regulatorydevelopment in theRIDMP to furtherencouragecompetition in thecarriermarketand promote passive infrastructure provisioning, wholesale price regulation where needed,infrastructuresharingandopenaccessnetworks.Theprivateretailoperatorspresentintheregion(aswellasinothercountriesoutsidetheregionbutnotlistedhere)are:

BhartiAirtel(exZAIN,Celtel)DRC,Madagascar,Malawi,Seychelles,Tanzania,Zambia EconetWirelessBotswana,LesothoandZimbabwe. Etisalat/AtlantiqueTelecomTanzania Expresso/SudatelMalawi LapGreenClaimstohavelicencesinDRCandTanzania. MillicomInternationalCellular(Tigo)DRC,Mauritius,andTanzania MTNBotswana,SouthAfrica,Swaziland. Orange/FranceTelecomgroupBotswana,Madagascar,Mauritius. OrascomTelecomNamibiaandZimbabwe VodacomDRC,Lesotho,Mozambique,SouthAfricaandTanzania.

Therearealsoanincreasingnumberofcompaniesspecialisinginregionalwholesaleterrestrialfibrecarrierservices,asdescribedbelow.

LiquidTelecom

EconetWireless' subsidiary Liquid Telecom has recently extended an 8,500 km fibre link runningfromtheDRCborderthroughZambiaandZimbabwetoSouthAfricawhereithasestablishedadirectconnection to the SEACOM submarine cable. This is part of Liquid's plans to interconnect withBotswana, Mozambique and Namibia. The network also forms one of Zimbabwes nationalbackbones,linkingmajorcitiesandtowns.

Phase2comprisesaroutefromHararetotheMozambicanborderatMutare,aseconddiverseroutetoBeitbridgeviaMasvingoandasecondroute toZambia fromBulawayotoVictoriaFalls.Phase3comprisestheroutefromBulawayototheborderwithBotswana,asecondroutetoBotswana(andNamibia) from Victoria Falls to Kasane, and a second route from Harare to Mozambique viaNyamapanda.AlargesectionofthenetworkinZimbabweusestheenergyprovidersfibrenetwork(PowerTel), and similarly, operations in Zambia are a joint venture with the Copperbelt EnergyCorporation(CEC).


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MalawiandMozambiquehaverecentlybeenincludedinLiquidexpansionplans,andconstructionisstarting in the Katanga Province ofDRCwhere Liquidwill eventually connect Lubumbashi to thecapital,Kinshasa,bytakingthecableonhighvoltagetransmissionlines.

Figure17:LiquidTelecommunicationCurrentandPlannedRegionalBackbone

GatewayCommunications

One of the largest wholesale carriers in Africa, Gateway is a subsidiary of Vodacom and has apresence in 13 countries and clients in about 40 African countries,mostly for its satellitebasedservices.GatewayhasboughtcapacityonSEACOMand isan investor inWACS.IntheSADCregion,GatewayhasofficesinAngola,Mozambique,SouthAfricaandTanzania.GatewayhasdeployedfibreinMalawiandplanstofurtherexpandterrestrialnetworks intoNamibia,Zimbabwe,BotswanaandSwazilandintheshortterm.MTNBusiness

MTNisaSouthAfricanbasedmultinationaltelecommunicationsprovider.AfterMTN'sinitialstartasamobileprovider ithasbeengrowing itsdatanetworkservicesbusiness. IntheSADCregionMTNBusiness'main operations currently are in Botswana, Namibia, and Zambia, but it also providesconnectivity in other African countries by partneringwith local providers.MTN also lays its ownnationalandinternationalfibrewherenecessary,suchasaprojecttointerconnectZambia,BotswanaandNamibia.MTN isamajorshareholder inSEACOMand ithas invested intheWestAfricancablesystem(WACS).InternetSolutions(IS)

ISisaSouthAfricanbasedinternetproviderwhichhasexpandedasaregionalprovideroperatingasadivisionofDimensionData,aSouthAfricanITmultinationallistedontheLondonstockexchange.IShas bought a number of STM1s on SEACOM, aswell as having bandwidth on SAT3. Seeking to


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leverage this infrastructure,withplans togrowacrossAfrica, IShas so farestablishedofficesandPOPsinBotswana,Mozambique,Namibia,ZambiaandMozambique.

