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MADAGASCAR

• According to Isabel Neto's Wireless Networks for the Developing World: The Regulation and Use of Licence-Exempt Radio Bands in Africa (June 2004), the 2.4 GHz band is licensed in Madagascar: "Licenses are attributed through a bidding process," at least for firms offering wireless Internet access to the general public. But, quoting a contact at the Office Malagasy d'Etudes et de Régulation des Télécommunicaton (OMERT), "This regulation should change soon, to allow for more flexibility in the use of the ISM bands... The regulatory and legal framework is currently being revised by an international specialist. It is possible that in the near future there will be big changes, but we do not yet know which ones." Indeed, the Telecommunications Management Group, Inc., advised OMERT on the regulatory treatment of Wi-fi.
• "Loi N° 2005-023 du 17 Octobre 2005: portant refonte de la loi n° 96-034 du 27 janvier 1997 portant Réforme institutionnelle du secteur des Télécommunications," in French. Chapter IV is devoted to radio frequencies. Here are some translated excerpts from OMERT's announcement of the law's publication in the official gazette: "this law presents a framework that will allow investments in all sectors and all of Madagascar's decentralized communities can eventually benefit from the same ICT services as those of the advanced countries. It calls for total liberalization of the sector and an opening towards universalization." Part of this process is the displacement of OMERT by l'Autorité de régulation des technologies de communication (ARTC) after November 2005. OMERT became a forum for private sector interests; oddly, ARTC seems not to have launched a website yet. Article 16 of the law establishes something new in Madagascar: services offered under a "free regime." Paragraph 1(d) of Article 16 provides for "l'installation, l'exploitation et la maintenance de terminaux radioélectriques exclusivement composées d'appareils de faible puissance et de faible portée dont les catégories seront déterminées par l'Agence de Régulation;" (the installation, exploitation and maintenance of radioelectric terminals exclusively made up of apparatuses of low power and limited range in categories to be determined by the Regulatory Agency). But it is still not clear if WLANs at 2.4 GHz now constitute such a "free regime."
• Ministry of Telecommunications, Posts and Communications.
• "Les technologies de l'information et de la communication (TIC) à Madagascar," Mission Economique de Tananarive, April 2006, in French.
• "Politique Nationale des Technologies de l'Information et de la Communication pour le Développement," in French.

Africa - Regional Overview