©Communications Regulators’ Association of Southern Africa 2013

Antony Chigaazira, CRASA Executive Secretary

Regulatory Associations Meeting

Warsaw, Poland 2 July 2013

SADC RESULTS OF STUDIES CONDUCTED SADC RESULTS OF STUDIES CONDUCTED REGARDING THE REGIONAL ROAMING REGARDING THE REGIONAL ROAMING

REGULATIONREGULATION

INTRODUCTION -WHERE WE ARE ON MAP

©Communications Regulators’ Association of Southern Africa 2013

BACKGROUND- KEY STATISTICAL DATA 2012

©Communications Regulators’ Association of Southern Africa 2013

COUNTRY POPULATION(millions)

MOBILE LINES (mns)

MOBILE TELEDENSITY

NO. OF OPERATORS

Angola 19.6 12.46 65 2

Botswana 2.02 3.08 152 3

DRC 67.8 19.8 29 8

Lesotho 1.88 1.47 78 2

Malawi 14.90 4.42 27 4

Mauritius 1.28 1.12 87.6 3

Mozambique 22.9 10.9 47.6 3

Namibia 2.10 2.3 100 2

South Africa 50.59 60.38 100 3

Swaziland 1.2 0.81 67 1

Tanzania 44.9 27 65 6

Zambia 13.10 10.5 63 3

Zimbabwe 12.97 (252.2) 12.61(166.9) 97 3 (43)

BACKGROUND –SADC ROAMING STUDIES

©Communications Regulators’ Association of Southern Africa 2013

Regulatory Impact Assessment I – (partial RIA) Embarked on due to resource constraints. To get an overview of wholesale and retail roaming tariffs by operators in SADC and some benchmark studies.

Regulatory Impact Assessment II - Implications of International Roaming tariffs on regional tariffs; Inter-Operator Tariffs(IOT) and Market and Regulatory factors influencing international roaming wholesale and retail charges.

Regulatory Impact Assessment III – an impact analysis; economic analysis, consumer surveys and collect and analyse market data and recommend.

Critical Steps and Observations

©Communications Regulators’ Association of Southern Africa 2013

Questionnaires were sent via CRASA to NRAs who sent them to their respective Operators to provide roaming traffic volumes for voice/ SMS/ Data over a 6 month period.

The initial response rate was 23.5%. Operators followed up diligently by Regulators to no avail. Responses deadline extended by a further three months but

response rate only increased to 41%. Large sections of Questionnaires were NOT completed. Much of information supplied insufficient and made integrity

of data gathered through questionnaires a key concern. 4 out of 14 responded in a format useless for the survey.

FINDING 1 – ROAMING LEVELS IN SADC CONSTITUTE A SMALL FRACTION OF BUSINESS (TRAFFIC & REVENUE)

©Communications Regulators’ Association of Southern Africa 2013

KEY FINDING 2 - A VERY SMALL PERCENTAGE OF SUBSCRIBERS ROAM

©Communications Regulators’ Association of Southern Africa 2013

KEY FINDING 3 – AVERAGE SADC ROAMING PRICES SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER THAN EUROPE

Average retail roaming rate per category (USD)

Operator 1

Operator 2

Operator 3

Operator 4

Operator 5

Operator 6

Operator 7

Operator 8

Operator 9

Operator 10

Operator 11

Operator 12

Operator 13

Operator 14

Voice

No Data

0.835 1.409 No Data

1.117 0.651 0.372 0.031 No Data

No Data

No Data

No Data

0.849 1.699

SMS

No Data

0.052 No Data

No Data

0.039 0.053 0.022 0.014 No Data

No Data

No Data

No Data

0.239 0.113

Data

No Data

No Data

2.336 No Data

1.790 12.349

No Data

0.472 No Data

No Data

No Data

No Data

3.661 7.296

@ Communications Regulators’ Association of Southern Africa 2009

KEY FINDING 3 - Continued

Service CRASA EU Price Caps % Difference

Voice (blended) US$ 0.87 US$ 0.23 CRASA 528% higher

SMS US$ 0.08 US$ 0.11 CRASA 378% higher

Data US$ 4.65 US$ 0.88 CRASA 69% higher

@ Communications Regulators’ Association of Southern Africa 2009

ASSUMPTIONS MADE

[1] http://fx-rate.net/EUR/USD/ accessed on 25 May 2012[2] Assume 50/50 originating and receiving voice call split.[3] Rate calculated using average between price caps for calls made and calls received[4] Price cap only applicable from July 2012

OTHER FINDINGS

Wholesale cost of roaming in SADC is indeterminate due to erratic Inter-Operator Tariffs(IOTs). Different networks different charges plus roaming overhead cost varies.

Only operators in Mauritius and Seychelles have substantial roaming revenue streams.

In SADC Post-paid Roaming is more prevalent than Prepaid. 73% interviewed offer prepaid.

@ Communications Regulators’ Association of Southern Africa 2009

FURTHER FINDINGS

Very few roaming agreements in SADC and no specialist roaming hubs exist.

Most subscribers travelling in Region rely on plastic roaming. Evidence - high Churn Rate.

RICA (Regulation of Interception of Communication Act) to affect plastic roaming.

Small operators crippled in roaming market by their lack of scale.

@ Communications Regulators’ Association of Southern Africa 2009

FURTHER FINDINGS

Some large operators claim to have taken roaming to another level- eg “One Network; One World and Vodafone Passport” initiatives.

Low consumer awareness, no transparency for end user. Transparency Commercial decision rather than regulatory one.

Inter-Operator Tariffs, Roaming Overhead Costs and Retail Margins well above Costs.

@ Communications Regulators’ Association of Southern Africa 2009

WHERE WE ARE NOW AND WHERE TO- HOME AND AWAY ROAMING PROJECT

1. Transparency Guidelines have been issued√Transparency, Consumer Awareness,

Empowerment = PHASE ITariff InformationSMS Notification on entry to visited countryWebsite Information

2. Cost Based tariffs=PHASE II (Seeking Funding)×

3. Roam Like a Local=PHASE III (Seek Funding) ×

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I THANK YOU

THE END

@ Communications Regulators’ Association of Southern Africa 2010