Regional cooperation on information and communications technology development, including mobile broadband, was required across the South African Development Community (SADC) region to boost economies of scale and reduce the cost of communication, Communications Minister Yunus Carrim said this week.

Speaking at the Global Subscriber Mobile Association (GSMA) World Mobile Congress, in Barcelona, Spain, he pointed out that there was a “strong link” between investment in broadband, economic growth and job creation.

“But to ensure the benefits there would have to be a critical mass penetration of broadband and this should ideally be across the entire region,” Carrim noted.

Greater consistency of the policy and regulatory frameworks of countries in SADC, taking into account the specific needs of each country, should be considered, while regulators should examine the reduction of the cost to communicate across the borders of the SADC countries.

“Obviously, we have differing needs in our different countries, but we can, over time, possibly work together to establish an SADC-wide framework for public–private partnerships to build capacity,” Carrim explained.

“By ensuring that telecoms operators invest in interconnected networks, neighbouring governments can reduce cross-border communication costs, as well as benefit from economies of scale brought about by consolidated buying power.”

Further, ocean-side countries with access to submarine cables could enable the international connectivity and reduction of prices in landlocked countries by extending subsea cable services through fibre.

Carrim supported the “basic thrust” of the Botswana Communiqué, an agreement between six countries, signed at a Ministerial summit held in Botswana last year, to expand capacity-building efforts in the region and serve as a framework for enhanced regional policy coordination.

The ‘Encouraging Digital Inclusion in Southern Africa’ Ministerial summit, in Kasane, in September, led to Botswana Communications Minister Nonofo Molefhi this week receiving the GSMA Government Mobile Excellence Awards 2014 Government Leadership Award.

“The [Botswana Communications] Minister and his government’s leadership and vision for a digital Southern Africa were the catalyst for a regional collaboration at [the summit],” the GSMA explained.

The Communiqué, under the auspices of the GSMA, saw the governments of Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia commit to the accelerated roll-out of mobile broadband in the region, with the view of creating an additional 3.2-million jobs for sub-Saharan Africa by 2020.

At the September signing, GSMA explained that the mobile ecosystem contributed 6.3% of gross domestic product across sub-Saharan Africa and could grow to 8.2% by 2020 with the “right policies to encourage investment”.

“Equally, mobile penetration could increase to 93% of the region’s population by 2020, bringing mobile access to an additional 300-million citizens,” the GSMA noted.

The respective Communications Ministers agreed to establish a joint taskforce to coordinate the efforts of governments, regulators, mobile operators and the GSMA.

The countries also committed to a review of policy and regulation to highlight the “necessary” reforms, additional spectrum requirements and harmonisation of policy across the region, which would encourage long-term investment in mobile broadband infrastructure.

The countries also agreed to jointly develop an ‘eGovernment Plan’ to identify how online government services could be developed in line with increased broadband access.

Carrim welcomed the initiative to build the capacity of policymakers and regulators in the region to benefit from the latest global insights on market regulation.

“We have to assist each other in building this capacity over time, but we also need to engage with the private sector, including the GSMA,” he pointed out.

The agreement also needed to extend beyond the six countries and be processed through the SADC Communications Ministers structure at the impending SADC Ministers meeting for it to be legitimate.

“There are many things that we have to do and we can only effectively do this if we cooperate more. We won’t be able to do this overnight. We have to be realistic and have an incremental approach,” Carrim concluded.