ICT AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS

I. Potentials

• DRC is a vast solvent market for communication, information and telecommunication companies ;
• Freedom to operate in the sector for new investors ;
• Market share available for new investors ;
• More and more attractive and competitive business climate for the private sector ;
• Sustained economic growth rate of 9% ;
• A skilled labor among engineers and technicians in telecommunication, etc.

II. Achievements

The liberalization of the ICT sector to private partners in the framework of the economic reforms initiated by the country’s authorities, enabled it to rank among the growth sectors of the Congolese economy. The development of production evidenced is as follows :

III. Government Vision

• Construction of modern national telecommunications infrastructure (mobile and broadband internet) ;
• Development of internet centers in all the nooks and crannies of the country ;
• Development of Applications of New Information Communication Technologies in Universities, Colleges and in primary and secondary schools ;
• Development of ICT in the promotion of agriculture ;
• Implementation of management mechanisms of Internet exchange point, that is to say, network interconnection centers spread by Internet providers ;
• Provision of standard Internet services : web browsing, email, file transfer, interpersonal communication, etc. ;
• Development and implementation of advanced technology applications like video conferencing, telemedicine, tele education or the virtual university, land planning, mineral prospecting, of forestry and oil, etc.
• Building a modern national telecommunication infrastructure (mobile telephony and broadband internet) through a public-private partnership ;
• Improve the level of accessibility to telecommunications services and new technologies ;
• Strengthen the liberalization and competitiveness of the sector to attract private investment.

The specific objectives are :

• Bring by 2016, teledensity of 40 lines or mobile phone per 100 inhabitants ;
• Lay by 2016, 5000 Km of fiber optic cable on the national territory (national fiber optic network or back bone) ;
• Connect by 2016, around 30 million fixed and mobile lines (Metropolitan network) ;
• Computerize the public administration and specialized State services and border posts.

To achieve these objectives, it is planned to :

• Improve governance and competition in the sector through sanitation of the frequency spectrum ;
• Update the legal and regulatory framework for telecommunications and to build the capacity of the Regulatory Authority (ARPTC) ;
• Increase the rate of public investment in the sector and promote public / private partners ;
• Finalize the work of construction of the landing station of Moanda to ensure the connection of the fiber optic cable transmission network with the submarine cable of WACS consortium ;
• Ensure the commercial operation of the first phase of the National backbone between Kinshasa and Moanda ;
• Continue the construction of the backbone between Kinshasa and Kasumbalesa ;
• Finalize the transition from analogical television to digital television (TNT) ;
• Restructure public operators RENATELSAT and SCPT.

Table : List of some ICT operators in DRC

IV. Market Data

• The absence of entry barriers for new investors ;
• The prices are freely set by operators on condition to be oriented to the actual costs incurred ;
• The supply of services and prices is controlled by the regulatory body for the regulation of wholesale interconnection rates ;
• High market share available for both mobile telephony and the Internet for new investors ;
• Workforce : more than 70 million ;
• Park of subscribers to mobile telephony : 28,231,900 subscribers ;
• National Coverage ratio : 20% ;
• Average mobile penetration rate : over 45% ;
• Internet and Data penetration rate : 2.6% ;
• ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) in $ USD $ 3.44 / month ;
• Rates of local telephone communications / minute : $ 0.10 / minute (lower price set by the ARPTC) ;
• Internet Rates ; $ 100 / month for 10 Gigat bytes.

V. Legal Framework

The telecommunication sector in DRC is governed by the legal texts below :

• The Framework Law n ° 013/2002 of 16 October 2002 on telecommunications in the DRC : the law provides for two structures to manage the ICT sector, namely the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and the Regulatory Authority ;
• Law No. 014/2002 of 16 October 2002 establishing the Regulatory Authority of Post and Telecommunications of Congo "ARPTC" ;
• That sector is also made up of several conventions and other instruments signed by the DRC, including : the convention of the UIT, the Malouga - Torremolinos convention (1973), the Convention of the African Postal Union, etc.