2023-04-20 02:50:12
The State frees up access to national and international fiber optic networks for all operators. It also ended interconnection costs.
A historic decision. The State has decided to do everything possible to allow Internet prices to be reduced in the long term. Two decrees were thus adopted in one month in order to encourage competition on equal terms between the four operators operating in the country. The first, dated April 6, puts an end to the exclusivity of the incumbent operator Telma in the installation of the national fiber optic network or backbone. The second, dated April 12, eliminates the cost of interconnection between operators. “Madagascar is already in the world top 3 in terms of quality and speed. We want the country to also be part of the Top 10 in Africa in terms of cost, knowing that internet prices in Madagascar are in the average category today, contrary to the World Bank’s announcement which places us among the more expensive”, declares Tahina Razafindramalo, Minister of Posts, Telecommunications and Digital Development (MPTDN), on the sidelines of a ceremony to hand over equipment to Paositra Malagasy (PAOMA), yesterday.
Privatisation
The exclusivity of the national fiber backbone granted to Telma is part of the clauses of the privatization of this former state company when it was sold to the Malaysian company Distacom in 2001. These clauses provided, among other things, that as long as the number of Madagascans does not exceed 50 million, the incumbent operator has a monopoly. The same is true for access to international submarine networks until an exceptional authorization had been authorized for Orange to connect to the Lion 1 and 2 cables. “Each of the four operators is now free to deploy its own national fiber optic network. All can also connect to international submarine cables”, specifies the Minister. Concerning the decree on interconnection, it is a question of allowing the two other operators who do not have optical fiber to be able to compete with the two others who have it. In order to satisfy their customers, they are obliged to “rent” from Orange or Telma. And because of their more or less monopoly position, the latter were able to apply prices at their convenience to these customers and at the same time competitors. “Thanks to this decree, the tariffs imposed by Orange and Telma are over,” loose Minister Tahina Razafindramalo. This major reform in the telecommunications sector is the first since 2005. For the Minister, it allows for the development of a sector that has been frozen for 18 years.
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