Brought to you as a public service of the Open Spectrum Foundation (Stichting Open Spectrum), Amsterdam - Prague

AFRICA

"We propose that de-licensing of the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands should be an integral part of the African regulatory harmonization process...and that more spectrum be considered for license-exempt use... Africa should lead the way in liberal unlicensing of spectrum..." ---from "License-Exempt Wireless Policy: Results of an African Survey" by Isabel Neto, Sharon E. Gillett and Michael L. Best, presented at the ITS Conference (Berlin, Germany, 7 September 2004)

"One of the largest WiMAX equipment vendors in Africa, Alvarion, estimates that there are just over 100 installed WiMAX systems in Africa; over 45 of these are operating in unlicensed spectrum..." ---from Balancing Act News Update No. 435 (January 2009)

To see a brief summary of a country's WiFi rules in the box below, put your mouse inside the country's borders on the map at left. Moreso than in other regions, the regulatory situation for Wi-fi at the national level in Africa is often unclear, unresolved or inconsistent. For more detailed information about radio regulation in a particular country, click on the country in the map. Use the "Country pages" selector in the left column to see countries not visible in the map (like Somaliland).

Regional:

• "Kayak.com co-founder Paul English plans to blanket Africa in free wireless Internet" by Austin Carr, Fast Company, 12 May 2010: "Paul English, the cofounder of travel search engine Kayak.com, wants to blanket all of Africa with free and low-cost Wi-Fi. It's a 'big, big project,' one that will consume the next decade of his life, English tells FastCompany.com... English plans to kick off the nonprofit/for-profit hybrid this summer and begin creating partnerships between JoinAfrica and local African for-profit telcos... 'I want this to be completely self-sustaining,' he says... 'Having email and Skype has been transformative for the handful of villages I've worked in,' he says..."
• Click here for maps presenting in graphic form regulatory data for the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands, as of spring 2004. They are from Wireless Networks for the Developing World: The Regulation and Use of Licence-Exempt Radio Bands in Africa by Isabel Neto (226 pages, June 2004).
• "Africa's Wireless Internet Opportunity" by José Maria Figueres Olsen, in Connect-World's Special Issue on Africa & the Middle East: Pervasive Connectivity as a Tool for Development, 1/2004 (free registration required for access).
• "FON, and why sharing WiFi's a cool technology for Africa" by Ethan Zuckerman, My Heart's in Accra, 5 February 2006.
• Telecoms & NTIC Afrique Régulation - French language blog monitoring telecom regulation news in Africa.
• "Policy Guidelines on Licensing" for the Association of Regulators for Information and Communication in Eastern and Southern Africa (ARICEA, 2005).
• "Projet de marché commun ouest-africain: Harmonisation des politiques régissant le marché des TIC dans l'espace UEMOA-CEDEAO: Octroi des licences" (West African Common Market Project: Harmonization of Policies Governing the ICT Market in the UEMOA-ECOWAS Space: Granting of Licenses), in French (ITU/European Commission, 2006). See also the "Spectrum Management" report (in English) in the same series. Both volumes describe current practices in individual West African countries and the practices recommended to a meeting of ministers of communication from the UEMOA-CEDEAO countries in Abuja, Nigeria (11 May 2006).
• AfricWifi - "le Portail de la Communauté Africaine Wireless," sponsored by AfricTel (all in French).
• The Meraka Institute's Wireless Africa Wiki: "The Wireless Africa group is researching ways and means to develop sustainable information and communications technology in developing countries. This will be achieved through community-owned decentralized mesh networks built on open source technology."
• ICT Policy and Regulatory Assessment Report, ARICEA-COMESA, August 2004, in English.
• At the Crossroads: ICT Policymaking in East Africa, edited by Florence Etta and Laurent Elder, East African Educational Publishers/IDRC, 2005, ISBN 1-55250-219-8, 336 pages.
• Final Report, Part 2: Regulatory Study on Low Cost VSAT Technologies and Licensing Regimes for the World Bank African Virtual University by Detecon International GmbH, March 2003. While focussing on VSATs, this 199-page report provides some context/background information for licensing in 22 sub-Saharan African countries.
• "Southern Africa - Investment Opportunities in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Sector: Regional Market Analysis - General Conditions and State of Technology - Botswana, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa," by Pertti Haikonen, Markku Kaariainen, Mike Jensen and Petter Lundkvist (Telecon and Spintrack AB) for the International Finance Corporation, November 2004. Hardly any mention of WiFi, but the authors note that in these 5 countries ISPs offer wireless Internet access service.
• "Creation of New Regulatory Regimes in the African Region" by Coudert Brothers LLP, 1998.
• ResearchICTAfrica: "Through a network of African researchers it will generate the information and analysis needed to inform appropriate but visionary policy formulation..."
• "Algeria, Kenya, Mali and Mauritius have within the last year enacted telecommunication regulations that allow for the deployment of both VOIP and Wi-Fi... [The government of Algeria] recently approved licenses allowing ISPs (Internet service providers) to use VOIP and Wi-Fi..." ---from "VOIP, Wi-Fi seen aiding Africa development" by Michael Malakata, IDG News Service (Lusaka), for ComputerWorld Singapore, 13 May 2005.
• Telecommunications Management Group, Inc., is "Overseeing the licensing module for an EC/ITU project intended to create an integrated ICT market in West Africa. TMG is reviewing existing licensing practices and procedures in all the ECOWAS/UEMOA countries, carrying out case studies on different licensing procedures, preparing a report of guidelines and recommendations on best practice licensing procedures and practices, and drafting model licenses."