I N V E S TO R C O N F I D E N C E :
P U B L I C S E C TO R
REFORMS IN TELECOMS
F
ela Adeyemi, Principal consultant at Ascendant & Co. gets into a heated telephone debate and concludes that governance reforms have typically focused on improving public sector management. A key impact in this area is decision making. Public
sector reform players must focus on identifying and choosing alternatives based on the values and preferences of the decision maker,
reducing uncertainty and allowing for reasonable choices to be made. The power of private businesses has continued to grow relative to other sectors. The telecoms industry has benefited from relative independence, very few unions, and the ineffectiveness of
collective bargaining.
“Advances in the technology of telecommunications have proved an unambiguous threat to totalitarian regimes everywhere.”
Rupert Murdoch
!!! Riiing Riiing!!!... !!!Riiing Riiing!!!... Six years into using
mobile phones in Sierra Leone and its Bomba all over (Bomba was the nickname for the big and powerful network). I
was speaking to a petty trader on the outskirts of Bo, a relatively big city in the South of Sierra Leone. “If ar bin geh
money, ar swear, na Celtel ar for dey” (If I had money, I swear
I’d be on the Celtel Network).
I wanted to know why and surprisingly, she articulated her
reasons clearly – “Wey you call, na one tem gbet e don connect.” (You only need to dial once and it connects). “Dis
wey ar geh, ar dey manage nomor. Wey you tok small, e don ot.
Pass you dial back. En somtem wey you begin again, you dey
pay more.” (On my current network, I just take what I get.
That’s why sometimes the first few seconds cost more). Fastforward another 6 years. “Dem all na the same nomor…”
(They all offer the same quality of service – sub-optimal)
Telecoms is an interesting