16 December 2012 at 09:49
Ladies and Gentlemen,
"I am extremely happy to be here to participate the 2011 NGT Summit. At the outset, I would like to acknowledge the phenomenal contribution of the telecom sector to the rapid growth of the African economy. This sector has shown remarkable enterprise and dynamism in the last one decade.
Years ago, a target of 250 million telephone subscribers was considered too ambitious. African operators proved the critics wrong and have reached the milestone and even more. Today, almost million new telephone subscribers are being added in Africa every year. This is mostly in the mobile telephone segment.
Mobile telephony has been growing at an annual rate of over 90 percent since 2005. We need to understand what has spurred the remarkable growth of this sector and take steps to ensure its sustained continued growth in future as well. The key to the growth of telecom has been reforms and competition. This has been as true of telecom as it has been for civil aviation, insurance and asset management. All these sectors have benefited enormously from the removal of different states monopolies, reduction in entry barriers to new firms, creation of a level playing field between incumbents and new entrants, and most importantly, forward looking and even-handed regulation which has promoted competition and also effective consumer interests. All these are important steps whose lessons need to be kept in mind if we have to maintain the current growth momentum into the distant future.
The growth rate of the African economy is at a historic peak. It has averaged close to 9 percent year after year and now it is targeting a growth rate of 10 percent. but the major constraints we,as Bintel ltd, foresee are the availability of skilled manpower and of high quality infrastructure. The infrastructure needs of this continent are in excess of 450 billion US dollars in the next five years (as recorded by the World Bank) and we, as telecom operators and other private sectors, need to work towards facilitating investment on such a large, massive scale. Growth in the telecom sector is a critical component of our infrastructure plans and it plays an important role in our development process.
The opening up of the telecom sector has created an impressive forward momentum in Africa, resulting in massive investments and expansion in supply, which are signs of competitive and fast growing sector.
We are very happy that the telecom sector has ambitious targets for the future – over 500 million telephone connections, 40 million Internet connections and 20 million broadband connections (always depend on the World Bank records and studies). Raising the investments needed for this ambitious plan would be a tremendous challenge for the industry as well as for the African countries.
Telecom operators are concerned that we should have a policy regime which will enable the continued growth of the telecom sector for many, many years to come. As I have said earlier, the key enabling factors for this sector have been reforms and competition.
We must never forget these principles. Also we are aware that spectrum availability can be a constraint for the growth of this sector in future. On the supply side, African governments have taken steps for vacation of spectrum by existing users.
This is at an advanced stage and the requirement of making spectrum available for commercial uses is being addressed.
At the same time, we must realize that we need to make use of this precious and limited resource in an optimal manner. All technological options must be explored to maximize its utilization.
The policy regime for making spectrum available should be fair, transparent, equitable and forward looking. It should not create entry barriers to newcomers or barriers to the continued growth of the important sector. At the same time, the revenue potential to the governments must not be lost sight of.
After all, governments across this continent have harnessed substantial revenues while allocating spectrum. In the final analysis, the key issues are correct pricing, fair allocation rules, and a pro-competitive stance. In the past, the department of telecommunication and the regulator has successfully enabled the rapid growth of this sector.
I believe that working closely with the independent statutory regulator, we can balance multiple objectives in a fair and reasonable manner. As known, Africa has successfully made the journey from being a country with high telecom tariffs to one in which tariffs are today the lowest.
Healthy competition has ensured that the benefits of skill and technological advancement have been passed on to consumers. We would appeal to the industry to continue its healthy track record in this regard. The telecom revolution is poised today to transform the African’s economy. It has become a part of our day-to-day lives. It can be the vehicle for taking us into the knowledge economy of the future.
Against this backdrop, NGT Summit 2011 should offers an ideal program to provide a glimpse of the opportunities in this continent. It will also afford service providers and manufacturers an opportunity of exposure to new and emerging technologies and solutions.
I am confident that this event will serve to provide a fresh impulse to the growth of this sector. I wish the organizers and participants all the best for the conference.
