3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item Regional economic communities influencing policy: a study of information communications technology policy (on telecommunication) of four SADC countries(2017) Maulana, Godfree W.In the last three decades’ information and communication technology (ICT) has been a catalyst for an unprecedented social and economic revolution. In part, the revolution can be accredited to the rapid change in technology over the years, while on the other hand it can be attributed to reform changes which include, but are not limited to, the liberalisation of the sector. Countries introduced reforms in the ICT sector via targeted policy changes which facilitated change in the sector. They either formulated policies with the objective to remedy specific issues in their environment or adopted policies guided by the regional bodies. This study evaluates the extent to which country specific ICT policies adopt recommendations made by regional bodies. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) region is used for this research with four Member States ICT policies evaluated for conformity to the SADC recommendations, specifically with respect to the SADC Protocol on Transport, Communication and Meteorology. The policies are also evaluated against policy formulating techniques recommended when formulating policies. The focus of this study is the telecommunications policies of each of the chosen Member States and policy recommendations by SADC on same. The study employed desktop research and an analysis of the relevant documentation, which were interrogated for specific content with respect to previously identified policy objectives. These were then analysed against the SADC Protocol and the policy techniques. The policy formulating techniques are to ensure the policies under analysis are not conforming to the SADC recommendation due to poor policy writing techniques, however it is imperative for the reader to note that the research is on the conformity of the Member States to the policy recommendations by SADC. It emerged from the research that the Member States in SADC, under study, adopted policy recommendations made by SADC to varying degrees. There is also evidence of the use of specific policy-formulation techniques. Countries that have some evidence of use of policy techniques have better policy as evidence by achievements of the policy objectives. In order to formulate good policy not only must the regional body provide concise policy recommendations, the Member States must be able to formulate policy that would be in line with the recommendations. Regional bodies have an influence in member state policy formulation and there are benefits to be gained by regional economic communities if they have harmonised polices supported by Mwasha (nd). It also emerged that whilst there is policy reform in the ICT sector there is a dearth of research with regards to policy analysis and evaluation of the existing policies.Item Assessing stakeholder perceptions of effectiveness of Namibia's communications regulatory framework(2014-03-18) Stanley, ShanapindaCommunications regulatory frameworks are established to achieve affordable pricing, consumer welfare, innovation and competition. A regulatory framework is therefore endowed with regulatory governance measures and regulatory incentives to enable it to achieve these purposes. In applying these measures and incentives, the framework becomes effective, or ineffective, if the framework fails. The purpose of this qualitative exploratory study was to assess the perceptions of the stakeholders on the effectiveness of the types of governance measures and incentives implemented in Namibia because stakeholders are involved in the success or failure. The study of perceptions are important because they offer insight of informed stakeholders of how policies, laws and regulations are implemented for whom those policies, laws and regulations are designed, implemented and meant to impact. Such insights can inform the design of recommendations on how these measures and incentives can be improved to make the regulatory framework more effective, as it has done in this study. One of the main findings of the research was the perceived conflict of interests between the ICT policy role of the Ministry of ICT and its shareholder role over Telecom Namibia, negatively impacting on competition and putting privately owned licensees at a market disadvantage. The conclusion was that this regulatory governance design measure conflicts with the regulatory framework and requires legislative amendment and a re-design of the framework to achieve the regulatory purpose of competition and improve Namibia’s regional and global competitiveness.Item The evolution of broadband policy and regulation in South Africa(2014-03-18) Kekana, Arthur GladwellThe liberalization of the telecommunications sector in South Africa has brought about vast improvement in the take-up and use of mobile telephony, however the opposite can be said of broadband penetration. As recently as 2012, there has been some degree of stagnation in fixed telephony and broadband access. This research report explores the evolution of broadband policy and regulation over the past decade, 2003-2012. Several themes from international trends are used, as guidelines of what an integrated, efficient broadband policy should address what governance and policy leadership is necessary for driving broadband policy initiatives across all spheres of government. The study proposes a conceptual framework that informs the analysis in comparing and contrasting the national broadband policy and plans, as well as provincial and local government’s policies and plans against desirable characteristics, such coordinated planning and implementation of broadband across government. The research analyses the current state of the country’s national broadband policy and plans across the three spheres of government. The analysis considers the contextual differences between the trends studied and the local data collected in