Mobile payments markets in Kenya, Tanzania and Zimbabwe: A comparative study of competitive dynamics and outcomes.

This article aims to contribute to a better understanding of the competitive dynamics in mobile payments markets and the implications for consumers. We do this by conducting a comparative review of market structure, competition dynamics and pricing in mobile payments markets in three African countries. The results show that, where there is a dominant incumbent, tariffs for mobile payments tend to be higher and reflect a wider gap between those for registered and unregistered customers. This is consistent with the predictions of economic theory in network industries and the incentives of incumbent operators to capture or tip the market in their favour, which also contributes to reducing switching by existing customers in the market for mobile services.CA2016www.wits.ac.za/linkcentre/aji

Competition Law and Economic Regulation

Shaping markets through competition and economic regulation is at the heart of addressing the development challenges facing countries in southern Africa. The contributors to 'Competition Law And Economic Regulation: Addressing Market Power In Southern Africa' critically assess the efficacy of the competition and economic regulation frameworks, including the impact of a number of the regional competition authorities in a range of sectors throughout southern Africa. Featuring academics as well as practitioners in the field, the book addresses issues common to southern African countries, where markets are small and concentrated, with particularly high barriers to entry, and where the resources to enforce legislation against anti-competitive conduct are limited. What is needed, the contributors argue, is an understanding of competition and regional integration as part of an inclusive growth agenda for Africa. By examining competition and regulation in a single framework, and viewing this within the southern African experience, this volume adds new perspectives to the global competition literature. It is an essential reference tool and will be of great interest to policymakers and regulators, as well as the rapidly growing ecosystem of legal practitioners and economists engaged in the field

Comparative approaches to key issues in the economic regulation of telecommunications markets in South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe

This paper reviews comparative approaches to key issues in economic regulation in four countries of the Southern African Development Community, and how this has been reflected in outcomes in terms of competition, prices, access, and innovation in telecommunications services. In this paper, regulatory models in South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe are evaluated with a focus on regulation of spectrum assignment, infrastructure sharing, call termination rates, and number portability. While regulators in the four countries are generally implementing measures aimed at facilitating competition, the findings of this paper suggest that, in practice, the level of alignment between countries currently is low, and regulation could be much more effective at stimulating competition. Even finding data and information on regulatory policies and decisions in the different countries is extremely difficult, which frustrates the sharing of knowledge and evidence-based best practice. Key recommendations of the paper, therefore, relate to greater transparency by regulators and a much more serious commitment to the sharing of experiences and fostering harmonization of regulatory approaches

Competitive dynamics of telecommunications markets in South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe

Low levels of broadband penetration combined with poor quality of services present a challenge to growth and development in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). This paper performs a comparative analysis of the competitive dynamics of telecommunications markets in four SADC countries and relates this to outcomes for consumers. From a mobile perspective, a common theme is that while entrants have attracted subscribers, they have struggled to grow revenues and compete effectively due to tariff-mediated network effects and the high cost of building a network. Fixed markets are underdeveloped and highly concentrated. Access to fixed and mobile infrastructure is a challenge, in spite of regulations mandating access in most countries. Where mobile money has taken off, this has sometimes exacerbated network effects and enhanced the market power of incumbents, although the development of interoperability in some countries has had a positive impact. The findings suggest that regulation has often been ineffective in facilitating competition in telecommunications markets in SADC

Net neutrality and market power: the case of South Africa

Net neutrality rules have been implemented in many developed countries, often in response to concerns over ISP market power and potential blocking or throttling of content (Greenstein et al, 2016 and Easley et al, 2018). However, developing countries have significantly lower levels of internet penetration and usage, and ISPs charging content providers in violation of net neutrality may result in lower prices to consumers and greater adoption of internet services (Kramer et al, 2013 and Easley et al, 2018). Furthermore, the case for ex-ante net neutrality regulation in markets with competition among ISPs is not clear (Crocioni, 2011 and Kramer et al, 2013). Market power in respect of internet access looks quite different in developing countries, given that mobile is the predominant means of connection and there are often three or more mobile operators. In certain developing countries, including South Africa and Kenya, fibre to the premises is being rolled out, in some cases on an 'open-access' basis. A further consideration in developing countries like South Africa and many other African countries is that there is a quasi-monopoly in the paid broadcasting market which is not vertically integrated into internet services (the same satellite TV provider, Multichoice, broadcasts across much of the African continent). Competition from mobile operators in offering their own content and that of third parties (such as Netflix) at lower data prices may help to bring about more competition in markets for paid TV. This means that developing countries may have quite different policy objectives where net neutrality is concerned, depending on market circumstances. First, we describe the market structure and dynamics in ISP and content provider markets in South Africa. Next, we investigate the theories of harm in more detail. In terms of the ISP market we investigate whether conduct in violation of net neutrality such as throttling and blocking has been taking place and whether it is likely to in future. We explore data on the number of announced prefixes and peers and IP addresses originated in order to get a sense of the size and market power of ISPs and the relationships between them. We then assess competition at the content provision level including websites, social media over-the-top services, video on demand and broadcasting. We consider examples of bundling and zero-rating conduct by ISPs which appear to be the result of vibrant competition and beneficial for consumers. We provide conclusions in a final section

Competition Law and Economic Regulation

Shaping markets through competition and economic regulation is at the heart of addressing the development challenges facing countries in southern Africa. The contributors to 'Competition Law And Economic Regulation: Addressing Market Power In Southern Africa' critically assess the efficacy of the competition and economic regulation frameworks, including the impact of a number of the regional competition authorities in a range of sectors throughout southern Africa. Featuring academics as well as practitioners in the field, the book addresses issues common to southern African countries, where markets are small and concentrated, with particularly high barriers to entry, and where the resources to enforce legislation against anti-competitive conduct are limited. What is needed, the contributors argue, is an understanding of competition and regional integration as part of an inclusive growth agenda for Africa. By examining competition and regulation in a single framework, and viewing this within the southern African experience, this volume adds new perspectives to the global competition literature. It is an essential reference tool and will be of great interest to policymakers and regulators, as well as the rapidly growing ecosystem of legal practitioners and economists engaged in the field