SEACOM

Mauritius offshore company SEACOM began operations in 2009 as the first eastcoast submarinecable in Africa, but is now becoming a combined submarine and terrestrial regional carrier. ThebusinessmodelisstructuredsothatthepriceofSEACOMcapacityisthesame,regardlessofwhereitispurchased,onthecoastorinland.ToprovidetheserviceinSouthernAfricaithaspartneredwithSixTelecoms inTanzania,TDM inMozambiqueandDarkFibreAfrica inSouthAfrica.SEACOMhasalsoreachedagreementwiththeWestAfricanprivatesubmarinecableoperatorMainOne,tosharelandingstationswitheachotherso thatcustomerscanbeofferedaccess topointsofpresenceonbothcoasts,includingredundancyandadditionalcapacityonboththeeastandwestroutesaroundAfrica.Orange/FranceTelecom

OrangeisalongstandingglobalplayerinthecapacitymarketandtheconsolidationofitsofferingsintheregionwilllikelytakeplaceiftheACEfibrecable(inwhichitisthemainshareholder)extendstoAngola, Namibia and South Africa. France Telecom is also investing heavily in submarine fibreinfrastructuresuchasACEandLION.SatelliteOperators

In addition,mention shouldbemadehereof the largenumberof satelliteoperatorswhichhavecoverage intheregion.These includeRASCOM,EutelSat,PanamSatandIntelsat,whichallcompetewithoneother toprovidetelecommunicationandbroadcastingservices.Due tothe latency issueswith satellite bandwidth and the high cost of capacity, unless there is no terrestrial alternative,satellite links are best suited to broadcasting and narrowband communication links, such as forbordercontroldata, financial transactions,ATMandbankcardauthorisations,stockreportsetc. Inaddition,iftheterrestrialinfrastructurehasnoredundancy/security,(oftenthecaseinmoreremoteareas)thensatellitelinksarenecessary.AnewMediumEarthOrbit(MEO)satelliteinitiativecalledO3B(OtherThreeBillion)isduetolaunchsatelliteandservicesshortlywhichpromisemuch lower latenciesandcapacityprices.Thesatellitesneed to be tracked as they pass overhead, so this necessitatesmuch higher cost groundstationequipmentthangeostationarysatellites.Asaresulttheservice isnotorientedtoendusersbut isaimedatprovidingbackhaullinksfortelecommunicationoperatorsneedingtoconnecttheirremotenetworks where no terrestrial infrastructure exists or to provide backup links if the terrestrialinfrastructureisinsecure.

2.1.6 NationalandRegionalInternetTrafficExchange

NationalInternetExchangePoints(IXPs)areavitalpartofICTinfrastructure,necessaryforensuringlow latency between networks and minimising the flow of national/regional traffic that wouldotherwise traveloutside thecountryor region.Most IXPsareoperatedbynationalassociationsofInternetServiceProviders(ISPs).Governmentssometimesplayaroleinprovidinganeutralfacilitytohost the IXP, but generally, the IXPs that have emerged have not benefited from any specificinvolvementbygovernment.SADCisaheadofotherregionsinAfrica,withthemajorityofMemberStateshostingatleastoneIXPthereare12 IXPs intheregionandonlyLesotho,Madagascar,SeychellesandSwazilanddonothaveone.Nevertheless,participationbylocalinternetprovidersinsomeoftheIXPsthathavebeen


