Tanzania - reviewing markets and competition

Tanzania: Rivalry in Telecoms Market Comes Under TCRA Scrutiny

A study on the effectiveness of competition in the telecommunications market will be carried out in Tanzania.

The Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) has said the study will focus on economic, legal and technical aspects.

Also to be considered is the high level of dynamism of the ICT sector and the impact that convergence brings into the local market.

Tanzania's communications sector has changed significantly over the past few years.

There have been new players in the market, new technologies and services, increased competition in some segments and the lack of competition in other areas.

"Other issues to be considered include the wide recognition of the increasing role that ICT has and should have in the country's social, economic and cultural development as well as the international trend of allowing service providers to operate in a competitive environment with a minimal regulatory intervention, except where competition is lacking,"said TCRA director-general John Nkhoma.

The study will also look into ways of ensuring no operator is allowed to control the ICT sector market.

The scope of the study will cover the network facilities and services taking into considerations economic, legal and technical dimensions.

The economic factors to be considered are liberalisation, competition, profitability, investment and issues about sovereignty and equity.

Major technical factors are ICT infrastructure, investment and setup, digital divide, spectrum availability, numbering capacity, interconnection, and the Internet exchange point.

The legal factors to be considered will include comments on the current policies and laws, challenges, opportunities and shortcomings.

TCRA has floated tenders for eligible consultants to conduct the study.