Johannesburg, January 15: Africa’s telecoms sector lacks clear and comprehensive legislative frameworks, consultancy Frost and Sullivan said on Friday.
In a statement, its ICT industry analyst Spiwe Chireka commented on the issues being faced by MTN Nigeria and Vodacom Congo.
He said that while the absence of comprehensive legislative frameworks placed multinationals in a vulnerable position, there was an element of “no pain, no gain” in play.
“Nigeria and the DRC are the most lucrative markets in which to operate, but they are also the most difficult.”
It was therefore a case of “survival of the fittest and developments such as we have seen concerning MTN and Nigeria, will require a pragmatic approach”.
Chireka said there was little, if anything, operators could do to control the situation and therefore pre-emptive moves would seldom work in these markets.
In Nigeria, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and MTN Nigeria Communications have been sued by telecoms company Globacom.
The company has alleged that the NCC unsatisfactorily handled its interconnection agreement dispute with MTN.
Vodacom is engaged in a spat with Congolese Wireless Networks (CWN), its partner in the DRC, over funding requirements.
CWN has threatened to sue Vodacom for at least $180m.
—Agencies