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establishedislow,andhasnotreachedacriticalmassofoperatorstomakethemselfsustaining.Inaddition,localtrafficisnotalwaysexchangedthroughtheIXPsandonlyafewhaveadditionalsharedfacilities tominimise international traffic and increasequality of service, such as caching servers,mirrorservers,domainnameserversandContentDistributionNetwork(CDN)services.Asaresultofthe lackofregionalexchangesandtheabsenceofnationalexchanges insomeSADCMemberStates,alongwithmanypoorly functioning4existing IXPs,millionsofdollarsannuallyarepaid to offcontinent internet transit providers for trafficwhich could stay local or regional, andexhibitmuchbetternetworkperformanceatfarlowercost(assumingcapacitypricingisreasonable).Asmentionedearlier,thelackofcompetitivelypricednationalcapacityisoneofthekeyconstraintsto increaseduseof IXPs.High localbandwidthcostsmake itexpensive toestablish links from theinternetprovidertotheIXP,andthismakesithardtoeconomicallysustainthelinkwhencombinedwith the extra administrative burden for the relatively small amounts of local traffic exchanged5,especially if the policy environment restricts services such asVoiceover Internet Protocol (VoIP).IXPsappearmoreactivewherelocalbandwidthcostshavecomedownand/orinternationalcapacitycostsarerelativelyhigh(especiallythecaseinthelandlockedcountries).There are a variety of other reasons for the slow pace of IXP development,most of them nontechnicalreasonsrelatingtocapacitybuildingneeds,dominanceofincumbentsintheinternetsectoror internationalgateways,and the levelof trustbetweenproviders in themarket,which results inresistancetosharingresources.The need to promote the development of IXPs has been recognised at continental and regionallevels,withtheAUCandSADCbothdeclaringtheneedfortheirestablishment.Howeverthisinteresthas not yet been fully translated into concrete policies to promote the establishment andimprovementofIXPs,andthereislackofclarityoverhowbesttoensuretheirsustainability,andhowtodeveloptheirroleinoptimisingregionaltrafficflows.TherehavebeensomeproposalsforprojectstoestablishaSADC'RegionalIXP'whichwouldinterconnectthenationalIXPs.HoweverregionalIXPsusuallyevolvenaturallyasanoutcomeofvibrant carriermarketswhere IXPs locatedat themainpointsof fibrenetwork interconnection6become 'superIXPs' attracting international and regionalcarrierstolocatetheirPointsofPresencetheretotakeadvantageoftheeconomiesofscalethatthetrafficat thesehubsbrings.There isa strong 'networkeffect' in thisprocessand the larger theseexchangesbecome, themoreattractive theyare forothercarriers tobuild their infrastructure to.Typicalexamples inEuropeof local IXPswhichhavebecome regionalorevenglobal IXPs are theLondonInternetExchange(LINX)andtheAmsterdamInternetExchange(AMSIX).Strong IXPswheremultiplefibrecarriersare locatedalsoperforman importantfunction inhelpingthemarket for bandwidth to function as efficiently as possible, driving down pricing as carrierscompete forbusiness.This isbecausecustomerscanveryeasilyandquicklyswitchcarrierswithasimple routerconfigurationchange,making itpossible to take immediateadvantageofcompetingpriceoffers.4 LimitedmembershipfromthelocalISPs,orlowlevelsoftrafficbeingexchangedthroughtheIXP5 Thelackoflocallyhostedapplicationsmeansthebulkoftrafficisinternational,reaching90%oftotaltraffic,

ormoreinsomecases6 e.g. Cape Town, Luanda,Mtunzini and Dar es Salaamwhichwill all have at least 3 submarine landing

stationsbynextyear,orJohannesburgorHarare,whereatleast3internationalterrestrialfibrebackbonesinterconnect.


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AnindicationoftheimpactofhighpricesisparticularlyvisibleatthelevelofinternettrafficpassingbetweenSADCMemberStates.Astudy7carriedoutbytheInternetSociety(ISOC)in2011foundthatthereisverylittleinternettrafficexchangedirectlybetweenSADCMemberStates,mainlyduetothehighcostofnationalorcrossborder infrastructure,making itcheapertoexchangetraffic inforeignlocations such as London, Frankfurt or Hong Kong. This even extends to the exchange of trafficbetweeninternetoperatorsatthenationallevel,whereIXPsarenotbeingusedbecauseitischeapertoroutetrafficoutsidethecountryonsubmarinecablesthanitistobuylocalcapacitytoexchangetraffic(seebelowformoredetails).

