The Gambia Telecommunications Architecture needs a rethink! Innovate or Pay. The case of Comium a 2.5G Operator

Telecommunications is the gateway to prosperity for any progressive nation. The policy direction adopted by a country determines 0the quality of service rendered to its populace and dividends accrued to the subscribers of telephony services and by extension the economy at large. Little over a year ago, I wrote about the telco sector with much emphasis on the international gateway and the reluctance of government to fully liberalize the sector to optimize the gains for the subscribers of telco services.

Well time has elapsed and not much has changed in the telecommunication landscape of the Gambia both in terms of regulation  and the desired outcomes expected by the frustrated subscribers of telephony services in the Gambia. At the heart of the maligned policy environment is the absence of a market driven regulatory environment whereby the regulator understands that regulation is all about equity by creating a state of Pareto Optimality where every one is made better off without making anyone worse of. This is logically possible if the regulator and the policy formulators understand that innovation is the driver of prosperity in the tech sector. The desire for innovation must be rewarded at all times. Having said that, I expect the regulator and the government to revisit the license regime governing operators in the Gambia by giving them a fiscal incentive for augmenting their capital investments in the market. Equally companies ought to be punished for delivering sub par services ( poor voice quality, permanent half bit rate voice across the network, poor and inadequate network topology) etc. It baffles me that the Government of the Gambia is still renewing the license of a 2.5 G operator to continue to sell data products in the local market. This is not only a regulatory anomaly but an affront to the subscribers of telephony services of our beloved nation. The time has come for the regulator to to recommend the revision of any operator selling data on a 2.5G to either upgrade or strictly operate as a voice operator. Case in point #ComiumGambiaLimited whose technology is below the wants and need of the average subscriber considering the fact that Data is King. Our national appetite for data capacity has exponentially grown over the years and the policy direction must encourage the investment of capital items in the sector by operators to address the frenzy of mobile data in the market

My prayer to the regulator and the policy formulates is to be more responsive to the needs of the Gambian subscribers by rewarding innovation and punishing the lack of technological advancements by our operators. A 2.5G network has no place in 2018 Gambia where our wants and needs per telecommunication is data driven. Companies have a right to live and the right to die and the choices they make in the course of doing business determines the trajectory they take.

Let's start 2019 with a responsive telco sector that will further open up the country than encourage  operators to further milk a depreciated asset at the expense of society. Let them innovate or pay. This concept  implies that we reward positive technological efforts or down grade a license at a cost by allowing 2.5G networks to strictly offer voice products.