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Markets, Monopoly, Mobile & Morals:Small Island Developing States
Case Studies
[email protected] expressed may not reflect the views of the
International Telecommunication Union or its members
Pacific Telecommunications Council11-14 January 2004Honolulu, Hawaii USA
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Small Island Developing States (SIDS) & Telecoms
“The vulnerability of SIDS are also non-natural, economic and external in nature. These are compounded by economic constraints, such as small domestic markets with small natural and human resource bases, resulting in lack of economies of scale, competitiveness, diversification and hence investment opportunities.” — Minister for Foreign Affairs & International Trade, Saint Lucia Moral: Conventional wisdom that has been rarely tested
Percentage of countriesSIDS < 1.2 million population
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2003 ITU Case StudiesOne island state from each region
Oceania:Fiji
Asia:Maldives
Africa:Mauritius
Americas:St. Lucia
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Demographics - 2002
38% urban; 1 island3’840620159’133St. Lucia
42% urban; 97% of population on main island
3’8502’0401'210'485 Mauritius
1’190 coral islands; 199 inhabited; 30% of population live in capital
2’090300280'549 Maldives
51% urban. Over 300 islands; around 100 are inhabited. Almost 80 percent of population lives on two main islands.
2’16018’270819'600Fiji
NoteGNI per capita US$
Land area
(km2)
Population
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Market environment - 2002
2 new mobile licenses issued
2001• C&W (100%)St. Lucia
Numerous licenses being issued
2003(mobile opened earlier)
• MT (40% France Telecom)
• Emtel
Mauritius
Regulator created in 2004
2009 (fixed). 2nd ISP in 2003 and 2nd mobile in 2004.
• Dhiraagu(45% C&W)
Maldives
Monopoly in each market segment
2014 (mobile subject to interpretation)
• Telecom Fiji• FINTEL (49%
C&W)• Vodafone (49%
Vodafone UK)
Fiji
NoteExclusivity untilOperator(s)
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Mobile markets• Coverage: % of population
that can receive signal• Penetration: % of
population that are actually subscribing
• Effective penetration: % of population that subscribe adjusted for coverage
• End 2002: All except Mauritius with one operator
• Bottlenecks: Coverage (Maldives & Fiji), Pricing (St. Lucia), Regulatory (Mauritius (RPP))
• Moral: Coverage important
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Mauritius missed opportunityTelephone subscribers per 100 inhabitants
May ’89:Emtel
launches first mobile
network in Southern
Hemisphere.Receiving
Party Pays.
Mar ’96:Cellplus enters market
Nov. ’99:Prepaid
launched
Moral: Competition without regulatory oversight does not always deliverexpected benefits
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MaldivesMobile subscribers per 100 inhabitants
1997: Analogue
mobile launched
1999:Conversion
to GSM 2001:Prepaid
launched
Moral: Monopoly can generate high growth when aligned with government objectives
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FijiTelephone subscribers per 100 inhabitants
1994:GSM
launched
1999:Prepaid
launched
Moral: Right technology alone not sufficient
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St. Lucia’s mobile history
1992: Analogue
AMPS launched as Boatphone.
Primarily aimed at
marine market. Receiving Party Pays
(RPP).
1995: 300 land
clients & 2 cell
sites
1999: Prepaid &
digital TDMA
launched. 17 cell sites.
2002:CPP & SMS introduced. 2 new licenses
awarded. C&W begins to subsidize
handsets and other
promotions. 27 cell sites
2003: Digicel &
AT&T enter with
GSM. C&W
launches GSM.
All launch GPRS.
Telephone subscribers per 100 inhabitants
Moral: 2 is good, but 3 even better!
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St. Lucia mobile scene
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ECTEL• East Caribbean
Telecommunication Authority (ECTEL)
• Regional “regulator”• Negotiate on behalf of member
countries• Achieved early termination of
C&W monopoly• Facilitated mobile competition
through regional licensing• Moral: A regional telecom
authority can have more impact on negotiations with incumbents and attracting investment than a single small country
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Regional synergy, fibre cable• Digicel (St. Lucia) runs
roaming operations from Jamaica
• C&W (St. Lucia) runs Internet gateway from Antigua
• Vodafone (Fiji) runs billing from Australia
• Moral: Small market more attractive if investor has other operations in region and linked by fibre optic
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Years after launchMobile subscribers per 100 inhabitants
Moral: Act sooner to create pro-growth environment.
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Tourism & telecoms• Tourism major industry• Makes telecom more attractive
because creates larger ‘virtual’ market
• Roaming growing source of revenue. Roamers pay much more.
• Roaming agreements:o Mauritius: 236 operators, 104
countrieso Maldives: 95 operators, 50
countrieso Fiji: 73 operatorso St. Lucia: 68 operatorsMoral: Factor tourism into telecoms.
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Mobile technology• 2.5 / 3G important for
data applications• MMS postcards could
turn into major tourist application
• WiFi also relevant• Moral: Keep up with
technology
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Summary• St. Lucia dramatically shows impact of mobile
competition, particularly entry of 3rd operator• Mauritius has lost its early lead in mobile due to
competitive constraints, inability to keep up with technology and RPP
• Maldives proves exception to rule with reasonable penetration & coverage despite monopoly and difficult geographical situation
• Fiji has done less well: Low coverage and penetration; high tariffs
• Moral: Align telecom goals with national goals
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Message for incumbents
• Justification for monopoly harder and harder to defend; better to get on board now
• Technology evolution important for protecting market share
• Market is bigger than thought; incumbent benefits from advertising and interconnection
• Cooperate regionally with concrete objectives (e.g., fibre optic cable)
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Further research
• Tourism and telecoms• Competition impact• Data applications• Impact of regional approach
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Digital Access Index (DAI)
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Complete case studies for Fiji, Maldives, Mauritius & St. Lucia to be available at: http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/cs