By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
The Ministry of Information and Communication has explained the details of the government’s plan to unbundle the Sierra Leone Cable Network Limited (SALCAB).
In a press conference on Tuesday, the Minister of Information and Communication, Mohamed Rahman Swaray said that the move is part of the broader reforms that has been on-going in the communication sector in the country.
Talks about SALCAB’s future has come to the spotlight after reports last week that the entity that regulates internet access in the country, among others, has been sold. A statement from the Ministry on Saturday denied those claims.
Swaray said on Tuesday that the government will take away some of the functions of SALCAB and give the management responsibility to the private sector to ensure growth and increase access to internet in the long run.
“We want to inject private sector kind of initiative into SALCAB. We are not selling it and this is not privatisation. We want the private sector to play a key role in it, that is why we are bringing in a private sector operation and management,” Swaray told journalists in the conference hall of the Ministry of Information and Communication.
The reform strategy will not just include unbundling SALCAB, it will also see government privatize the ACE (Africa Coast to Europe) cable operations and establish a clear regulatory framework for SALCAB since it’s a monopoly operator in the market, the ministry said.
The ACE cable, which is currently managed by SALCAB, is an optical fibre submarine cable that connects the country to an internet source that is generated in Europe and passes through the sea across over 20 countries between Europe and Africa. Swaray said SALCAB’s current model of business and management has proven futile since it was established eight years ago.
The minister added that the decision to unbundle the cable service provider is part of a broader framework that is targeting to bridge the digital divide and “put digitalization at the heart of government function” as stated in the Medium Term National Development Plan.
He stressed that the reform is not limited to SALCAB.
“We have reformed the IMC [Independent Media Commission] by repealing the Criminal Libel Law and given them a new Act. We have resuscitated SLENA [Sierra Leone News Agency] and now they have a vibrant newspaper that is on the newsstand. And this weekend we will be meeting in Bo to discuss how we can make NATCOM a much more vibrant regulator,” he explained.
During the press conference, Mohamed M. Jalloh, Acting Director of Communication, said that the country must hasten to create broader access to the internet for Sierra Leoneans or “we risk losing out on the digitalization drive and the digital divide will only increase between us and the rest of the world.”
Jalloh added: “We need to reform, that is why we are saying lets change strategy. All of this is informed by policy. SALCAB is not the only sector under reform.”
Jalloh’s power point presentation also revealed that an overhaul of the entire ICT and Telecom sector is under way. The overhaul will see a National Advisory Council led by the President takes charge of the sector and then the Ministry of Information and Communication.
The structure also includes institutions like the Directorate of Science Technology and Innovation, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Planning and Development and National Civil Registration Authority.
Jalloh said the restructuring and transition process will take three months.
Government says in the short to long term they hope the decision will increase triple the level of internet penetration in the country to at least 50% from 17%.
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