Telecommunications industry development |07 January 2008

most striking developments of 2006 were made in the telecommunications industry by competing telecommunication service providers in developing their network.  Notably, consumers benefited from investments made which culminated with the launching of the country’s 3rd Generation (3G) and 2.5G mobile network.  This article summarises some of the development that took place in the mobile and fixed telephony services in the past year. 

Fixed telephony and Payphones

In Seychelles, fixed telephone services are provided through legacy Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) as well as using Voice over IP technology (VoIP).  All service providers operate their own network.  At September 2007, 20,603 fixed lines were in operation in Seychelles representing 24.35 lines per 100 inhabitants.  This represents a reduction by 0.37% from data at March 2007 and a 1.68% reduction from that at September 2006, where there were estimates of 20,697 and 20,954 lines in operation respectively.  Residential customers make up approximately 70.28% of the total fixed line market.  It is estimated that 64 out of every 100 households has a fixed telephone service. 

Mobile

Seychelles mobile industry continues to show tremendous growth and compares favourably with international market amid challenges, the most notable being the size of the Seychelles market, thus operators does not effectively benefit from economies of scale.  With the mobile network upgrade to 2.5G and the roll out of the first 3G network in the country, in 2006, Mobile operators have effectively increased their service providing capacity. 

Virtually, the mobile network at the very least is 2.5G enabled, and 3G enabled in certain area.  This means that customers are now enjoying services including Multimedia Messages (MMS), Internet browsing, Voice call, Video conferencing and other data services along with the customary Video service on mobile devices.  As at December 2007, customers have been able to send MMS to customers from competing local mobile operators and as a result, it is expected that will be more traffic. At September 2007, the number of Mobile subscribers had increased by 9.86% since March 2007 to 77,278.  It means that approximately, 9 out of 10 of the population had a mobile phone or the mobile phone penetration has reached 90%. 

Telecommunication Prices and Investment

2006-2007, the average prices paid for fixed telephone calls decreased by 9.53% and 22.49%, to an average of SR0.71 per 3 minutes and SR0.53 per 3 minutes during peak and off peak period respectively, whilst the average prices paid by customers for fixed to mobile services, decreased by 35.85% from SR2.61 to SR1.675 during peak period.  End-users also benefited from numerous pricing schemes including the introduction of fixed line pre-paid calling card and other fixed line plans. 

Mobile customers have also benefited through various promotions that the two operators have been offering and in some instances the cost of calls were reduced by more than 50%.  Despite the reduction in the prices of telecommunications services the performance of the telecommunication sector has continued to excel and the total revenue for the sector for the said period is around SR350 million.  In 2006-2007, it is estimated that the telecommunications service providers invested over SCR70 million.  Major investments, went towards network development for 3G and 2.5G. 

Contributed