Benin ICT Sector Performance Review 2009/2010 Market Entry Access to Scarce Resources Interconnection Tariff Regulation Regulation of Anti-competitive practices USO QoS -2 -1 0 1 2 Figure 3: TRE results for fixed-line telephones in Benin. Source: TRE survey results (2009). Analysis of the survey results on the evaluation of the regulatory environment of the fixed-line telephone sector reveals that: • Overall, on the numbering scale from -2 to 2, the role players in the sector in Benin allocated a score of -0,66 to the system of regulating activities in the fixed-line telephone sector in Benin. This result expressed the dissatisfaction of role players with the regulation of fixed-line telephones. • The role players are a bit more satisfied with the way in which interconnection and rates are regulated in the telephone industry. This relative satisfaction can be explained in one part by the fact that Bénin-Télécom SA, the fixed line sector operator, is in charge of the establishment of the interconnection catalogue and, on the other part, we notice that the call rates on the fixed network, excluding international calls, have dropped noticeably in recent years. • The role players, through the scores, have shown their great dissatisfaction as far as the regulation of anti-competitive behaviour, the universal service obligation, the management of rare resources and service quality are concerned. The GSM Mobile Telephone Market In Benin, the mobile telephone market is the most dynamic of all the telecommunication and ICT sectors. With five active operators, we observe a certain level of competition in this market. Nevertheless, the role players are not too satisfied with the regulatory environment of the sector. This would be linked to the transitional nature given to the authority in charge of the sector. Thus, the role players allocate an overall score of -0.26 to the regulation of the sector. An in-depth analysis of the results shows that: • The GSM market entry conditions in Benin are satisfactory. In fact, with five operators, it is easy to understand why the role players gave a score of 0.14 to the GSM telephone market entry conditions in Benin. • The difficulties regularly experienced by the different mobile networks during the transmission of an off-net call explain the score of -0.31 given by the respondents. • Despite the efforts undertaken by the Autorité Transitoire de Régulation des Postes et Télécommunications in the past two years to force operators to reduce their different rates by keeping in mind real costs, the survey participants think that the regulation of prices and the struggle against anti-competitive practices are the weak links in the regulation of the mobile telephone sector in Benin. • Service quality and the management of resources are aspects of regulation that are not yet satisfactory in these two criteria as evidenced by the scores allocated by the respondents. 19