Global Voice Group Optimizes the Implementation of Innovative Funding Mechanisms for Emerging and Developing Countries

CAPE TOWN, September 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

The partner of choice for telecoms regulators

Governance technologies developed by Global Voice Group (GVG) for telecommunications regulators enable emerging and developing countries to set up efficient and innovative funding mechanisms.

With a global telecoms industry characterized by imbalances in the redistribution of revenues generated by international communications, particularly between the North and the South, GVG's solutions offer promising opportunities to countries that seek to obtain a fairer share of these considerable revenues for their own development.  A growing number of States have imposed, or are planning to impose premiums on international communications entering their territory in order to finance a variety of programs in domains such as education, universal access, public television, ICTs, etc. GVG sets up the necessary technologies and processes to optimize the collection of these premiums and control their potential impacts for a positive net result.  

The creation of innovative funding mechanisms has now become a priority for many countries seeking new stable sources of revenue in order to finance their development without going into more and more debt. Several organizations actively promote such mechanisms, like the Leading Group on innovative funding for development composed of international organizations (World Bank, OECD, African Development Bank, IMF) and more than 63 nations.  

Recommendation D-156 of the International Telecommunications Union (IUT), which deals with network externality premiums, is also in line with the application of these innovative funding mechanisms to international interconnection tariffs, although it does not refer to them explicitly.  

Based on additional revenues generated by GVG's projects in African countries (Ghana, Congo, Liberia, the Central African Republic, Guinea), the monthly funds that could be collected thanks to such an innovative funding mechanism is estimated at US .40 per subscriber. As far as the whole of Africa and its nearly 600 million subscribers are concerned, the implementation of a premium on international inbound calls would represent an additional contribution of almost US$ 3 Billion per year.  Furthermore, there is no impact on tariffs paid by the local subscribers in countries where this measure has been implemented, insofar as it only applies to the wholesale tariff for calls made from abroad, mainly from Europe and North America.  

Africa's needs in terms of development and infrastructure are considerable in all areas.  As Andrew Alli, President of the Africa Finance Corporation, pointed out:  "We need to look at new ways for financing infrastructure across the continent and bring innovations into the instruments we currently have in place."

GVG's experience shows that innovation in financing is indeed possible, provided that appropriate systems and procedures are implemented to optimize the new mechanisms.  

About GVG

Created in 1998, Global Voice Group S.A. develops and implements innovative management and monitoring solutions for telecoms regulation authorities. As a key investor and partner, we optimize the regulators' capacities at all levels to help them take up the current and future challenges of the sector, both at the national and international level.