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GMPCS for Africa

GMPCS for Africa is multi-team initiative to African governments in bringing telecommunications more widely to their citizens. With the support of a grant from the World Bank's infoDev programme, GMPCS for Africa will carry out a ten month project - 21st Century Communications Project to speed up the provision of telecommunications infrastructure based on GMPCS

GMPCS could help many countries to achieve their national objectives in the field of education (long-distance learning), health (telemedicine), urban/rural population distribution, universal telecommunication service and disaster relief.

Governments will be encouraged to create a regulatory environment that supports the provision of GMPCS services. In particular, the project will seek to address the concerns about the impact of GMPCS on services provided by domestic telecommunication operators.

The project aims to:

  • Develop a market-access toolkit, including a model licensing process
  • Identify the public policies that African administrations see as essential to provision of GMPCS
  • Develop local expertise through training workshops and the creation of long-lived tool-kits
  • Create an ATU website containing a database of regulatory information
  • Hold two regional consultative forums
  • Convene an African ministerial meeting

    The GMPCS for Africa team comprises four organisations:
    The Pan African Telecommunications Union is Nairobi based intergovernmental association which aims to position Africa as an equal and active participant in the global information society. Specific objectives are universal services and access, and full inter-country connectivity.

    African Connections is an initiative established in May 1998 by the African ministers of communication which aims to build up Africa's communications infrastructure by supporting the development of communications policy and regulatory frameworks and human resources. www.africanconnection.org

    ICO Global Communications was set up in 1995 to create satellite enabled global mobile personal communications service. Starting next year, ICO will deliver digital voice, data, fax and messaging to and from users all over the world through handheld ICO phones similar in appearance, size and weight to today's GSM phones. The company also aims to serve rural and remote communities (via semi-fixed terminals or handheld), aircraft, ships, public services and governments.www.ico.com

    The Global Information Infrastructure Commission, is an independent, non-governmental initiative involving communications-related industry leaders from developing as well as industrialised countries. The GIIC fosters global debate with the aim of creating a rational set of public policies, trade agreements, and private-sector co-ordinated initiatives designed to bring order and predictability to the global communications environment.www.giic.org


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