Benin Telecommunications Sector Performance Review 2007

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Benin 1 x 256Kbps specialised links (radio). It should be noted that the Francophone digital campus offers connection to the university community. Permanent links (via wireless or cabled link) are held by a few big companies such as banks, international institutions, service providers and a few Cybercafés. The speed of these links varies between 64 Kbps and 1 Mbps. Bénin Télécoms SA has linked a few of them (cable and wireless) – FirstNet has at least 10 (wireless only). There is also a distance learning centre that puts a 512 Kbps satellite connection at the disposal of its clients. Home access is very low. For example, at Bénin Télécoms SA, the main access provider, there are about 3 500 STN subscribers; the estimated number of subscribers to the switched telephone network, if private access providers are taken into account, hardly exceeds 6 000, which is a fairly low figure. As to ADSL subscribers, they number 1 500. However, thanks to the many Cybercafés offering Internet services (there are about 1 000 in Cotonou), the total number of IInternet users is in excess of 100 000. DIGITAL DIVIDE Internet use is wider in Cotonou, even though access centres and subscribers exist in a large number of towns in the country. In 2002 the government put in place about 20 community telecentres offering Internet services. The current lack of crosspoints in other towns makes access from within much more difficult (regular disconnection, connection after several attempts, high communication costs, etc). Amongst the problems encountered in Internet usage are high costs, difficulty of connection, low electricity coverage of the country, regular power cuts, weak IT culture, illiteracy in French (let alone English, which dominates the web). WIRELESS SERVICES AND DATA TRANSMISSION Only one operator has a licence to operate data transmission via satellite. No operator has the right to make call transmissions (VoIP), transmit or even offer direct access on the Internet backbone without passing through Bénin Télécoms SA. Via its BENINPAC service, Bénin Télécoms SA puts at the disposal of banks, hotels, airline companies, ministries, international bodies, etc, a data transmission network in packets. The areas where data transmission is used include: Consultation of national and international databases; Electronic messaging (mail, fax, telex); File transfer (traditional applications, teleprocessing); and French videotext services. The data network is not a national IP network. It is based on old X25 technology and enables companies to have specialised links. The number of subscribers to the data network is as follows: 58 subscribers to the X25 network composed mainly of corporate clients; 24 Minitel subscribers. 2007 Telecommunications Sector Performance Review 25
Benin Although data transmission is still a monopoly under Bénin Télécoms SA, Africa Telecom operates in this area by offering clients like Ecobank and Bank of Africa (BOA) the possibility of having international access and transmitting data on Wide Area Networks (WAN) via VSAT. CYBERCAFES The number of Cybercafes in Benin increased exponentially with the steady deployment of wireless, and is estimated at several thousand, mostly located in the main towns of the country. INVESTMENT Investment in the telecommunications sector, in particular in the fixed telephony sector, evolved considerably over the 2000-2004 period. From CFAF22 177 million in 2000, Bénin Télécoms SA’s investment increased enormously in 2001, peaking at CFAF82 194 million before dropping to CFAF10 745 million in 2004. Public investment in the telecommunications sector evolved progressively over the period from 2000 to 2004 as shown in the following table. FIGURE 5: INVESTMENT DEVELOPMENT (IN BILLION OF CFAF) Source: lNSAE and Bénin Télécoms SA. The investment of the incumbent investor, Bénin Télécoms SA, increased slightly over the 2001-2004 period. However, public investment in the sector dropped over the same period.. Sub Heading JOB CREATION The ICT sector has for about ten years continued to attract human resources. A survey conducted by PASNTIC (Benin New Information and Communication Technologies Support Programme) in 2003 2 to assess the situation of companies of the sector, services, products and job creation found that: 4 537 persons (ie 1 873 technicians and 2 665 administrative staff) were identified as working in companies providing ICT services in 2 To the best of our knowledge, no recent study has focused on job creation in the ICT sector. It would be worthwhile to conduct such a study to understand both its efficiencies and employment potential. 26 2007 Telecommunications Sector Performance Review
Page 1 and 2: 2007 Benin Telecommunications Secto
Page 3 and 4: Benin SERIES EDITOR: Alison Gillwal
Page 5 and 6: Benin ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS AD
Page 7 and 8: Benin 6 2007 Telecommunications Sec
Page 9 and 10: Benin big cities, especially in Cot
Page 11 and 12: Benin MAP OF THE REPUBLIC OF BENIN
Page 13 and 14: Benin The table below presents the
Page 15 and 16: Benin Box 1: Five pillars of ICT po
Page 17 and 18: Benin Guarantee and ensure the fre
Page 19 and 20: Benin instrument once a regulatory
Page 21 and 22: Benin There is only one fixed-line
Page 23 and 24: Benin The improvement of teledensit
Page 25: Benin width managed by Bénin Tél
Page 29 and 30: Benin MOBILE Mobile telephony has h
Page 31 and 32: Benin Regulatory Agency), handled b
Page 33 and 34: Benin Current rates for a one-minut
Page 35 and 36: Benin of n transfer or interconnect
Page 37 and 38: Benin TABLE 10: NUMBER OF COMPUTERS
Page 39 and 40: Benin This PIPAP project enabled th
Page 41 and 42: Benin operator, the sole operator o
Page 43 and 44: Benin (3.0). It is not too restrict
Page 45 and 46: Benin and the use of fibre optics.
Page 47 and 48: Benin Appendix 1: List of state-own
Page 49 and 50: Benin Source: Based on information
Page 51 and 52: Benin Please CIRCLE the number whic
Page 53 and 54: Benin Please CIRCLE the number whic

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