Benin ICT Sector Performance Review 2009/2010
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to ensure the freedom and protection of the press as well as all the means of mass
communication in respect of the law ;
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to see to the respect of ethics in information matters and fair access of political parties,
associations and citizens to official means of information and communication ; and
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to guarantee the fair and appropriate use of public press and audiovisual communication
organs by the institutions of the Republic, each according to its constitutional tasks and to
ensure the necessary arbitrations if need be.
The HAAC, in its position of guaranteeing the exercise of freedom of press and communication,
ensures equal treatment between all operators in press and communication matters. It sees to the
maintenance of the national cultural identity through the appropriate control of the opening of
communication networks and ensuring free competition. It encourages creativity in the field of the
press and communication and guarantees the conditions of support of the State to the public and
private press. In addition, the HAAC is responsible for the use and allocation of frequencies devoted
to radio and television broadcasting.
Regulation Difficulties in the ICT Sector
Operators suffer from a lack of effective operational regulation (interconnection, frequency
management, management of disagreements). In the field of telephony, the allocation of radio
electric frequencies is within the province of the Ministry in Charge of Telecommunication. The
control of its frequencies, once allocated, it is ensured by the Regulation Authority. The frequencies
devoted to radio and television broadcasting are allocated by the HAAC. And yet, these frequencies
are the same. In Benin, there is currently no reliable frequency distribution table.
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