The Malawi government has prequalified six international firms and joint ventures (JVs) to bid for the country’s $20-million connectivity aspect of the World Bank-funded Regional Communications Infrastructure Project, which will see the country building infrastructure to connect to the undersea submarine cables on the east coast of Africa.

The Malawi Public Private Partnership Commission (PPPC) says the six bidders shortlisted from a field of14 include China International Telecommunication Construction Corporation; a JV between GPEC, of the US, and SK Telecom, of South Korea; Malawi Virtual Landing Point, a consortium involving South African investors, a consortium of SimbaNET Tanzania and Airtel Bharti, of Singapore; SK Broadband, of South Korea; and Soliton Telmec, of Kenya.

Says PPPC CEO Jimmy Lipunga: “It is the intention of the commission to sign a contract with the winning bidder and for the bidder to be granted a telecoms operating licence by the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority by August 2013.”

The Regional Communications Infrastructure Project, aimed at improving the information and communication technology (ICT) sector in 25 countries in East, Central and West Africa, is divided into three components, namely creating an enabling environment, connectivity and project management.

Malawi’s connectivity aspect has two objectives: to improve the quality, availability and affordability of Internet capacity in Malawi for both public and private users and to provide a long-term connectivity solution (including Internet) for government and the public sector.

“Both objectives will be accomplished using the Malawi government’s purchasing power for international connectivity, ensuring that Malawi has economically efficient public access to the submarine cables which land on the East Coast of Africa.

“The project will be implemented as a public–private partnership under a model that promotes competition and open access.”

A detailed feasibility study commissioned in 2010 demonstrated that the project would be viable from the legal, technical and financial perspectives.

“The study further showed that government would not be bearing any undesirable contingent liabilities resultant from the pro-ject,” says Lipunga, adding that

the project will considerably reduce Internet charges in Malawi.