Democratic Republic of Congo

Telecoms, Mobile & Broadband

Publication Date	September 2009
Publisher	BuddeComm
Product Type	Report
Pages	27
ISBN Number	not applicable
Product Code	BUD00422

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Summary

Following a 30-year dictatorship between 1967 and 1997, the DRC (formerly Zaire) has been through two wars and is still seeing violent conflicts in the eastern part of the country. The economy of this third largest country in Africa relies heavily on mining. However, much economic activity occurs in the informal sector and is not reflected in GDP data. An uncertain legal framework, corruption, and a lack of transparency in government policy are continuing long-term problems. The country has been hit hard by the global economic crisis in 2008 and 2009.

As a result of the political instability since the mid-1990s, the national telecom system is one of the least developed in the region. Rural areas, where almost 70% of the population resides, are virtually devoid of telephone or Internet service. The national operator, OCPT theoretically has a monopoly on the sector under 1970 legislation, but it has been unable to provide a modern telecom network and unsuccessful in finding major investors for privatisation. Recognising the need for telecommunications infrastructure, the government is only loosely regulating the sector.

Development of the Internet market has been held back by the poorly developed national and international infrastructure. The mobile operators are beginning to play a significant role in this sector as well, following the launch of mobile data services. However, no 3G mobile systems have yet been launched apart from a CDMA-EV-DO system in Kinshasa, which means that services offering true broadband speed are currently only available through relatively small wireless networks using other technologies, mainly WiMAX.

With support from China, OCPT is now finally rolling out a fibre optic national backbone that will ultimately also provide access to fibre optic submarine cables for low-cost, high-quality international bandwidth.

Key highlights:

Country hit hard by global economic crisis;
Comparison with other countries in the region in terms of GDP, mobile, fixed and Internet market penetration;
2008/09 financial results of mobile market leaders;
Profiles of major players in all market sectors;
WiMAX is the predominant broadband access technology;
OCPT begins national fibre backbone rollout and rehabilitation of fixed-line network.

Content

1. Executive summary
2. Key statistics
- 2.1 Country overview
- 2.2 Regional statistical comparison
3. Telecommunications market
- 3.1 Overview of the DRC’s telecom market
4. Regulatory environment
- 4.1 Overview
- 4.2 Regulatory authority
  - 4.2.1 ARPTC
- 4.3 Competition in the telecom sector
- 4.4 Interconnection
- 4.5 Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
5. Fixeline operators in the DRC
- 5.1 Fixeline statistics
- 5.2 Office Congolais des Postes et des Télécommunications
  - 5.2.1 National backbone
  - 5.2.2 International infrastructure
  - 5.2.3 Privatisation
- 5.3 Tatem Telecom
- 5.4 Other operators
6. Broadband and Internet market
- 6.1 Overview
  - 6.1.1 Internet user statistics
- 6.2 ISP market
  - 6.2.1 Africanus.net
  - 6.2.2 InterConnect, Vodanet
  - 6.2.3 Microcom
  - 6.2.4 Cielux Telecom
  - 6.2.5 Global Broadband Solution (GBS)
  - 6.2.6 Other ISPs
- 6.3 Internet cafes
7. Mobile communications
- 7.1 Overview of the DRC’s mobile market
  - 7.1.1 Mobile statistics
- 7.2 Regulatory issues
  - 7.2.1 GSM licence conditions, fees and taxes
- 7.3 Major mobile operators
  - 7.3.1 Vodacom Congo
  - 7.3.2 Zain DRC (formerly Celtel)
  - 7.3.3 Tigo (Millicom)
  - 7.3.4 CCT
- 7.4 Mobile data services
  - 7.4.1 Overview
  - 7.4.2 Mobile banking
8. Related reports
List of Tables
- Table 1 – Country statistics Democratic Republic of Congo – 2009
- Table 2 – Telephone network statistics – 2008
- Table 3 – Internet provider statistics – 2008
- Table 4 – Internet user statistics – 2008
- Table 5 – Mobile statistics – March 2009
- Table 6 – National telecommunications authority
- Table 7 – GDP per capita in the DRC and other countries in the region – 2009
- Table 8 – Mobile penetration in the DRC and other countries in the region – March 2009
- Table 9 – Internet user penetration in the DRC and other countries in the region – 2008
- Table 10 – Fixeline penetration in the DRC and other countries in the region – 2008
- Table 11 – Fixed telephone lines and teledensity – 1995 - 2008
- Table 13 – Vodanet pricing – shared bandwidth – 2009
- Table 14 – Mobile subscribers and penetration rate – 1996; 1998 - 2009
- Table 15 – Mobile operators, subscribers and annual change – March 2009
- Table 16 – Vodacom Congo subscribers – 2002 - 2009
- Table 17 – Vodacom Congo ARPU – 2003 - 2009
- Table 18 – Zain DRC ARPU – 2002 - 2009
- Table 19 – Vodacom Congo mobile data pricing – 2009