ThetablebelowsummarisestheresultsoftheISOCstudy,whichshowthatalthoughover80%oftheborders between neighbouring SADCmainland countries have fibre links between them, internettrafficisonlyexchangeddirectlyinlessthan25%ofthe1328potentiallinksbetweenSADCMemberStates. The much higher cost of direct traffic exchange over submarine cables is not as easilyjustifiable,sotheSADCislandnationswerenotincludedinthecomparisons.Nevertheless,exceptingthelinkbetweenMadagascarandMauritius,noneofthethreeSADCislandnationsexchangetrafficdirectlywithanyotherSADCcountry,soiftheywereincluded,thefigurewouldfalltolessthan20%.Table5:SADCMainlandInterconnectivitySummary

CountryNumberofFibreLinkstoSADCNeighbours

SADCNeighboursnotConnectedbyFibre

NumberofSADCIPPeers

SADCMemberStatesPeeredatIPlevelbyatLeastOneInternetProvider

Angola 1/3 DRC,Zambia 1 NamibiaBotswana 4/4 None 3 SouthAfrica,Zambia,ZimbabweDRC 1/3 Angola,Tanzania 0 NoneLesotho 1/1 None 1 SouthAfricaMalawi 3/3 None 2 Mozambique,TanzaniaMozambique 4/6 Zambia,Tanzania 2 SouthAfrica,MalawiNamibia 5/5 None 3 Angola,SouthAfrica,Zambia

SouthAfrica 6/6 None 8 Botswana,Lesotho,Mozambique,Namibia,Swaziland,Tanzania,Zambia,ZimbabweSwaziland 2/2 None 1 SouthAfricaTanzania 2/4 DRC,Mozambique 3 Malawi,SouthAfrica,Zimbabwe

Zambia 5/8 Angola,Malawi,Mozambique 3 Botswana,Namibia,SouthAfrica,

Zimbabwe 4/5 Namibia9 3 Botswana,SouthAfrica,TanzaniaInternationalLinksinplacevsTotalLinkspossible

38/47 30 30/132

%ofTotalAvailable 80.9 22.7

Source:ISOC(2011)

ThefiguresaboveactuallytendtooverstatetheextentofbothfibreandIPlevelinterconnectionduetoavarietyofreasons,listedbelow:

1. The proportion of the traffic exchanged at the IP level between SADCMember States is

actuallymuch less than the22.7% figure implies,which justcounts thenumberofoperator7 Thestudyiscurrentlystillintheprocessoffinalisation,cfKarenRose,[email protected] The number 132 is derived from the 12 mainland SADCMember States which could have operators

exchangingtrafficdirectlywitheachother i.e.eachcouldpeerwith11othercountries12x11=132.Evenifthereisonlyoneoperatoroffibreroutesoutofthecountry,(suchasinthecaseofLesotho)internetproviderscouldstillpeeroverthislinkwithprovidersinotherSADCMemberStatesiftrafficlevelsandcostsjustifiedthisrelativetothecostsofpayingfortransit.

9 DuetothecloseproximitywithZimbabwe'slinktoZambiaandBotswanaatthisborder,aseparatelinktoNamibiamay notmakemuch technical or economic sense, unless transit toNamibia via Botswana orZambiaprovesunsustainable.


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connections, rather than the amount of traffic. Ideally internet providers in each countrywouldberoutingalloftheirtrafficbythemostefficientanddirectroutesbetweentheSADCMemberStates,but currently this is largelyconfined to incumbentandmobileoperators inlandlockedSADCMemberStatesusingthenetworksoftheirsistercoastalcountryoperatorstogainaccesstotherestoftheworld.

2. Most of the crossborder fibre links are established as bilateral arrangements betweenneighbouring incumbent operators, and capacity on the link is usually not available atcompetitivepricestothirdparties.Also,morethanonelinkbetweenneighbouringcountriesisrequired to ensure continuity of service in the event of a cable cut, and/or to promotecompetitivepricingontheroute.