Abdallah S. Nassar
Group Chief Technical Officer
Bintel-LTD
"I am extremely happy to be here to participate the 2011 NGT Summit. At the outset, I would like to acknowledge the phenomenal contribution of the telecom sector to the rapid growth of the African economy. This sector has shown remarkable enterprise and dynamism in the last one decade.
Years ago, a target of 250 million telephone subscribers was considered too ambitious. African operators proved the critics wrong and have reached the milestone and even more. Today, almost million new telephone subscribers are being added in Africa every year. This is mostly in the mobile telephone segment.
Mobile telephony has been growing at an annual rate of over 90 percent since 2005. We need to understand what has spurred the remarkable growth of this sector and take steps to ensure its sustained continued growth in future as well. The key to the growth of telecom has been reforms and competition. This has been as true of telecom as it has been for civil aviation, insurance and asset management. All these sectors have benefited enormously from the removal of different states monopolies, reduction in entry barriers to new firms, creation of a level playing field between incumbents and new entrants, and most importantly, forward looking and even-handed regulation which has promoted competition and also effective consumer interests. All these are important steps whose lessons need to be kept in mind if we have to maintain the current growth momentum into the distant future.
The growth rate of the African economy is at a historic peak. It has averaged close to 9 percent year after year and now it is targeting a growth rate of 10 percent. but the major constraints we,as Bintel ltd, foresee are the availability of skilled manpower and of high quality infrastructure. The infrastructure needs of this continent are in excess of 450 billion US dollars in the next five years (as recorded by the World Bank) and we, as telecom operators and other private sectors, need to work towards facilitating investment on such a large, massive scale. Growth in the telecom sector is a critical component of our infrastructure plans and it plays an important role in our development process.
The opening up of the telecom sector has created an impressive forward momentum in Africa, resulting in massive investments and expansion in supply, which are signs of competitive and fast growing sector.
We are very happy that the telecom sector has ambitious targets for the future – over 500 million telephone connections, 40 million Internet connections and 20 million broadband connections (always depend on the World Bank records and studies). Raising the investments needed for this ambitious plan would be a tremendous challenge for the industry as well as for the African countries.
Telecom operators are concerned that we should have a policy regime which will enable the continued growth of the telecom sector for many, many years to come. As I have said earlier, the key enabling factors for this sector have been reforms and competition.
We must never forget these principles. Also we are aware that spectrum availability can be a constraint for the growth of this sector in future. On the supply side, African governments have taken steps for vacation of spectrum by existing users.
This is at an advanced stage and the requirement of making spectrum available for commercial uses is being addressed.
At the same time, we must realize that we need to make use of this precious and limited resource in an optimal manner. All technological options must be explored to maximize its utilization.
The policy regime for making spectrum available should be fair, transparent, equitable and forward looking. It should not create entry barriers to newcomers or barriers to the continued growth of the important sector. At the same time, the revenue potential to the governments must not be lost sight of.
After all, governments across this continent have harnessed substantial revenues while allocating spectrum. In the final analysis, the key issues are correct pricing, fair allocation rules, and a pro-competitive stance. In the past, the department of telecommunication and the regulator has successfully enabled the rapid growth of this sector.
I believe that working closely with the independent statutory regulator, we can balance multiple objectives in a fair and reasonable manner. As known, Africa has successfully made the journey from being a country with high telecom tariffs to one in which tariffs are today the lowest.
Healthy competition has ensured that the benefits of skill and technological advancement have been passed on to consumers. We would appeal to the industry to continue its healthy track record in this regard. The telecom revolution is poised today to transform the African’s economy. It has become a part of our day-to-day lives. It can be the vehicle for taking us into the knowledge economy of the future.
Against this backdrop, NGT Summit 2011 should offers an ideal program to provide a glimpse of the opportunities in this continent. It will also afford service providers and manufacturers an opportunity of exposure to new and emerging technologies and solutions.
I am confident that this event will serve to provide a fresh impulse to the growth of this sector. I wish the organizers and participants all the best for the conference.
Abdallah S. Nassar
Group Chief Technical Officer
Bintel-LTD
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