Afghanistan has transformed its telecommunications from a fragmentedsystem serving few people to a modern one putting Afghans in touch with one another and with the global economy—all in just a few years. After the war in 2002 there were only 2 telephones for every 1,000 Afghans, and communicating between provinces was almost impossible, even for the government.
Before the 2010 earthquake, only one in three Haitians had a mobile phone, and fewer than one in 100 had access to the internet. Now, the mobile phone is ubiquitous, with many Haitians using it to access the internet and build their businesses.
On April 29, 2010, the Central Bank of Haiti (Banque de la République d’Haïti or BRH) signed an agreement with Vietnam’s largest mobile telephone opera- tor, Viettel, to significantly expand telecommunications services in the earth- quake-ravaged country. The public-private partnership is expected to mod- ernize Teleco, help improve the company’s technical and financial capacities, modernize its infrastructure, and provide new services to its customers.
In 2009, Haiti’s national telecom company – Teleco – was rapidly losing market share and nearly $1.5 million a month in public funds. IFC helped the Government of Haiti and Viettel form a partnership that has turned around the fortunes of the company. Today, the new company – Natcom Haiti – has gone from 75,000 customers to 1.8 million and is turning a profit for both Viettel and the government.
Utilities that share their infrastructures will help reduce the costs and time to deploy telecommunications networks. Governments that create an enabling environment and support partnerships to share infrastructure will help to expand the reach of the Internet, connecting more people to economic and knowledge opportunities around the world.
Ce document recense pour chaque pays de la CEEAC (Angola, Burundi, Cameroun, Gabon, Guinée Equatoriale, République Centrafricaine (RCA), Congo, République Démocratique du Congo (RDC), Sao Tomé & Principe, Tchad).
Telecommunications Sector in DJIBOUTI : Finding the Path to Growth 2015 Report
Author : Marc Lixi, Arthur Foch and Mariana Dahan
Political and social transformations in Myanmar have made possible reform of the country’s telecommunications sector. Liberalization has allowed a country with the lowest rates of telecom penetration to leapfrog into the digital age. In February 2012, it cost $300 to buy a mobile SIM card anywhere in Myanmar—that is, if such a rare find made itself available. But just over two years later, in September 2014, you could easily purchase one for $1.50—and have your choice from among three operators.
Telecommunication is a traditional public sector responsibility that today is more often offered by private sector investors and operators. The scarcity of funding available in public sector, coupled with an increasing demand in the dynamic technology outputs is giving increasing advantage to private firms. Yet the government retains certain critical responsibilities in the sector such as regulation; in some sub-sectors (e.g. broadband), the public sector may continue to have primary investment responsibility due to significant market failures that inhibit private investment.