AudiencScapes

By Bai-Bai Sesay

Sierra Leone is taking major steps to connect its citizens with the rest of the world. The government plans to liberalize the country's international gateway for voice calls and internet connections. The government also recently inked a deal with France to bring a fiber optic cable system to the country.

The ultimate beneficiaries of these developments will be consumers. With more companies competing for their business, they should see lower costs in mobile phone and internet service and equipment. They may find it easier to connect with the outside world at cheaper rates, higher voice clarity and higher call success rates.

The expansion of the gateway represents a major reversal in policy. Since 2006 -- when the parliament gave Sierratel a monopoly on international connections -- mobile phone and internet service providers have been forced to contract with the government-owned Sierratel to get international connectivity.

Some believe the monopoly policy grew out of security considerations, such as the operation of illegal mobile phone businesses as well as the sending of hate messages in the country. Alhaji Ibrahim Ben Kargbo, the government’s minister of information and communications, has said the goal was to bolster Sierratel, transforming it from a dormant institution to a viable and competitive player in the telecommunications industry.

President Pushes Communication Technology

Kargbo announced the gateway policy in May at Sierra Leone’s “consumer parliament,” held in the southern province city Bo. The minister said that President Ernest Bai Koroma will oversee a new ICT (information and communications technology) council to accelerate the implementation of the international gateway expansion, fiber optic communications and other ICT policy issues.

Kwame Yanson, a senior official of the ministry of information and communication, said the move to open the international gateway and the participation in the ICT council by high-level officials are evidence that the government is committed to using telecommunications to drive economic growth and development.

Preparing for Fiber Optic

Opening the international gateway now will clear the path for the introduction of fiber optic communications. Lifting the ban on companies other than Sierratel from operating international gateways is a prerequisite for bringing fiber optic to Sierra Leone. A delegation from the ministry of information and communications and NATCOM, the government entity that regulates telecommunications, have just returned from France where they signed an agreement with France Telecom, the implementer for the new fiber optic undersea cable project, set to begin in November 2011.

“It must have been music to the collective ears of mobile and internet service providers [who] would once again be free to switch on their gateways and use the undersea cable with its many technological advantages,” Kargbo said of the agreement.

For the internet user, government official Yanson said the fiber optic project would provide “real” broadband speed internet connectivity to a wider consumer base at a more affordable cost.

Debate over Benefits of Competition

Not surprisingly, officials at Sierratel are skeptical of such claims. In interviews, Sierratel’s wireless network manager, Edward Sesay, has said that, by liberalizing the gateway, the government runs the risk of allowing “bad business people” to jeopardize the security of the country. He said the government will also lose the huge amount of money it derives from Sierratel’s monopoly of the gateway.

For more information on Sierra Leone read about:

The Importance of Radio in Sierra Leone
How Structural Barriers Limit Women's Media Use
Why Regional Differences Matter in Sierra Leone

Bai Bai Sesay is an independent journalist from Sierra Leone, who has written for the Independent Observer Press, the Legacy Magazine, Panos and Africa News Online.

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Photo Courtesy of Flickr and jacashgone.