Sudanese ICT Market Development

Impacts on VoIP: The Sudanese Case

Sudan: Country Profile

Where is Sudan?

North East of African (1500 N, 3000 E)

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What neighbouring countries?

Flag, Emblem, and National Anthem

الوطن ------ جند الله جند نحن (We Are the Army of God,

the Army of the MotherLand) 

Sudan Demographics Profile 2012 (2011 est.)

1)Population: 25,946,220.2) Age structure: (0 – 14) years = 42.1% (as follows):#(Males= 9,696,726) , (Females=9,286,894). (15 – 64) years= 55.2% (as follows):# (Males = 12,282,082) , (Females = 12,571,424).  65 years and over = 2.7% (as follows):# (Males = 613,817) , (Females = 596,559)

Religions:* Sunni Muslim, small Christian minority.

Languages:*Arabic (official), * English (Second language), * Nubian, Bedawie, Fur 

Urbanization*Urban population: 40% of total population (2010). *Rate of urbanization: 3.7% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

...Continued …Sudan Demographics

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ICT Sector Chronicle

1859 – Telecommunications introduced in Sudan:

* First telegraph link between Cairo & Sawaken.

1871–1873 Telegraph line reached Khartoum (Small unit

for Post & Telegraph).1892 - 1903 First Telephone exchange in

Sudan (Eldaba & Khartoum).1910 -1971 The service was run by a

government body known as Posts & Telegraphs (P&T)

1971 - 1978 Telecommunication was separated from the Post service and run as a governmental

Department.1978 – 93 Sudan Telecommunications Public

Corporation (STPC) formed and

operated.

Telecom Sector Milestones

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April1993: privatization of the telecom sector & the

establishment of the Sudan Telecommunications

Company(Sudatel), a Fixed wire-line phone service.

1994: Sudatel starts commercial operation.

1996: The first mobile phone system, a GSM license, is

awarded to the Sudanese Mobile

Telecommunications Company(Mobitel).

1997: Sudan’s first ISP(Sudanet) starts commercial

operation, with 128Kbps Bandwidth capacity.

1997: Sudan’s first GSM system operator, Mobitel,

starts commercial operation.

…Continued …Telecom Sector Milestones(2)

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2001: Establishment of the National Telecommunications Corporation(NTC), a new regulatory body for telecom.

2003: A second mobile-phone (GSM) license is awarded to Bashair(MTN).

2004 : A second fixed-wireless phone(CDMA) license is awarded to CanarTel.

2005: International gateways are opened for all operators(telecom sector fully deregulated).

2006: A third mobile-phone (CDMA) license is awarded to Sudani, an affiliate of Sudatel. Sudani later on built an GSM network.

…Continued …Telecom Sector Milestones(3)

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2) Fixed phone system Subscribers = 467,541.

1) Mobile phone system Subscribers = 26,370,531.

6) Geographical coverage= 35%.

5) Phone density = 70%.

7) Population coverage= 88%.

3) Internet users = 11 millions.

4) Internet Broadband users >= 1 millions.

# Telecom Sector Statistics(Q2, 2012)

Subscribers Growth: Fixed & Mobile

Zain(Mobile) MTN(Mobile) Sudani(Mobile) Canar( Fixed Wireless)

Thabit(Fixed Wireline)

0

2,000,000

4,000,000

6,000,000

8,000,000

10,000,000

12,000,000

14,000,000

13,3

09

,48

6

6,3

49,3

56

6,4

26,4

93

314

,95

9

160

,46

9

12,6

11

,64

2

6,9

20,5

60

6,8

38,3

29

330

,72

5

136

,81

6

(Q1,2012) (Q2, 2012)

Fixed & Mobile Subscribers (2012)

 

(Q1,2012) (Q2, 2012)

Zain(Mobile) 13,309,486 12,611,642MTN(Mobile) 6,349,356 6,920,560

Sudani(Mobile) 6,426,493 6,838,329Canar( Fixed

Wireless) 314,959 330,725

Thabit(Fixed Wireline) 160,469 136,816

Total 26,560,763 26,838,072

Coverage:

Geographic coverage: 31%

Technology: CDMA 1x EV-DO

Subscribers: 6,975,145

Coverage:Geographic coverage:33%Population coverage:28%

Technology: WLL CDMA

Subscribers: 314,976

Total Subscribers: 26,956,164

Coverage:Geographic coverage:8.5%Population coverage:55.1%

Technology: GSM / UMTS

Subscribers: 6,969,019

Coverage:Geographic coverage:35%Population coverage:88%

Technology: GPSR, HSPA

Subscribers: 12,697,024

Telecom Operators' Market Share-:

Traffic(Q1 & Q2, 2012):-Item/Period  (Q1,2012) (Q2, 2012)

Local Traffic(Off net) 849,641,316 843,185,127

International Incoming traffic 365,732,201 453,662,775

International Outgoing traffic 164,280,214 205,908,763

Total(minutes) 1,379,653,731 1,502,756,665

Local Traffic(Off net) International Incoming traffic International Outcoming traffic0

