Regulatory Efforts In Telecoms Quality Of Service Delivery….An African Perspective

Telecoms in Africa keeps evolving, over the last two decades fixed wireless has been displaced by GSM technology, back then, telephone was affordable and available to a certain class of people, fast-forward to present day, it has become an integral part of our daily lives for communicating with family, friends and business partners.

The democratization of this essential tool has narrowed the communication gap that once existed, as more people get connected through any network of their choice there is an expectation of unhitched communication.

The success in the telecoms space across Africa is worth commendation, the transition timeline from fixed wireless to mobile is relatively brief when compared to the rest of the world, but the continent's market is one of the fastest growing second only to Asia, of which China represents the large majority of the growth.

Despite the huge gains witnessed in the industry across the continent there are challenges inherent in service delivery by telecoms service providers, albeit, these challenges are not limited to Africa. Countries like Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda and Tanzania have thriving telecoms industries, their respective regulatory bodies never miss a step in ensuring consumers of telecoms services get satisfaction from using this service daily.

Telecoms service providers continuously strive to meet the expectations of their customers and the regulatory bodies by meeting up with Quality of Service standard and pricing. With the unbundling exercise in the sector, telecoms companies are better prepared to service their customers by offering innovative services that make communication cheaper and meet the required standard.

These days it is fashionable to spot a sophisticated mobile phone (Apple, Samsung…) to reflect our taste and style. Although, we most times have to dole out a large amount of money just to have one, maybe the latest version. However, our phones are not just fashion items, we use them for numerous activities from making and receiving calls to text messaging, chatting, shopping, making payments and lots more, across platforms such as Facebook, Instavoice Channels, WhatsApp, etc. But more often than none, these mobile activities are usually hampered due to erratic network service and suddenly our lives feel like we are back in the stone-age.

This has been an undesirable development for all the players in the ecosystem; regulators, operators, service providers and customers. Especially the customers, because in recent times there has been a lot of emphasis on customer experience globally. Thankfully, telecoms regulatory agencies across the continent have consistently demanded that the stipulated Quality of Service standards are met, which majority of the operators in the African markets are meeting while avoiding the severe consequences of non-compliance.

According to the GSMA Intelligence research, the telecom industry is projected to contribute 7.6% to Africa's GDP; an estimated $210bn, this reflects the high stakes in the industry. To ensure sustainability and growth in the industry, regulatory authorities across the continent are developing and adopting standards that reflect global best practices, while allowing little margin of error in service delivery. Recently Nigeria's telecoms regulator Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) stated it has begun an industry-wide assessment of the technical and financial health status of all licensed operators within the country, this is to ensure telecoms operators are financially and technically fit to apply for loans for network expansion.

Ghana's Minister of Communications Ursula Owusu-Ekuful urged telcos to address the deteriorating quality of service and start giving their customers value for their money.

Earlier this year the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA) fined seven telecoms companies for failing its QoS requirements between January and March in three regions -- Dar es Salaam, Mbeya and Iringa. A similar development in Sierra Leone, the regulatory body NATCOM imposed varing fines on telecoms operators that offered poor QoS to the public. The fines ranging from $750,000, $400,000 and $200,000 was served the three affected carriers, in addition the telecoms companies are to compensate their customers with free calls for three days in accordance with provisions of the Telecoms Laws in Sierra Leone.

What all these indicate is that there is a broad consensus on call for improved quality of service among regulatory bodies for a richer communication experience among consumers on the continent.

Telecoms services are a daily staple for people around the world, the demand for quality telecom services keeps increasing as more people are connected to a network.  With the increase in connected people come the problem of congestion and consequent service disruption.

Service disruption arises due to several factors, considering the peculiar challenges telecoms companies have to regularly address such as power, vandalism, inability of operators to co-locate, delayed approval for installation of base stations/fibre deployments, resolution on multiple taxes, levies and charges on ICT infrastructure etc.

To address these challenges, there should be wide consultation and robust collaboration among all stakeholders in the industry. While the regulators will ensure Quality of Service standards are met, the telecoms companies should not only strive to meet the standards but also put in place processes to ensure their customers get value for their money while remaining competitive. Also, telecoms companies may set their commercial and technical benchmarks above the regulators mark as a way of surpassing the regulators expectations in these areas.

The telecom networks and equipment manufacturers should ensure equipment are serviced timely, also the challenge of power is critical not only in terms of the cost to the operation of the Base Transceiver Stations but uninterrupted service delivery that impacts individuals, households and business. Customers can also take advantage of other value added services available on their telecoms network such as voicemails, voice SMS to communicate clearly even in the event of poor voice quality service.

The quality of service challenge cannot be separated from socio-economic conditions that hinder telecoms from delivering quality service to their customers. For example, the high cost of rental or land acquisition in certain parts of Ghana due to dense population which makes space for telecoms cell sites a scarce commodity affects Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) from offering wider coverage to serve their subscribers. However, the acceptance to co-locate by telecoms firms has been a welcome relief to operators as facilities managers such as IHS Towers and Helios Towers with core competence in tower asset management and have taken this responsibility, to enable MNOs focus on product/service innovation, customer acquisition etc. The co-location efforts have driven down operations cost significantly for MNOs, reduced demand for land by the MNOs as well as expanded their coverage which in turn improves the quality of service.

Vandalism and theft of telecoms equipments are problems faced by telecom service providers, this is likely in communities where security is volatile.  It is the practice of operators to engage private security outfits to forestall such from happening. The regulatory agencies in different countries faced with such challenges adopt sensitization programmes of communities, also, Inter-Agency collaborations are also being adopted.

Erratic power supply is a common challenge across Africa, it is normal to find generating sets at Base Transmission Stations as a dependable alternative to state-run or private electricity companies in Africa. Powering these generating sets with diesel has dire effect on the operating cost of MNO's.

These resources could otherwise be channeled to other needs that can improve the quality of service. Power should be given top priority in order to drive industrialization in Africa. Telecoms businesses continue to groan under the burden of high cost of power generation among other operating cost.

Mergers & Acquisition should be encouraged and facilitated in the industry, this would create stronger and healthier telecoms operators and improved service delivery, an example was in April 2016 when Orange Congo acquired Tigo Congo, while non-performing licensees should have their spectrum reassigned to more serious investors to encourage competition.

As the prospects for telecoms in Africa continues to show positive outlook in terms of QoS, cooperation, infrastructure, customer experience and ultimately revenue, our expectation is to see a more quality driven telecoms market across Africa, that will add value to the communication experience while  bridgingthe communication gaps on our continent.