THE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC’S INFRASTRUCTURE: A CONTINENTAL PERSPECTIVE

**Table 13. Submarine cables and competition, ICT prices, 2008**

|$|Price per mi<br>peak<br>Region|nute during<br>time<br>United<br>States|Monthly<br>Internet<br>ADSL<sup>[1]</sup>|
|---|---|---|---|
|Without submarine cable|0.97|0.96|266|
|With submarine cable|1.07|0.63|89|
| Monopoly on international<br>gateway|1.65|1.11|109|
| Competitive international gateway|0.45|0.28|65|

_Source:_ AICD analysis _Note:_ [1] 256 kilobyte per second (kbps) connection. ADSL = asymmetric digital subscriber line; ICT = information and communication technology.

Efforts are under way to establish fiber-optic links to undersea cables landing in neighboring Cameroon,<sup>17</sup> which would help lower prices provided that there is competition in the international gateway (table 13). The creation of a Central African Backbone (CAB) across the CAR, Cameroon, and Chad could provide much of the needed capacity. Estimations suggest that the opportunity cost of providing bandwidth that relies on satellite connection as opposed to the CAB network is estimated at $117 million until 2021.<sup>18</sup> In addition, the economic impact on Cameroon, the CAR, and Chad is estimated at $94 million, out of which $76 million is consumer surplus and $18 million is producer surplus. Despite these potential gains, there are problems surrounding the institutional arrangements and governance of international cable access, which, for instance, impede Chad from using its existing fiber-optic links laid along the ChadCameroon oil pipeline. Another identified risk for the CAB is low private sector interest in financing, installing, managing, and maintaining the regional network infrastructure (World Bank 2011a).

Incomplete liberalization and poor infrastructure led to the stagnation of the landline market under state monopoly control. SOCATEL, once partly owned by France Telecom, is now fully state owned<sup>19</sup> and the only player in the fixed-line market. SOCATEL suffers chronic operating losses given its low market share in a competitive sector (about 1 percent of the overall subscribers for the telecommunications fixed and mobile segments) (World Bank 2009d ). Fixed-line subscriptions have been stagnant for several years, at about 0.2 subscribers per 100 people (table 11), and 97 percent of the 9,000 existing lines are in Bangui. On average, only 20 new lines per month are connected to the network. Given the shortage of traditional fixed lines, higher levels of ICT access will come through wireless technologies. Recently, Orange launched a wireless broadband service using WiMAX technology, but prices are still high at $671 per month for a 256 kilobyte per second (kbps) connection.

> 17 The Central African Republic is one of the first three countries selected for the World Bank’s Central African Backbone project which will ―support the countries of the Central African region in developing their high-speed telecommunications backbone infrastructure to increase the availability of high-speed Internet and reduce end-user prices‖ (see http://go.worldbank.org/D1V9Y4SYS0).

> 18 Using a discount rate of 13 percent and average annual decrease of satellite connection of 8 percent.

> 19 SOCATEL is allegedly facing serious difficulties due to unpaid government bills and disputes over the international gateway (Balancing Act 2010).

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