e-Discussion: East-African Submarine Optical Fiber Cable (Full Report)
January 22 – 10 February 2007
Diplo associate John Walubengo ran an online discussion on the issues surrounding the East-African Submarine Optical Fiber.
The East African Coast remains the only seabed that is yet to be covered by International Submarine Optical Fiber Cable (OFC) Connectivity. The online discussion sought to tackle the question:
Which model of OFC provisioning, will bring about meaningful and sustainable Socio-economic gains for the majority of citizens in East Africa and its environs?
The discussion explored this question by investigating the existing models for providing OFC and evaluating how each model would impact on the Key Stakeholders. The Key Stakeholders identified included the Regulator, the Consumers, the Government, the Development Financial Institutions (DFIs), the Private Operators and Investors. Efforts were made to understand each Stakeholder's objectives in hope to find a common model.
The generic models of Consortium, Open-Access and Privately provisioned OFC were discussed and their requirements and the impacts they would have on the various stakeholders were drawn out. The role of the Regulator with regard to protecting Consumer interests in whichever of the above models was particularly emphasised and considered fundamental. The Open-Access principles were preferred irrespective of the OFC provisioning methods adopted- especially with respect to allowing market-rate access both to existing and future Data Operators.
With regard to ownership and financing of the OFC, it was felt that a mixture of Public, Private and DFI's sources of capital maybe the most efficient. In such a case, the owners would then constitute a body (Special Purpose Vehicle, SPV) to operate and maintain the OFC in the interest of the stakeholders. On the other hand, there was also the other alternative that placed less or no emphasis on the construction and ownership of the International OFC. Instead, it suggested that more emphasis should be placed towards developing a comprehensive and national (domestic) OFC.
A comprehensive and active domestic infrastructure, coupled with local content would be expected to attract Internet Backbone Providers (IBPs) wishing to tap into this new source of domestic traffic. Such Operators would therefore construct and extend their own OFC into the region at their own cost - as long as the local (domestic) Operators can guarantee to purchase an economic capacity of International bandwidth from the IBPs at market rates.
Both the Online discussions as well as the Face-to-Face workshop provided a rich source of information that will hopefully provide valuable input in shaping the Policy and Regulatory direction regarding the provisioning of this critical submarine cable that would finally conquer the last frontier - the East African Coast.
Full Report
