Regulatory clarity needed for Africa broadband investment

June 12, 2014 - PRLog -- Leading executives from mobile and broadband operators are meeting in London for the 5^th annual TMT Finance & Investment Africa Conference (www.tmtfinance.com/africa) on June 18, to discuss effective technologies, regulatory issues, and investment models for growth and improvement in broadband across Africa.

Nic Rudnick, CEO of Liquid Telecommunications, who will be speaking on the ‘Investing in Next Generation Networks – Delivering broadband services for Africa’ panel, one of 15 key sessions at the conference, said that investing in broadband is a key driver of economic development in Africa and governments and regulators must play a leadership role in improving broadband supply and usage in the continent to help support international investments.

“The main challenge for mobile and fixed broadband services operating in Africa is regulation,” he said. “To stimulate growth, there must be a combination of a good corporate regulatory environment and a structured competitive environment – and this starts with a sound number of players in the market. Investors need clear rules in order to build and deploy fibre infrastructure in Africa. There must be a proper competitive environment in place,” he added.

“Mobile broadband services also need efficient spectrum allocation. At the moment there is a significant proportion of spectrum that is not being used. Regulators need to adapt policies accordingly, so that mobile and broadband operators receive adequate spectrum allocation,” Rudnick added.

Scott McKenzie, Director, Coleago Consulting is chairing the Investing in Broadband Panel which will also include David Williams, CEO, Avanti Communications; Chris Wood, CEO, WIOCC; Suveer Ramdhani, Chief Development Officer, Seacom; and Adrian Shatku, CEO and Founder of UNIFI Communications.

Other companies speaking at the conference include Orange, Etisalat, Millicom, Africell, LAP Green, Google, Helios Towers Africa, IHS, Eaton Towers, Goldman Sachs, Clifford Chance, UBS, Standard Bank, Hardiman Telecommunications, Access Bank, Alcatel Lucent, Apis Partners, Akira Partners, Analysys Mason, Value Partners, BNP Paribas, Dentons, Digital World Capital, Ecobank Capital, European Investment Bank, Fidelity Bank, Frontier Markets Fund Managers, GSMA, IFC, the World Bank, Rand Merchant Bank, and Xona Partners.

TMT Finance and Investment Africa 2014 takes place at the Grand Connaught Rooms, Covent

Garden London on June 18 and brings together key regional industry, finance and advisory leaders. Other key session themes include TMT M&A, Mobile Infrastructure, Private Equity, Media & Content, Datacentres, Future of TMT, Emerging Market Risks, Innovation and Mobile Money.

For programme details go to: www.tmtfinance.com/africa/programme

Register to attend at: www.tmtfinance.com/africa/register/