Rwanda Telecommunications Sector Performance Review 2007

Rwanda
TABLE 9: TELECOMMUNICATIONS REGULATION ENVIRONMENT ASSESSMENT
The overall telecommunication regulatory environment in Rwanda is
negatively perceived, due to the following factors:
Lack of understanding of the respective roles of each of the key players
in making the regulatory environment more transparent and effective.
The inception of the Policy framework for regulation appears to have
been more donor driven and therefore has lacked participation of local
stakeholders to raise the ownership;
Delays in action by RURA, the multisector regulatory authority. RURA
has been understaffed and lacking in capacity, and the previous years
have seen rapid changes in the telecom environment, which required
rapid responses. The lack of capacity to respond to regulatory issues in
a timely fashion have allowed incumbents to continue with certain anticompetitive
practices and weakened perceptions in the industry;
Failure of fixed line services to respond to the growing demand in the last
12 years. The demand at some points has been even higher than the
existing phone lines in operation while the incumbent was regulating the
sector, while for mobile services, MTN has enjoyed its monopoly for many
years with a very high cost of access and usage coupled with low penetration
rate. This situation alone explains the bad perception that is
recorded as far as mobile services are concerned.
In comparison with other African countries the negative perception of
Rwanda was the highest. Of the 14 countries in which perception surveys
were conducted. Rwanda however was not alone. Only two countries,
Nigeria and Côte d’ Ivoire were viewed positively.
2007 Telecommunications Sector Performance Review
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