100,000,000

200,000,000

300,000,000

400,000,000

500,000,000

600,000,000

700,000,000

800,000,000

900,000,000

849

,64

1,3

16

365

,73

2,2

01

164

,28

0,2

14

843

,18

5,1

27

453

,66

2,7

75

205

,90

8,7

63

(Q1,2012) (Q2, 2012)

Traffic(2012) in minutes

Bandwidth and backbone:-

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(3) Why is ICT so important? # ICT provides numerous benefits & advantages resulting in considerably better:Time, effort & cost utilization &saving,Financial leveraging,Human capacity training, allocation & re- organization,Safety measures standardization, & implementation, andEnvironment protection & preservation

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The VoIP Case

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Q. What is VoIP(Voice over internet protocol)?(1) The routing of a voice conversation over the internet or through an IP based network.(2) “VoIP Services” cover a range of services:1) Voice over broadband (VoB), i.e.

international private lease circuits.2) Voice over digital subscriber loop (DSL).3) Voice over Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN).4) IP telephony or voice over IP-based networks.(3) VoIP is also integrated with other services ( data, video) that are available on the internet.

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(1) A number of presentations were given highlighting the Regulatory and Technical aspects of voice over internet protocol(VoIP) at the NTC quarters. (2)A set of amendments was proposed to the Law & Regulation of telecom services , to include VoIP , and to be “formulated textually” and put to open & comprehensive discussion . (3)A “public consultancy” was formulated and presented to interested parties, post approval from the NTC Consultancy Council. (4) Responses were received some Operators, while others asked for an extension of the period.

VoIP Regulation Status: the Sudan

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5. Documents Currently available are:-VoIP Signaling Protocol,

Regulating telephone calls over Internet Protocol

Operators’ Responses.

Public Consultancy “Regulations of telephone-call services over Internet Protocol”(Arabic/English).

Continued …VoIP Regulation Status: the Sudan

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Telecom Sector Overview

2 Fixed-phone Operators(Sudatel &CanarTel).

3 Mobile-telephone Operators(Zain, MTN, Sudani) 2 ISP(Vision Valley, Suddern)

1) Operators & ISP’s:-

2) VoIP Status:-

VoIP is not officially Regulated. Current policy does not officially ban VOIP in Operators’

core networks. Permitted in private networks. Wide-spread gray market.

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Telecom Sector Overview

Appreciable international traffic volume routed via VOIP. Telecom sector income (hard cash) drops significantly.

1) Problem of Grey Market:-

International calls Prices are low compared to legacy calls, depriving the national economy from sizable hard-currency revenues.

Presumably will have an affect on NTC reputation in local, regional and international organizations and institutions.

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Recommendations

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VoIP Policy/regulation for Sudan

1) Issue 2 types of licenses for VoIP Gateways:-

# The Proposal:-

Intra-gateway(Individual-authorization license), and

Inter-gateway(General-authorization license.2) Intra-gateway to be licensed only to ISP’s with proven record of adherence to NTC laws & regulations.3) VoIP QoS to be specified in comparison with toll quality.

4) VoIP Tariff to be specified for both toll quality and below toll quality.

5) All agreements between Operators & ISP’s to be under supervision of NTC.

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1) Terms of Reference(TOR) for General Authorization and Individual Authorization be clearly stated & immediately issued.

# Recommendations:-

2) VoIP license should be restricted to ISP’s only.3) Intra-gateway license should not be awarded to Mobile & Fixed phone operators, to ensure government attains its full share of telecom revenues.4) Inter-gateway license may be awarded to Mobile & Fixed phone operators, to access international VoIP gateways via their own networks. This allows their customers the use of their own devices to make low-rate VoIP ILD calls.

… Continued…VoIP Policy/regulation for Sudan:-

Actions to be Taken:# Regulating phone calls via Internet protocol

(VoIP) requires concerted, relentless efforts by all stakeholders.

# A few steps to be taken are below:1. 1st Brain Storming meeting:(NTC Staff).2. 2nd Brain Storming meeting :(Operators,

ISP’s,…).3. Assistance request: (ITU, ATU,VoIP

experts).4. VoIP Regulatory commission: Experts in Law,

Economics& Eng.,5.VoIP commission mission is as follows: * Device a VoIP Regulatory Framework. * Put clear rules for VoIP Interconnection. * Recommend a globally-proven Tariff Model.# Indicators for evaluating “ VoIP Status ” must be periodically gathered, analyzed and recommendations forwarded about them to NTC Directorate.

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1. Institute neutral consortia for VoIP development.

2. Clearly define VoIP service & service models.

3. Measure the impact of grey traffic.4. Determine desired market outcome.5. Develop policy.6. Enforce policy.

Actions to be Taken:

# IP technology will become the future network architecture. All proper measures must be taken for the benefit of all stakeholders.

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Conclusion

(1)Regulating the internet, especially voice calls transported via the internet,

# The key regulatory challenges include:-

(2) defining a minimum criterion for legal VoIP for equivalence to traditional voice, (3) measuring the financial and social impact of illegal VoIP traffic on licensed telecoms operators and economies in general.

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