Monrovia-The Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA), in partnership with Salience Consulting, with support from the World Bank, over the weekend conducted a day-long workshop intended to present stakeholders’ information and validate the initial findings of a telecommunications market study.
By Jaheim T. Tumu- [email protected]
The study was in furtherance of the LTA’s mandate to continuously monitor telecommunications markets to assess the state of competition and to determine regulatory measures needed to prevent market failure and mitigate anti-competitive behavior and tendencies.
Salience Consulting, the institution charged with the responsibility, has conducted research and analysis to define telecoms markets relevant for ex-ante regulation, to determine which licensees, if any, have market power, and to propose competitive remedies and safeguards for licensees found to be dominant in serviced markets.
Accordingly, Salience Consulting was also tasked with updating the LTA’s Cost Model, last revised in 2016, which provides an economic basis for ensuring that market prices are cost-based in keeping with the provisions of the Telecoms Act, in the interest of consumers and to ensure a competitive level playing field for licensees.
Speaking during the opening session, Acting Commissioner for International Gateway Services, Angela Cassell Bush said the LTA has been guided and inspired by the mission of Liberia’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Policy to “transform Liberia into a knowledge-based economy and inclusive information society that leverages ICT to support economic development and social inclusion for all Liberians”.
Accordingly, she emphasized that the ICT policy has informed the LTA’s strategic objectives to create an enabling and predictable policy and regulatory environment that encouraged fair competition and private sector investment in telecommunications.
She said that the market study will increase access to affordable high-speed broadband and promote the demand for broadband-enabled services and applications to stimulate growth in the wider economy.
Said Madam Bush, “We live in exciting and challenging times in the ever-evolving telecommunications industry where new technologies and services, and new approaches and methodologies to regulating those services, are the order of the day. At the LTA, we are restructuring our organization and our regulatory regime to meet these challenges head-on.”
Madam Bush emphasized the growing challenges faced by outdated regulatory frameworks in addressing modern cyber security concerns.
She said that as technology evolves, including advancements in space-based telecommunications, like 5G private networks and expanding fiber optic connectivity; the regulations developed in previous years are no longer sufficient to handle the complexities of 2024.
She called for the need for a comprehensive overhaul of current policies to ensure they adequately cover these emerging technologies and the associated security risks, providing stronger protections for both operators and end users.
“The acting Board of Commissioners of the LTA is focused on these issues and, over the course of the last six months, has taken decisive action to begin the process of realizing the vision of the ICT policy to transform lives through ICT.”
Madam Bush noted that the regulatory instruments and activities can only be effective if the LTA has the evidence-based tools to ensure that telecoms service providers and investors can be assured of a predictable and transparent regulatory environment, stressing that the review and provide input to two critical regulatory tools – a comprehensive analysis of the telecoms market, and the telecoms cost model.
“These tools give the LTA the basis for a fuller understanding of the dynamics of the telecoms market, how new technologies and services impact the market, and how regulatory interventions can be made to maintain a conducive environment for investment in the Liberian telecoms industry.”
She emphasized that they cooperate with Salience Consulting in providing the information and insight that they need to provide objective advice to the LTA for the benefit of all licensees, consumers, and other stakeholders in the telecoms space.
“I urge you to consider these studies as being in your self-interest and for you to timely support these international consultants in the achievement of their assignment.”
“We acknowledge the time and effort you all have applied, and the contributions you all have made to the draft market study. But the work is not yet done. We encourage you to bring that same level of cooperation to providing the information needed by Salience to complete their development of a new cost model for Liberia,” she said.
She, however, said that the Board of Commissioners, over the past few months, issued new regulations to close the gaps in our regulatory portfolio.
Accordingly, she emphasized that the revised National Numbering Plan was issued in August to efficiently allocate scarce numbering resources to innovative new digital services to promote industry growth and support access by telecom consumers to a whole suite of mobile networks and value-added services.
“The new National Numbering Plan is the foundation for new Regulations on National Numbering Resources, also adopted by the LTA Board in August, to bring national numbers, especially short codes, under LTA control for the first time, and to provide an effective and transparent framework for the efficient use of these national resources,” she said.
She said the accompanying the Numbers Regulations are the new Value-Added Services Regulations, which seek to provide opportunities for Liberians to participate more beneficially in the telecoms industry, emphasizing that these regulations will allow non-telecom services to gain access to the networks of mobile network operators to supply a whole range of digital services to consumers.
“Consumer Protection Regulations are going through public consultation and are expected to be adopted by the LTA before the end of this year to ensure the protection of consumer personal data and privacy, to provide redress for consumer complaints, and to safeguard consumers against fraud and online crimes, she stated.