Table6:ListofoperatorsexchangingtrafficdirectlywitheachotherintheSADCmainlandCrossBorderLink OperatorsExchangingTrafficDirectlyAngola/Namibia InternetTechnologiesNA/InternetTechnologiesAngola

Botswana/SouthAfrica BTC/Neotel,Telkom

Botswana/Zambia BTC/Zamtel

Botswana/Zimbabwe BTC/Powertel

Lesotho/SouthAfrica TL,VodacomLS,/VodacomTelkom

Malawi/Mozambique MalawiTelecom/TDM

Malawi/Tanzania MTL/TTCL

Mozambique/SouthAfrica TDM,Intradata/TelkomSA,IS

Namibia/SouthAfrica TelecomNamibia/Neotel,TelecomNamibia/MTNBusiness

Namibia/Zambia TelecomNamibia/Zamnet,UUNet,QuickEdge

SouthAfrica/Swaziland Telkom,Vodacom,MTNBS/SPTC,Vodacom,RealNetSwaziland

SouthAfrica/Tanzania IS/WIA,SixTelecom

SouthAfrica/Zambia MTNBusiness,UUNET/MTN,Sprint

SouthAfrica/Zimbabwe TelkomSA/TelOne,AfricaOnline

Tanzania/Zimbabwe SpiceNet/Telecontract

Source:ISOC(2011)Direct trafficexchangebetween internetnetworkoperators takesplace throughuseof theBorderGatewayProtocol(BGP)inconjunctionwithanAutonomousSystemNumber(ASN),whichallowsanyindependentnetworktoidentify itselfuniquely intheglobalroutingtablesandautomaticallyroutetraffic for itself overmultiple paths. As a result counting the number of ASNs provides a goodindicationofthelevelofmaturityandextentofinterconnectionbetweenoperatorsinacountry.The chart below shows the uneven and generally low level of use of ASNs in the region. EvenexcludingSouthAfrica,thenumberofASNspercountryintherestoftheregionvariesbymorethanafactorof10.ThenumberofASNswouldnormallybeexpectedtoreflectthecountry'spopulationsize,wealthandmaturityof the internetsector,but the figuresbelowshow this isclearlynot thecaseyet,and thatbasicpolicyconstraintscurrentlyhaveamoresignificant impacton the levelofinternetdevelopmentinthecountry.


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Figure18:ASNsinSADCMemberStatesSource:RIPE(2011)

2.1.7 PostalInfrastructure

Similarly toother regions, thepublicpostalsector inSADC isundergoingchallenging timesdue tocompetitionfromtheprivatesectorinsomeservices,andgreateruseoftheinternetforlettersandlegal documents. As a result the region has recorded an average annual decline of 5% inmailvolumes inrecentyears.Following internationaltrends,thisdeclinecanbeexpectedtocontinue intheforeseeablefuture.Howeverglobally,parcelmailappearstobeincreasingsteadilyasaresultofincreasinguseofecommerceandthisislikelytotakeplaceinSADCaswell.WithinSADC thebasicpostal infrastructure is largely inplaceand theexchangeofregionalmail isfunctioning,although coverageofpostofficebranches is still limited inmost ruralareasandmailtrafficisprobablynotasrapidandsecureasmightbedesired.Asidefromtheconstraintscreatedbythelimitedcapacityofthepostaloperators,otherreasonsforfailuretoachieveinternationalservicestandardsare: Lackofdirectflights; Agingvehiclefleets;and Delaysinclearanceofitemsbycustomsofficials.Withregardtothelatter,customspracticesandprocedurescansignificantlyaffectcourierservicesforexample,ifaMemberStatehasnocustomsclearancepoliciesthatspecificallyrecognisecourierserviceproducts, thismay require them tobe treatedunder timeconsumingproceduresdesignedfor regularcargo.However,onaveragenearly98%ofpostal items remain in thedomestic servicewhilejustover2%ofitemscrossnationalborders.Themodesofmailandparcel internationalexchangepartlydependon the infrastructureofothersectorsprincipallytransportandcommunications.Thegrowingcrossborderairandroadnetworksareimprovingtheoptionsintheregionforthetransportofphysicalmail.Generallytheinternationalpostal systems are dependent on themajor air transport hubs for routing airmail, particularlyJohannesburg,althoughsomeofthesemightbeoutsidetheregionforexampleNairobiairportforTanzania.Theexpanding telecommunicationnetworks in the regionare increasing theoptions forlinking up postal branches for electronic and financial services and administrative purposes.Improvingthesecurityandreliabilityofthephysicalnetworkscontinuestobeapriority.Alongwith


