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DE RUEHMV #0496/01 1171334
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R 271334Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY MONROVIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8455
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MONROVIA 000496 
 
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E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECPS ECON PGOV ETRD EINV LI
SUBJECT: LIBERIA STUMBLES IN EFFORT TO PASS TELECOMMUNICATIONS 
REGULATION 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: There are indications that comprehensive but 
flawed legislation to regulate Liberia's telecommunications market 
is close to a final vote. The late inclusion of a few, but 
significant, anti-competitive measures raises concern that the Act 
may have an immediate impact on current GSM mobile operators and 
could undermine the largely open market conditions that were 
responsible for the rapid expansion of telecom services and lower 
prices in recent years. World Bank advisors are unhappy with the 
amendments but remain supportive overall of the Act that seeks to 
provide a more comprehensive definition of the sector and more 
authority for the relatively new regulator, the Liberia 
Telecommunications Authority (LTA). The Bank and private operators 
have encouraged the GOL to allow public hearings before any final 
vote. Post supports this call for an open and transparent 
consultative process. END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (U) In August, 2006, the Liberian Senate confirmed the Chairman 
and Board of Commissioners of the Liberia Telecommunications 
Authority (LTA), newly established following the passage of an Act 
by the National Transitional Legislative Assembly (NTLA). The LTA 
oversees the scope and operations of the country's 
telecommunications industry, a role previously played by the 
Ministry of Posts and Telecommunication (MPT). 
 
¶3. (U) The LTA faced two urgent priorities: 1) to renegotiate the 
licenses previously awarded to each of Liberia's four GSM mobile 
network operators; and 2) with support from the World Bank, to help 
elaborate a comprehensive and permanent National Telecommunications 
Law. 
 
¶4. (U) In January 2007, LTA thought it had completed its first 
mandate. After several months of negotiation, LTA was finally able 
to draft a licensing agreement calling for the four GSM operators to 
pay an annual license renewal fee of $300,000 and to have the life 
of the individual licenses extended for 18 years. The four operators 
who received the licenses were: 
 
-- LoneStar Communications (http://www.lonestarcell.com/), which 
launched a GSM network in 2001 and has gradually extended it outside 
the capital. Majority-owned by South Africa's MTN. 
 
-- Cellcom (http://www.cellcomgsm.com/), a new GSM operator that 
appeared in 2004 and is U.S.-owned 
 
-- Comium Liberia (http://www.comium.com.lr/), Lebanese-owned. 
 
-- Atlantic Wireless Liberia, under the Libercell brand, 
(http://www.libercell.info/), Lebanese-owned. 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) Within days, however, the GOL asked the Ministry of Justice 
to nullify the licenses signed by the LTA. The President reprimanded 
the LTA, saying it had no authority to sign on behalf of the GOL. In 
newspaper reports, the GOL suggested it wanted to make sure that the 
LTA had acted "within the confines of the laws" when it entered into 
the contracts with the GSM companies. According to World Bank (WB) 
advisors, the Minister of Finance and others thought that the 
agreement did not reflect the true value of the market and the 
Ministry of Justice claimed that the incentives embedded within the 
licenses required MOJ approval before issuance. The WB advisor 
suggested the GOL sought not only to increase receipts from renewal 
fees but also to re-examine the incentives that had been included in 
the licenses. To date, the licenses have not been finalized and all 
four operators are conducting business based on much older (and 
cheaper) agreements. Moreover, the LTA remains uncertain of its 
authority to grant licenses based on this initial experience. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Meanwhile, a special draft review committee composed of 
officials from MOF, LTA, MPT, the Liberia Telecommunication 
Corporation (LTC) and World Bank advisors finalized a draft 
Telecommunications Act that would repeal a handful of outdated Acts 
and laws covering telecommunications and establish an interim 
framework for telecom regulation. The committee handed its draft to 
the GOL in November 2006. According to World Bank consultant, Jerome 
Broche, the GOL made several changes to "what was previously a good 
draft," and then transferred the draft to the legislature in 
February. The President then asked the legislature to adopt the Act 
during its emergency session that commenced April 23. However, the 
legislature sent the Act back to committee for further 
deliberations. 
 
