A Model for Calculating Interconnection Costs in Telecommunications

Um, Paul Noumba ; Gille, Laurent ; Simon, Lucile ; Rudelle, Christophe

Washington, DC:World Bank and the Public&ndash

关键词: ARCHITECTURE;    BENCHMARKING;    CALLS;    CD;    CELLULAR OPERATORS;   

DOI  :  10.1596/0-8213-5671-2
RP-ID  :  28039

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Since the past decade, severalSub-Saharan African governments, through technicalassistance provided by the World Bank and other donors, haveundertaken to reform their telecommunications sectors, byimplementing market liberalization policies, privatizing theincumbent public operator, and creating autonomous andindependent regulatory bodies. The core objective of thesereforms is to significantly improve access, andaffordability, to telecommunications services on the basisof the assumption that a more friendly and predictablebusiness environment will attract more private investment.However, the provision of interconnection services, on fairand efficient terms, has rapidly emerged as a mainbottleneck. In fact, new legislation and regulations enactedin Sub-Saharan Africa recognize the interconnection rightsascribed to all telecommunications service providers andnetwork operators. In addition, these regulations alsorequest the incumbent fixed operator to supplyinterconnection services to new entrants on a fair andcompetitive basis. Despite the clarity and soundness of thelegislative provisions in that respect (cost oriented,nondiscriminatory, fair, and transparent), the number ofinterconnection disputes has increased, and long-lastinginterconnection disputes have discredited the reputation andcredibility of new regulatory regimes.