Brief historical background of your sector since the beginning of the 90’s:
Telecommunications
The Telecommunication Sector consisted of Mauritius Telecommunications Services (MTS)
which was the domestic network operator and Overseas Telecommunication Services (OTS)
which was the international network operator. In 1992, both operators merged to form
Mauritius Telecom. Mauritius Telecom is now the main provider of telecommunication
services.
Current status of the telecommunications sector is as follows:
Teledensity:22
Cellular mobile telephone: 2 operators, 48 per 1000 inhabitants.
Internet subscribers 12 per 1000 inhabitants.
The telephone network is fully digitalised. One of the most important projects in the
agenda is the installation of a Submarine Fibre Optics Cable, which will link South Africa
with the Far East, passing through Mauritius by the year 2000. This will link Mauritius to
the GI Superhighway and boost opportunities for electronic commerce. This project is part
of a global super-highway project since there are other projects such as the South Africa
– European Union project which links the West coast of Africa with Europe, and the
latter already has another cable which goes to the United States of America.
We signed the Memorandum of Understanding to facilitate arrangements for the
introduction of Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) services in
Mauritius, during my recent participation in the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in
Minneapolis, USA.
Mauritius has issued a letter of award to an American company, Qualcomm, for the
provision of additional 50,000 telephone lines using the Wireless Local Loop Technology.
This will allow us to reduce the number of people waiting for a phone line, and eventually
provide telephone lines on demand.
Information Technology
In the mid 80’s the government of Mauritius decided to promote the use of IT in
all sectors of the economy with the aim of improving the national productivity. Hence with
the assistance of Indian experts, the Ministry of Finance had devised a strategy for the
promotion and development of Information Technology to meet the needs of the country, with
particular reference to the development of the Public Service. Permanent structures such
as the National Computer Board (NCB), the Central Informatics Bureau (CIB), the State
Informatics Limited (SIL) and the Central Informatics Training Centre (SITRAC) were set up
to face the increasing needs for planning, software development and training.
Since last year we have acquired consultancy services from National Computers Services
of Singapore, the number one Consultancy and Management Services of Singapore, to advise
us on the preparation of the National Information Technology Strategy Plan (NITSP). Our
national IT strategy plan is to prepare ourselves to be an IT exploiter as well as an
exporter. We are networking Mauritius, we are putting the government on the Internet, and
we are building a Government Information Infrastructure (GII) which will allow us to build
a National Information Infrastructure . The two main projects identified are the
Government Information Infrastructure (GII) and the Mauritius National Identity Card
(MNIC).
The creation of an Informatics Park has attracted various international companies. The
Park is equipped with modern satellite communication facilities and provides high
bandwidth services such as ISDN, dedicated lines, 2Mbps digital leased line, 64 KBPS, X25
access, access to Internet and video conference facilities on ISDN.
Your main ambitions in the field of telecommunications and technology:
There are already 2 companies operating mobile phone services, EMTEL and CELLPLUS:
Today there are over 58,000 subscribers compared to 10,000 in the year 1995. By the end of
this year, a licence will be issued to a second Internet service provider- 48 per
inhabitants.
Telephone density is 22%. Our target is to provide a phone and a line to each home.
Some homes already have a second line due to the increasing demand of Internet. The
number of Internet subscribers is increasing rapidly. At present we already have 12,000
subscribers- 12 per 1000 inhabitants.
| We want to bring Government closer to the people by providing 24-hour service through
our Government Information without having to physically come to the department in
question. There are 30 department/ministries with home pages in the worldwide web.
Mauritius Telecom Privatisation.
Mauritius Telecom is the sole provider of telecom services in Mauritius. However,
Mauritius took the commitment under the WTO Agreement on basic telecommunications in
February 1997 to completely liberalise the telecommunications sector by the year 2004.
This will end all monopoly and exclusive rights in the domestic and international
services. As from 1999,new Internet Service Providers will be allowed to operate.
In the White Paper on Telecommunications one of the policy decisions announced is the
gradual divestment of government shares in Mauritius Telecom. In fact, this process has
already started with the valuation of the shares of the company. The privatisation of
Mauritius Telecom will be carried out in stages.
First is the valuation of Mauritius Telecom shares; second is the selection of a
strategic equity partner/s to whom 30 to 45% of the shares will be sold; these two
processes will be carried out through an independent evaluator and through an
international open bidding process. We hope that the equity partner/s will bring added
value to Mauritius Telecom by way of modern management technology and help in the growth
of Mauritius Telecom as an international telecom operator not only in the region but
globally. The third stage will be the sale of shares to the public through an IPO (Initial
Public Offering).
Mauritius has one of the most advanced and sophisticated telecommunications networks in
the region. All countries in Africa are making a concerted effort to learn from each other
and get into the main stream of telecommunications. Mauritius Telecom has already embarked
on joint ventures in the region. MT signed a Memorandum of understanding with France
Telecom during Africa Telecom 98 in May 98, to set a GSM operation together with a local
company in Madagascar. They are also working with the Comores, Mozambique, and with
Republic of Kenya, for the extension of their network. MT already operates international
roaming agreements with more than 60 GSM operators worldwide.
The Law on Intellectual Property.
Copyright Act
In July 1997, we enacted the new Copyright legislation to include software. As result
of this Copyright Act, Microsoft, the international industry giant has set up, last
September, a regional office in Mauritius as its centre for expansion in the region.
Another company, General Electric Information Services, GEIS has entered into a joint
venture with a consortium of companies in Mauritius to offer electronic commerce services.
Telecommunication Bill.
A new Telecommunications Bill which will replace the Telecommunications Act of 1988.
Its aim is to create the right legal framework for the development of the sector and to
set up a new regulatory body. This Bill will provide for the establishment of new
regulator with clearly defined functions and power. The new Telecommunications Bill was
introduced in the National Assembly in April this year and will soon be added at second
reading.
IT (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill
This Bill makes legal provision as regards the preservation of electronically recorded
public archives, security, and computer fraud and computer misuse. The Bill is still being
debated in the National Assembly and should be passed tomorrow.
Investment opportunities in your sector.
We want to create a multi-media industry in Mauritius as we can train our people
easily. We can give a lot of opportunities and facilities to any company that wishes to
establish operations on the island. All flourishing services in the island depend directly
or indirectly on IT, and that is where we will be able to provide jobs for our youth. I am
very confident in the growth of a services sector, and we will pool enough resources to
help train our human resources.
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