¶8. (U) The most significant change the GOL made to the draft Act was 
the insertion of language that establishes the LTC as a "national 
operator" with special privileges. The role and responsibility of 
the "national operator" is poorly defined and could allow the LTC to 
expand in a number of directions. LTC is the public company that has 
a monopoly on the operation of the now essentially non-existent 
 
MONROVIA 00000496  002 OF 002 
 
 
fixed-line telephony network in Liberia. LTC is currently suffering 
financial difficulties. LTC reportedly has a potential fixed 
tele-density of only 0.21 per cent based on less than 7,000 
installed land lines in the entire country. The central Monrovia 
network was badly damaged during the civil war and rural telephone 
networks were completely destroyed during the fighting. 
 
¶9. (SBU) A WB source told EconOff that the World Bank thinks the 
changes to the draft were "counterproductive and damaging to the 
market." He called LTC "a hollow shell that doesn't exist" and said 
the idea of beefing up a state-owned, national fixed-line carrier 
was contrary to logic when Liberia's mobile telephony market was 
already very efficient, characterized by low prices and improving 
service. The WB advisor suspects the goal is to allow LTC to expand 
into the mobile market, damaging the generally good market 
conditions. Despite these criticisms, the Bank has decided that 
overall the Act is a workable compromise and does not intend to push 
the GOL over the LTC provisions. The Bank does, however, advocate a 
transparent, consultative process that should include public 
hearings before any final vote. The Bank would not insist on 
appearing at the debate but would likely respond positively to an 
invitation from the legislature to present its opinions on the Act. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Current GSM mobile operators are not so sanguine. 
U.S.-owned Cellcom President Yoram Cohen told EconOff on April 23 
that the entire industry (including his prime competitor, Lonestar) 
are concerned that the Act would force private operators to fund a 
state-owned competitor. He pointed out that the draft Act was 
written by a committee that included two officials from the current 
LTC Board of Directors, Ben Wolo and Nathaniel Kevin, both of whom 
allegedly inserted the new language benefiting the national 
operator. 
 
¶11. (U) Cohen said an abrupt passage of the act in its current form 
could stifle the open competition that has already expanded telecom 
services and lowered prices. Cellcom is urging the legislature to 
allow an open debate and to reconsider several key provisions of the 
Act, most importantly the re-establishment of LTC, but also other 
industry criticisms including a loophole that would authorize 
mandatory routing of inbound international calls through a third 
party national operator (presumably LTC), a provision to force 
service providers to allow the GOL to intercept subscriber calls 
without any liability protection for the operators, and the absence 
of incentive arrangements that are an integral part of current 
operating agreements. 
 
¶12. (SBU) Comment: GOL's interest in sustaining LTC as a potential 
operator (as opposed to regulator) could be linked to Chinese 
proposals to build a national Information and Communications 
Technology (ICT) network provided they (the Chinese) can run LTC for 
the next 10-20 years. End comment. 
 
¶13. (SBU) On April 26, it appeared that the legislature was moving 
in the direction of a broader public airing of the bill. LTA 
Commissioner Lamini Waritay told EconOff that the bill would likely 
not come back for a vote until mid-May. Cellcom said it had been 
assured by the legislative subcommittee that the law would not be 
scheduled until after House Speaker, Alex Tyler, returns from the 
U.S. May 5, and hearings would likely occur the second week of May. 
Broche indicated World Bank telecom experts are expected to arrive 
in country that same week. 
 
¶14. (SBU) COMMENT: Telecommunications technology provides the 
potential for Liberia to leapfrog over the traditional wireline and 
monopolistic environments that were common throughout post 
independence Africa, provided the GOL establishes the appropriate 
forward-thinking, independent regulatory regime. The failure to back 
the LTA with a permanent, independent and comprehensive national 
telecommunications law has left LTA vulnerable. Unfortunately, the 
current draft contains disturbing anti-competitive measures that do 
not serve the interests of Liberia and may drive out the very 
competitive firms responsible for increased service and lower 
prices. World Bank expert advice on "best practices" has come up 
against tendencies within some GOL quarters to "Liberianize" - in 
this case to create what LTC Commissioners have described as an 
"organic model suited to Liberia's unique conditions." There are 
already a good number of private competitors in the mobile market 
and it makes no sense to inject the distortion of a GOL-owned 
competitor. We will seek to ensure that these issues are raised in 
the appropriate public forum before any final vote on the Act is 
taken. END COMMENT. 
 
BOOTH