Telecommunication is a vital component of national development and it must be harnessed in a way that its incremental dividends will filter through all sectors of the economy in the best interest of the population and government including the investors in the sector.
Having said this, The Gambia has been a country that was priced out of the market as it relates to international calling rates inbound to destination #GM220 for quite some time and this created a grey market that allowed non vested parties (companies and individuals who are nt domiciled or registered in The Gambia) to illegally tap into our market thereby depriving companies of revenue and consequently government of much needed taxes. The exit of Jammeh from The Gambia has exacerbated this point as there seem to be chaos in the market at the moment. Operators may not officially have a license to operate private gateways but they can illegally operate grey sim boxes that will illegally terminate inbound International traffic without undue interference from anybody. This has become a sad state of affairs as destination Gambia has collapsed in the international market and prices are spiraling downward at an alarming rate thereby creating a free for all market. This will eventually destroy commercial value and and a loose loose situation for government and vested investors in the sector. Regulating a virtual product (air time) requires specific competence, global trends and national policy objectives that promotes the welfare of the citizenry.
Going forward, I urge the government to create a clearing house that monitors overall traffic inbound and out bound through an Exchange Point and also act as a financial intermediary for the settlement of all bills and call data records inter operator. This will optimize government revenues, sanitize the the telecommunication environment and finally harmonize the sector for the benefit of Gambian subscribers and people accessing Gambian networks from abroad. The current lull post Jammeh on the sector has caused irreparable damage to our Global Value Proposition as it relates to Calling Rates and unfortunately the net winners are non Gambians Companies who are illegally tapping into our networks without our knowledge or approval. Time is money in telecommunications and a lull in making critical sectoral decisions on how to proceed only erode further our goodwill and economic interest. In life you don't get what you deserve but rather what you negotiate and our silence in policy pronouncement in the sector post Jammeh is as good as what we negotiate as silence is a form of approval.
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