The Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia said competition in Namibia’s information and communications technology sector may promote market efficiency, encourage innovation and ultimately benefit consumers.
One of the initiatives the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) suggests is selling off state-owned enterprises that operate in the ICT sector to private investors.
“This could promote competition by creating new market players. Mobile Telecommunications Company (MTC) and Telecom Namibia (TN) would potentially compete more with each other if owned by different private sector companies, compared to the current situation, where both are controlled by the state,” reads a draft market saturation report.
Currently, the state controls 89.4% of the ICT sector assets. While the private sector asset market share increased in the past six years, the increase is partly the result of the decline in the asset values of TN.
TN owned 51% of ICT sector assets in 2016 and only 37% in 2021. Paratus is the only notable private-sector player in Namibia. Its asset market share increased from 4.1% in 2016 to 8.6% in 2021, which is still very small, compared to MTC and TN. Paratus made up 81% of private sector assets in 2021.
The independent regulator added that another initiative could be the liberalisation of market entry. This, the authority noted, involves removing barriers to entry and allowing new players to enter the market.
This can be achieved by reducing licensing requirements, simplifying regulatory frameworks and promoting foreign investment.
Furthermore, CRAN said there are advantages and disadvantages to infrastructure sharing that need to be carefully balanced.
This refers to the practice of multiple telecom service providers sharing the same physical network infrastructure, such as cellular towers, fibre optic cables and other network components.
“On the one hand, it may reduce infrastructure-based competition – and on the other hand, a new entrant could be allowed to quicker offer competition services. Spectrum reform, in the context of Namibia, can be done by ensuring there is spectrum set aside for new players or by excluding dominant operators from some spectrum frequencies or limiting the amount of spectrum that they can be awarded,” explained the authority.
CRAN also noted there should be competition in law enforcement to increase competitiveness.
Accordingly, this involves enforcing laws that prevent anti-competitive behaviour in the ICT sector, such as price-fixing, abuse of dominant market positions and collusion.
Approached for comment, TN spokesperson Nomvula Kambinda requested time to study the entire report before she provides comment, while efforts to reach MTC executives proved futile.