the formal research phase, for the benefit of identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the South African broadband plans. The conclusion focuses on the incentive structure needed to extend the development of the broadband ecosystem in terms of infrastructure, services, applications and user involvement in the country.Item Assessment of regulatory quality in electronic communications in South Africa(2014-03-18) Silaule, GoodmanAfter enactment of the Electronic Communication Act of 2005, there has been increased regulation in the electronic communications sector. The purpose of this study is to investigate how ICASA ensured regulatory quality when formulating regulations. Regulatory quality is an effective way of ensuring that new or amended regulations achieve they intended objectives. Failure to address regulatory quality may result in ineffective and costly regulations that negatively impact the electronic communications sector. This study revealed that there are regulatory quality gaps in the regulatory process followed by ICASA. The study established that there was lack of transparency and consistency in the process followed by ICASA when formulating regulations. The regulatory decisions made by ICASA were not evidence based as no ex-ante regulatory impact assessment was conducted. The regulatory environment within which ICASA operated was not conducive to enabling regulatory quality. The main factors contributing to an unsuitable regulatory environment were identified as prescriptive sector legislation, ineffective institutional arrangements, and ICASAs‘ lack of the capacity and resources.Item Local loop unbundling and competition in South Africa(2013-08-28) Perry, Samantha JainCannot copy abstractItem Infrastructure sharing and access to broadband: the role of policy and regulation(2013-06-07) Magagane, Mankakane VioletABSTRACT Infrastructure sharing is seen an opportunity to reduce the costs of deploying infrastructure and of gearing investment towards underserviced areas. It has since emerged that there is duplication and concentration of infrastructure in urban areas and limited infrastructure in many parts of the country. This complicates the sharing of infrastructure and the effectiveness of the infrastructure sharing instruments on essential facilities, facilities leasing and interconnection regulations in granting access to a wide range of services such as voice and broadband. The purpose of this study is to explore policy and regulatory instruments in infrastructure sharing and access to broadband. The study took into account the literature on policy and regulation and infrastructure sharing, the industry views and considered the trends in infrastructure sharing and the provision of ubiquitous networks to underserviced areas. The study found that network infrastructure sharing has the potential of providing the rapid development of access infrastructure capable of handling high bandwidth requirements suitable for an information society.Item Monitoring and evaluation of universal service obligations for mobile network operators in South Africa.(2013-06-04) Ncgobo, Victor MandlaUniversal Service Obligations (USOs) have been used, for over a decade, as a regulatory mechanism to bridge the digital divide in South Africa. For USOs to be effective and efficient in bridging the digital divide, it requires close coordination between various impacted and interested stakeholders, such as mobile network operators (MNOs), the ICT regulatory authority (the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa), and the Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa in order to extend the number of beneficiaries of the USOs. Furthermore, this requires stakeholders to understand the full impact, as well as the costs and benefits (financial and non financial) before imposing the USOs. The evidence from this research confirms that there was no monitoring and evaluation of USOs for MNOs during their implementation. More importantly, the Regulatory Impact Assessment (as a regulatory tool) was never used by ICASA in respect of the USOs initiative. This led to the failure of the initiative in achieving most of its objectives. Such failure can be attributed to lack of understanding by ICASA of the general impact of imposing the USOs upon MNOs, given that no impact assessment was done before such imposition. Recommendations arising from the research include the need for a shared vision on the USOs initiative, the need for clearly identified and defined roles for all stakeholders with an interest in the initiative, the need for a properly analysed and know ICT access gap, the need to balance the use of market and non market mechanisms in respect of USOs, the to ensure a proper funding mechanisms for USOs, and the need to identify effective regulatory governance in respect of USOs.Item The regulation of interconnection in Rwanda.(2012-10-16) Nkurunziza, Alex.The aim of this research is to explore the regulation of interconnection in Rwanda by investigating whether the current interconnection regime has ensured fair and reasonable interconnection rates that can enhance efficiency and effective competition. A qualitative research approach was used and the data were collected using semi-structured interviews and documentary analysis. The findings reveal that although RURA adopted a cost-based interconnection approach to ensure a fair and reasonable interconnection rate, its poor implementation resulted in an inefficient level of fixed and mobile interconnection rates. The study found an inconsistent application of the regime by incumbents, lack of sufficient regulatory capacity and lack of clear and comprehensive policy instruments. More recently, RURA is making efforts towards adopting a new regime to address the current interconnection rate issues in Rwanda. This study demonstrates that the current interconnection rate regime requires extensive rethinking about appropriate costing models and regulatory capacity, in order to enhance market efficiency and promote effective competition.