Regulators should do the whole lot doable to interrupt up the ugly monster of monopolies and duopolies which might be chocking innovation in ICT and telecommunication sectors, Alliance Towards Monopoly, a Pan-African anti-dominance group has mentioned.
Commenting in regards to the Uganda Nationwide IT Survey 2022 report by Nationwide Info Know-how Authority Uganda (NITA-U), Dr Omife I Omife, the Alliance Towards Monopoly Africa advisory director, mentioned regulators should minimize the monopolistic hydra, whose tentacles proceed to dam innovation and competitors, particularly within the telecom sector.
“During the last decade, market mergers in Uganda and the area have created a probably harmful ‘cartel’ made up of 1 dominant tower supplier with 90 % management of the market and two telecom suppliers with about 95 % of market share. These wield a lot energy over the market, bordering on regulatory seize that it has grow to be troublesome for any new gamers to penetrate the market and supply innovation and aggressive pricing,” he mentioned in a press release on the weekend.
Particularly, he famous, regulators should scrutinise the merger plans between American Tower Company (ATC) and Eaton Towers, saying the plan which grants ATC 90 % management of the tower market, is a “killer grit of monopoly that shall be detrimental to the general curiosity of Uganda”.
“The monopoly that we’re creating in ATC will, in some ways, destroy the market and create distortions that work in opposition to financial improvement and decelerate development,” he mentioned, noting that the current courtroom circumstances and complaints to the regulators in Uganda and the Comesa Competitors Fee paperwork monopolistic cartel-like behaviours with some telecoms colluding to lock out new entrants from the sector.
For example, Dr Omife famous, in a single case, a tower supplier and telecom supplier consented to a Proper of First Refusal association through which the telecom wouldn’t enable different tower builders to construct towers until the tower firm had been provided the chance first.
“Reciprocally, the tower corporations are permitting telecoms beneficiant anchor-tenant advantages and pricing whereas ‘punishing’ different tenants on the identical towers with crippling tariffs, which make it troublesome for different non-anchor cell community operators to compete.
It isn’t subsequently accidentally that many of the new [telecoms] in Uganda have closed store throughout the first three years of operation, whereas these too-big-to-handle gamers are reporting a whole lot of billions in revenue. Are we, subsequently, shocked that Uganda is residence to the world’s most second costly Web?” he questioned.
Nevertheless, he counseled Uganda Communications Fee for nullifying the Rights of First Refusal however urged regulators to be extra proactive, moderately than ready for complaints from aggrieved events.
The arrival of the 4th Industrial Revolution, which largely relies upon on the web, had basically altered the way in which folks stay and do enterprise however Uganda risked squandering the chance as a result of emergence of profit-first monopolists, who’re making it troublesome for companies, colleges and households to entry reasonably priced web.
The NITA-U research signifies that the price of entry to web is the single-largest barrier to connectivity for majority of Ugandan companies, households and people with household-level web entry nonetheless severely restricted.
The report signifies that 94 % of households haven’t any entry in any respect throughout the nation with not less than 37 % of households with out entry citing price as the most important hindrance whereas 48 % cite the price of gear.
The research additional signifies that whereas 55 % of companies have web entry, 44.7 % mentioned they didn’t have entry as a result of excessive price of web providers and gear.
Due to this fact, Mr Omife mentioned the web, similar to different important assets and infrastructure akin to water, vitality, healthcare, training and transport should be delicately protected, from the excesses of capitalism, noting that regulators should take eager curiosity within the regulation of the communications sector to regulate end-user prices
One other research – the Surfshark 2022 Digital High quality of Life Index – exhibits that Uganda is residence to the second-most costly web on the earth, after Ivory Coast.
The research, which ranked Uganda 116th out of 117 nations surveyed, indicated that on common, Ugandans work a median of two weeks to afford the most affordable fastened broadband web bundle.
It isn’t subsequently accidentally that many of the new [telecoms] in Uganda have closed store throughout the first three years of operation, whereas these too-big-to-handle gamers are reporting a whole lot of billions in revenue. Are we, subsequently, shocked that Uganda is residence to the world’s most second costly Web?” he questioned.