SIERRA LEONE‘S INFRASTRUCTURE: A CONTINENTAL PERSPECTIVE estimated to be around 2 percent of the population;<sup>10</sup> high prices and low levels of literacy inhibit growth.<sup>11</sup> Sierra Leone is not connected to an international fiber-optic system and therefore depends on more costly satellite communications costing $4,000–5,000 per month per megabit per second.<sup>12</sup> Plans are afoot to connect the country to the Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) cable running from France to the west coast of Africa.<sup>13</sup> Internet prices are also high due to a lack of effective inter-modal competition. The fixed line network is antiquated and not capable of supporting high-speed broadband connectivity. Instead, Sierratel, as mentioned above, has pursued fixed wireless solutions using CDMA technology. A monthly subscription using its broadband EVDO (Evolution-Data Optimized) network, launched in 2009, reportedly costs $60 per month and $120 for the data card required to use it.<sup>14</sup> The other mobile operators provide low-speed connectivity; a capped (2-gigabyte) monthly Internet plan through the mobile network at speeds equivalent to dial-up was $72 per month in 2010.

Sierra Leone has considerable potential for private participation in the telephony sector. In the case of mobile telephony, it is estimated that much of the population—up to 91 percent—could be reached on a commercially viable basis. This result is based on the assumption that four percent of local income in each area could be captured as revenues for voice telephony services (figure 18). Areas requiring public subsidy to achieve coverage are mainly concentrated in the north of the country (figure 19a). These considerations are important when deciding how to target resources from the country‘s newly established universal access fund. Unlike to Sierra Leone, other Sub-Saharan African countries like South Africa, Nigeria, and Rwanda would barely need any subsidies to reach universal service as the market would take care of providing service to all.

There is significant scope to expand limited-performance broadband across a large swathe of the country. While broadband services are still in their infancy, simulations suggest that it would be feasible to expand coverage based on limited performance WIMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) technology providing telecom access for the population plus direct connections for some institutional users. This model looks to be commercially viable in all but the extreme north and south of the country (figure 19b).

> 10 According to the Ministry of Information and Communications (2009), there were 16,000 Internet users (excluding mobile) in 2008. However it is not clear whether that figure refers to subscribers or users. A 2008 survey by AudienceScapes found that 4 percent of the population 15 years and older used the Internet or some 125,000 people. This is two percent of the entire population.

> 11 Some 58 percent of females and 46 percent of males have no education (SSL and ICF Macro 2009: 19–20).

> 12 ―West Africa Rising: World Bank offers Internet  ̳revolution‘ to Sierra Leone, Liberia.‖ _The Christian Science Monitor_ , January 25, 2011.

> 13 A $31 million loan from the World Bank is being used to finance fiber optic connectivity.

> 14 http://www.thetorchlight.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2788:editorial&catid=36:localnews&Itemid=27

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