Benin ICT Sector Performance Review 2009/2010 Internet Service Prices Free competition has led to a drop in the service usage rates at Internet cafés. For more than five years, the average connection rate per hour has been 300 FCFA. We find even lower rates in big cities (Cotonou, Porto-Novo and Parakou) in certain Internet cafés. However, these rates present investment profitability problems to Internet café owners. As far as the wholesale market is concerned, since 2007, for reasons of the reorganization of the sector, all the licences granted to Internet access providers (IAPs) were suspended. Only two IAPs hold temporary licences. The operator Bénin-Télécom SA received a temporary licence for a trial to provide Wimax. The company Isotel Télécom obtained a similar licence for Internet provision via radio link from Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) technology. It involves a wireless Internet access solution. In addition, Bénin-Télécom SA is authorized to continue providing an ADSL connection. A dispensation exists, however, for other suspended IAP who use ADSL technology in subcontracting with Bénin-Télécom SA. The company Isocel Télécom offers two types of products. There are the prepaid connection ISONET for households and individual subscribers, and the post-paid connection ISOPRO for professionals. For an ISONET connection, the client must pay the initial amount of 99,000 FCFA including taxes for the connection. This includes the price of a connection kit and the antenna installation fees. For use, the subscriber has the option of choosing among three options. The “unlimited access” option costs 25,000 FCFA per month. “Evenings and Weekends” access at 15,000 FCFA is valid for 30 days, and a “50 Hours” option is available at 10,000 FCFA and is valid for 30 days. The ISOPRO option is a post-paid solution for companies and people who want a high speed shared or dedicated connection. Various subscription options are offered for which the monthly amounts vary between 35,000 FCFA for a 128 Kbps connection and 500,000 FCFA for a speed of 2048 Kbps. The operator Bénin-Télécom SA offers a varied range of Internet access. The different products as well as the access fees and subscription costs are recorded in the following table: Table 14: Access fees and monthly charges offered by Bénin Télécom SA. Product Name Speed (Kbps) Access Fees (FCFA) Monthly Charge (FCFA) Kanakoo Liberté 115 50 000 Without monthly subscription Browsing at 400 FCFA per hour Kanakoo Liberté plus 230 50 000 Without monthly subscription Browsing at 400 FCFA per hour Kanakoo ADSL Family 256 55 000 25 000 Kanakoo ADSL IP Family 256 265 000 25 000 Kanakoo Wimax Family 256 220 000 25 000 Kanakoo Wimax Pro 1024 220 000 200 000 Kanakoo ADSL pro 1024 60 000 200 000 Kanakoo ADSL Pro 512 60 00 80 000 Kanakoo ADSL IP Pro 512 270 000 80 000 Source: Compiled from data from Bénin Télécoms SA. Interconnection Costs In Benin, interconnection fees are set after negotiation between the operators under the supervision of the Autorité Transitoire de Régulation des Postes et Télécommunications. Table 15 shows the interconnection fees between 2000 and 2009. 15 Free competition has led to a drop in the service usage rates at Internet cafés.