FUNDING UNIVERSAL ACCESS IN CAMEROON

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FUNDING UNIVERSAL ACCESS IN CAMEROON

• Presented by
• Jean Marie NOAH
• Telecommunications Inspector
  Email nojemar_at_yahoo.fr
• Master of Communications Management
  Phone [phone]
• (237)
  931 05 51
• P.O. Box 6132 Yaoundé

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AGENDA

• Country indicators
• Telecommunications sector reforms
• Telecommunications market dynamics
• Universal access issues
• Universal Access Strategies
• Special Telecommunications Fund framework
• Implementation problems
• Reasons of failure
• Lessons from STF failure.

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CAMEROON
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COUNTRY INDICATORS

• Less Developing country of central Africa
• Population 16,1 millions
• - Pop. less than 15 45
• - Rural Population 53.6
• GDP per Capita 670.30 US Agriculture
  represents 44.5
• - GDP annual growth 5 (3 last years)
• Inflation rate 2.1
• 
  Source World Bank annual
  report 2003

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Telecommunications sector reforms in Cameroon

• Objectives
• Promote private investment in a bid to maximise
  the contribution of the telecommunications sector
  to the national economy
• Provide the population with a variety of good
  quality services at the best prices.

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• Adoption of the Telecommunications Law of 14 July
  1998
• Redefinition of the roles of key players
• Creation of the Telecommunications Regulatory
  Board
• Privatisation of the public mobile telephone
  operator, CAMTEL-MOBILE
• Opening of the mobile telephone market to the
  competition and entry of 2 mobile telephone
  operators, MTN and Orange

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Launching of the privatisation process of CAMTEL,
the incumbent operator The process is still
ongoing after 3 attempts- Establishment of the
Special Telecommunications Fund within the
Telecommunications Regulatory Board-
Liberalisation of Internet market.
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Telecommunications market dynamics

• Rapid telecommunications growth
• Teledensity from 0.02 (1999) to 6.80 (2003)
• Number of fixed and mobile telephone subscribers
  from 71 715 in 1999 to 1 174 344 in 2003
• Consumer tariffs have been falling up to 22.6
  from 2000 to 2003
• Innovative technologies and services
• Improvement of quality of service
• Relative growth of the network coverage.

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UNIVERSAL ACCESS ISSUES

• Telecommunications networks and services are
  mostly available in the main cities, which are
  economically more attractive for operators Up to
  200 of the 321 administrative units and up to
  15,000 villages still remain without any public
  telephone access
• Rural areas where 53.6 of people live in
  Cameroon remain unserved with any
  telecommunications service

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UNIVERSAL ACCESS ISSUES (2)

• Rural telephone service has limited capacity of
  11,140 lines that serve 76 localities, and only
  1,777 of those connections (15.95) are
  operational. The rest is obsolete and out of
  service
• Only 48 public booths were installed in the main
  cities and along the main roads
• Most of them are currently out of service
• The fixed telephone network covers only 25.85 of
  localities, with a teledensity of 0.59

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Universal Access Strategies

• Universal access obligations included in all
  operators schedules of conditions (eg
  geographical coverage of the mobile telephone
  networks)
• Operation of the Special Telecommunications Fund

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Special Telecommunications Fund framework

• Objectives
• to finance the telecommunications universal
  service
• contribute to the financing of telecommunications
  development through out the national territory

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Fund management

• The Funds resources shall be managed by the
  Telecommunications Regulatory Board
• Sums due for universal service and for
  telecommunications development shall be placed in
  two separate accounts
• And these resources shall be used solely for the
  development of telecommunications according to
  Government-defined priorities.

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Main sources for STFs funding

• Sums due for universal service obligation by
  public telecommunications networks operators and
  the overall public telephone services providers,
  under conditions defined in their licence and
  specifications respectively
• Annual contributions from operators and
  telecommunications services providers under
  conditions defined in their respective
  specifications (levy of 2 of total revenues)

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Implementation problems

• Only the two accounts provided by the
  telecommunications law were open by the
  regulator, TRB, in 2000
• No contribution has been made to the Fund by
  operators
• No instruction has been given by the ministry of
  Posts and Telecommunications about governments
  priorities
• From 1999 to 2002, the financial lose for the
  Fund is 9,500,573,513 CFA Francs

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Reasons of failure (research findings)

• Lack of universal access policy document issued
  by government which should define specific goal,
  objectives and targets of the Special
  Telecommunications Fund
• Lack of financial transparent mechanisms
• Lack of Fund procedures
• Lack of programmes and projects

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Lessons from STF failure

• Importance of government universal access policy
  document
• Specification of Fund vision and objectives
• Good definition of the Fund structure,
  administration and management
• Formulation of different steps of the Fund
  implementation
• Formulation of financial and administrative
  procedures, processes and mechanisms

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Lessons from the STF failure

• Awareness of all stakeholders in the Fund
  implementation process and specification of their
  respective roles, especially, the role of the
  ministry in charge of the telecommunications.

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• THANK YOU !