Cluster III. Good governance: where the strategy aims at developing structures and systems of democratic governance that are participatory, representative, accountable and inclusive and
2.4 Universal access policies in Tanzania
A review of the ICTs policy formulation process in Africa shows that it has been difficult to develop and implement policies and programmes that bring quick returns for the society and therefore the formulation and implementation of e-strategies has been sluggish in Africa (Adam 2005, Njuguna 2006; Wild 2003;). According to the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA 2003), while more than half of the countries in Africa have developed an ICT policy, only a few countries have embarked on policy implementation activities, with the rest of the countries still deliberating or said to be planning how to move ahead with policy implementation. Due to these challenges, the impact of e-strategies or ICT policies on development and poverty reduction, using ICTs, has been minimal compared to the energy, resources and time spent on them so far (Adam 2005).
village by 2020 and the overall teledensity of six by the year 2020 (URT 1997a). This will be achieved mainly by setting up a rural telecommunication development fund. After many years of waiting, the ministry responsible for ICTs in Tanzania (the then MoID)10 finally devised a strategy for implementing universal access. The Tanzanian Universal Access Act was approved by parliament in February 2007 (URT 2007). The final structure and mechanism for universal access in Tanzania comes almost fifteen years since the Tanzania government adopted telecommunication sector reform in 1993 (Esselaar, Stavrou and O‟Riordan 2004; Mureithi 2002; Souter et al., 2005).
Concerns about the delayed implementation of universal access in Tanzania have further been expressed by different authors. Muriethi (2002) reported that, in Tanzania, competition and liberalisation of the telecommunication sector had shifted the focus of operators to the profitable urban areas, at the expense of the rural areas, despite the chief aim of the policy being the need to improve access in rural areas. Intelecon Research and Consultancy Ltd (2002) had reported that it was almost eight years since the government of Tanzania launched telecommunication sector reforms in 1993. The process and final structure of the sector, especially regarding rural service provision, was still uncertain.
2.4.1 Universal access fund
Telecommunications services are increasingly considered by governments around the world as a basic necessity of citizens, essential to full participation in the „new information economy‟. In the past, monopoly operators had to absorb the costs of meeting the country‟s universal access objectives. These operators had to finance the delivery of essential telephone services to uneconomic regions, mainly through cross subsidies, which flowed from profitable market segments such as international, long-distance, business users and urban users, to less profitable market segments such domestic, local, residential users and rural usage (Intelecon research and consultancy 2004).
While cross-subsidies served their purpose in monopoly environments, they create problems in newly competitive environments. In particular, cross-subsidies have been known to distort
10Currently, the ministry responsible for ICTs in Tanzania is called the Ministry of Communications, Science and Technology.
market signals and place an unfair burden on certain operators. To finance their access objectives in a competitively neutral and transparent manner, an increasing number of countries are turning to universal access funds (Intelecon research and consultancy 2004).
A universal access fund is an account, usually managed by the telecom regulatory agency, from which universality demands are financed directly. It can be referred to as a universality access funds, universal service fund, or a telecommunications development fund (Lewis 2004). Universal access funds receive finances from various sources and provide targeted subsidies to encourage the provision of telecommunication services by private operators in otherwise uneconomic regions (Intelecon research and consultancy 2004).
The Tanzanian Universal Access Act of 2007 stipulates the establishment of a universal access fund, which will be called the Universal Communications Service Access Fund (UCSAF) (URT 2007). The major purpose of the UCSAF is to reduce the ICT access gap between the rural and the urban areas by offering special incentives to investors in rural ICT provisions, supporting the construction of rural telecentres and involving local government authorities in ICT utilisation and promotion (URT 2007). The universal access funds can be distinguished on the basis of three key features indicated by Intelecon research and consultancy (2004) and Intven and Tetrault (2002). These include:
2.4.1.1 Sources for funding
Depending on the country and its particular situation, the sources of funding for the universal access funds have included national budgets of governments, charges on interconnecting services, levies on subscribers and levies on operator revenues. Funding from international development agencies is also an option. The Tanzanian universal service fund will be supported by a universal service levy imposed on all holders of communication licences.
Other sources of the fund for the UCSAF will be money from the government and grants and donations from individual and legal entities (URT 2007).
2.4.1.2 Fund management
Universal access funds can differ in their management. While some funds are administered by government ministries, as in the case of Colombia, other funds are administered by the
regulators, for example in Peru and Chile, or special agencies such as in South Africa. In the case of Tanzania the fund will be managed by a special agency, which will be supervised jointly by the ministry responsible for communication in Tanzania (the then MoID and currently Ministry of Communications, Science and Technology) and the regulatory agency TCRA (URT 2007).
2.4.1.3 Type of services covered by the fund
Universal access funds can be distinguished by the type of services they support. Developing countries‟ funds, in the past, have placed greater emphasis on ensuring basic public access such as basic telecommunications services. However, with the growing importance of the internet to national economies, many of today‟s newer funds also support public access to value-added services, including internet access (Lewis 2004). The Tanzanian universal service fund will cover a variety of services, including basic telephone service and telecentres in rural areas (URT 2007).
The Tanzanian universal access fund will serve rural areas and under-served urban communities.
The universal service providers will be those persons who already hold communications licences issued by TCRA (URT 2007). Similar funds are operational in other developing countries such as Uganda, Ghana, South Africa, Chile, Brazil, Peru, India and Malaysia (Intelecon research and consultancy 2004). The Tanzanian universal access fund was expected to start operations at the end of the year 2007.