The path to the creation of an information society is through the rollout of mobile broadband, and SA should acknowledge that government and regulatory intervention is all but irrelevant, says Rohan Samarajiva, a visiting Sri Lankan academic.
Speaking at a public lecture at the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business last night, Samarajiva said research into the developing telecommunications markets of South East Asia holds a number of important lessons for SA.
“The poorest people know how to get the best value for their telecommunications costs. It almost doesn't matter what plans, regulations and incentives governments and large companies place, the poorest will find the least-cost option.”
Samarajiva served as director-general of the Sri Lankan Department of Communications from 1998 to 1999, and is chairman and CEO of regional ICT policy and research organisation LIRNEasia.net. He is delivering lectures for the Connectivity and Convergence Course: Alternative Regulatory Strategies, being conducted by economic development organisation The Edge Institute.
LIRNEasia.net tracks trends and usage of telecommunications within the Indo-Gangetic Plain, which holds the world's largest concentration of poorest people. The six countries that are researched are Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Philippines and Thailand.
Samarajiva noted the proliferation of cellular phones has helped improve the lives of literally millions of poor people. This is despite the attempts by governments of those countries to at first restrain the growth of mobile networks and then to try and make money out of them, he explained.
“Licensing grants are often based on corruption rather than on what is needed. It is ironic that corruption has actually freed up the markets and brought the services to the people who need them.”
SA could do well to learn from the lessons of South East Asia, and there are a number of regulatory issues that it could apply, Samarajiva pointed out.
SA runs the “Alitalia” model of telecommunications as opposed to the “Ryan Air” model that is now prevalent in South East Asia.
Rohan Samarajiva, a visiting Sri Lankan academic
These include allowing for as many players in the market as possible; finding more flexible and creative ways in which to allocate spectrum; having a light market hand, but dealing with competition issues firmly; and generally staying out of the running of the industry.
SA runs the “Alitalia” model of telecommunications as opposed to the “Ryan Air” model that is now prevalent in South East Asia, he noted.
He was referring to an expensive regulatory process that leads to difficult market conditions and prices that stay high and are unlikely to be sustainable in the long-run, as opposed to a no-frills model that allows prices to fall, but quality of service could be spotty.
“You must be very proud of yourselves as a country because your total cost of ownership for a mobile phone is one of the highest in the world at $18 (R190) per month. In Bangladesh, considered one of the worst run countries in the world, this is about $1 per month.”
Related stories:
No policy is the best policy
Share