THE MISSING LINK

Last month, a little known venture called Seacom announced that it had chartered a ship from global undersea network operator Tyco to survey its route to lay a 1 280 gigbits undersea cable that would land at almost every country on the east African seaboard, and stretch on to Europe and the Arabian Peninsula.

This route is not adequately served by an undersea cable, and since 2002, African countries have been dithering about the structure and governance of another proposed cable to fill the gap.

In the works

The planned $230 million East African Submarine Cable System (Eassy) has been delayed by government meddling to the point that it is now likely to become operational in late 2008 at best - three years after its first target date of June 2005.

Another project, the Nepad ICT Broadband Infrastructure Network, is an African Union project under the auspices of the e-Africa Commission that wants an open access and non-discriminatory project that would encompass the undersea cable, plus a terrestrial network that would travel up the African spine linking the landlocked countries as well.

The World Bank proposes its own Regional Communications Infrastructure Network (RCIP) that would support Eassy and also promote ICT projects within the 25 or so countries in the region through a loan system that could potentially lock them into long-term debt to pay for their infrastructure.

The urgency around a cable on the east coast is due to the fact that the eastern and southern regions of Africa are the last on earth not to be connected with their own undersea cable. They are currently hemorrhaging money through use of their existing connections.

A 2005 United Nations study noted that: "90% of calls from African countries to other African countries are routed through Europe (or North America) at a cost of $400 million a year."

So, even siphoning a smallish percentage of that revenue could potentially pay for an undersea cable in a short number of years and after that, apart from maintenance and running costs, the rest is profit.

And while the business case may be logical, it seems that it has attracted more than its fair share of meddling in one way or another.

Public-private disconnect

ICT policy researcher Abioun Jagun says the current impasse in connecting the region can be "described as a disconnect between the commercial and political ends of the cable".

The Easter ejection of former Telkom CEO Papi Molotsane is thought by some to have been largely due to his insistence that Africa`s largest and richest fixed-line operator would only participate in such a project if it made commercial sense.

South African Communications Minister, Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, is on record as saying she doesn`t want the east coast becoming a similar case to the one on the west coast, where the SAT-3 undersea cable consortium has such close control over access that no one knows for sure its true capacity and whether customers are being overcharged or not.

To avoid a similar situation on the east coast, the Nepad project proposes a structure that is so convoluted that some feel that it will never happen.

This includes the `harmonisation` of the ICT policies of various countries, the signing and ratification of a protocol (already way behind schedule) and the formation of an Intergovernmental Assembly that will appoint a representative with a "golden share" to ensure that its special purpose vehicle (essentially the wholesaler) meets Nepad`s principles.

On the downside, there are concerns that Nepad itself will "appropriate" the Eassy project and so will then create an effective monopoly governed by a pan-African entity that controls the access.

John Paul Bagiire, GM strategic planning of MTN Uganda and member of the Eassy project management committee, says the (Nepad) ICT Broadband Protocol is not a system but rather a set of broad guidelines or rules under which ICT projects should be developed, operated, maintained and owned within the eastern and southern Africa region, with Eassy being just one of those.

"The protocol guidelines become relevant and touch on broadband infrastructure development (existing and planned) only if it comes into force in the targeted countries - that is if it is signed by the governments and ratified by the national parliaments in these countries. It is unreasonable to assume that this will happen soon and Eassy and other cables (submarine and terrestrial) should await this ratification," he says.

Bagiire says the requirement by the Nepad ICT Broadband Protocol to change national laws and regulations, the creation of a super-regional regulator, and the proposal for appropriation of existing infrastructure and initiatives, as well as licences to benefit a regional tax-exempt monopoly will make ratification by most countries difficult, very difficult, indeed impossible.

Keith Shongwe, the DOC`s deputy director for international affairs, told parliament that Eassy doesn`t follow the principles of open access and that it would create a "similar situation as on the west coast" - meaning the SAT-3 consortium.

Just do it

While the debate continues, Seacom is quietly going ahead with its own cable. It says it has the money and will work with whomever it feels is necessary.

Brian Hilhery, VP of Herakles Telecom, part of the Seacom project, says: "Seacom has capital to construct or establish a commercial relationship for backhaul from the cable landing station to the major metropolitan area in each landing country. The requirement to construct or set up a commercial relationship will be dependent on regulatory framework and existing infrastructure."

He says Seacom is seeking guidance and collaboration from Nepad, the World Bank and carriers for the backhaul to land-locked countries.

The upshot is that at least two viable and necessary cables could be laid. Both will bring needed low-cost bandwidth to East African shores and stimulate the development of terrestrial networks.

However, while governments talk about "harmonising" policy, there are still no regulations governing the management of such facilities. The South African telecommunications regulator, Icasa, still has to develop these and government itself seems to be in no hurry.

"If there is one cable that will be laid, it is Seacom`s," a senior official in a parastatal says. "Unfortunately, because of our poor state of regulation, South Africa may be left out."