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increased competition from private courier companies this appears to have helped encouragesignificantimprovementinthequalityofservice.Inaneffort to improvemailexchange in the region,postalservicesestablished theRegionalRoadTransportNetwork(RTN)in2010,toallowinternationalmailcomingintotheregionviaSouthAfrica,to be transported by road to various SADCMember States. TheRTN covers eight SADCMemberStates(Botswana,Lesotho,Mauritius,Malawi,Mozambique,Namibia,ZambiaandZimbabwe),andvolumeshave steadily increased since the launch toabout45000kgofmailamonth inOctober2011.AccordingtotheUniversalPostalUnion(UPU),publicpostaloperatorsinSADCMemberStatesheld96%market share of domestic letter post, and 80% of international letterpost, but only 28% ofdomesticparcelserviceand20%ofinternationalparcelservices.Thecouriercomponenthaslargelybeenopened for competitionand theprivate sector isparticularlyactive in thismarket. InSouthAfricaalonethereare50couriercompanies.As liberalisationofthesectorhastakenplace,courierservicesuppliersusuallyseektotakelargersharesofadditionalinternationalmailservices.Effortsbypostal services to reduce costsand increasecoveragehavealso led to theuseof franchisingwithretailoutlets,petrolstations,andmunicipalofficesoftenprovidingvariouspostalservices.TheInternationalPostalSystem(IPS)fortrackingandtracingmailhasbeenimplementedin11SADCMember States and nine offer trackandtrace online. However limited computerisation/branchofficeautomationandskillsshortageshaveresulted inasomewhat inconsistentservicequalityandcoverage.SofaronlySouthAfricaandMauritiushavefullycomputerisedtheirpostalnetworks.Table7:ICTInfrastructureStatusofSADCPostalOperators

Country ICTInfrastructureSupport FutureProspects

Angola FibreopticinstallationinprogressCurrentlycarryingoutcounterautomationofoffices

Needstoshareexperienceswithotherpostaladministrations

Botswana 95%ofcountrycoveredsofarCounterautomationforurbanandruralareasalmostcomplete.

Allmajorcitiesandtownscovered

Lesotho PartialcoverageofICTInfrastructureavailableNetworkingofficesinprogress2officesconnectedelectronicallyand46offline

NeedsICTinfrastructuresupportforfullcoverage

Malawi PartialCoverageofICTInfrastructureavailable48officesconnectedelectronically130officesoffline

NeedsICTInfrastructureInternetconnectivityinmajortownswhileothertownsandruralareascoveredbyGPRSandtelephones

Mauritius PartialcoverageofICTInfrastructure available60domesticofficesofferingonlineelectronic102offeringofflinein2010andtargetofconnectingallthesebyDecember2011

NeedsITinfrastructuresupportforfullcoverage

Namibia Partialcoverage NeedsICTsupportforfullcoverage

SouthAfrica Infrastructuresupportavailableinbothurbanandruralareas

WorkingonadoptionofinnovativeITsolutions

Swaziland All30officesadequatelycoveredIntheinitialstagesofprocuringapostalautomationsystemwhichwillconnectallofficesfromEscher

Needsasystemthatlinksallofficeselectronically

Tanzania MostpartscoveredthoughthroughGPRSuptodistrictlevel.

14officesonline155offlineand20wereexpectedonlinebyDec

Needcapitalforexpandingnetwork.


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2011CounterautomationusingPostGlobal,alreadycoveredover28

Zambia ICTsupportavailablethroughoutthecountrySuccessfullyrolledoutcounterautomationin2010to21officesandcompletionofrolloutis2012

120officesonline

Mobileandinternetaccessavailable

Zimbabwe PartialcoverageofICTInfrastructureavailable23officesonWANInternetlimitedto100off

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