Where is Sudan?
North East of African (1500 N, 3000 E)
What neighbouring countries?
4
Flag, Emblem, and National Anthem
‫ جند الوطن‬------ ‫نحن جند هللا‬
(We Are the Army of God,
the Army of the MotherLand)
Sudan Demographics Profile 2012 (2011 est.)
1) Population: 25,946,220.
2) Age structure:
 (0 – 14) years = 42.1% (as follows):
#(Males= 9,696,726) , (Females=9,286,894).
(15 – 64) years= 55.2% (as follows):
# (Males = 12,282,082) , (Females = 12,571,424).
 65 years and over = 2.7% (as follows):
# (Males = 613,817) , (Females = 596,559)
...Continued …Sudan Demographics
Religions:
* Sunni Muslim, small Christian minority.
Languages:
*Arabic (official),
* English (Second language),
* Nubian, Bedawie, Fur
Urbanization
*Urban population: 40% of total population (2010).
*Rate of urbanization: 3.7% annual rate of change
(2010-15 est.)
8
 1859 – Telecommunications introduced in Sudan:
* First telegraph link between Cairo & Sawaken.
 1871–1873 Telegraph line reached Khartoum (Small unit
for Post & Telegraph).
 1892 - 1903 First Telephone exchange in Sudan (Eldaba
& Khartoum).
 1910 -1971 The service was run by a government body
known as Posts & Telegraphs (P&T)
 1971 - 1978 Telecommunication was separated from the
Post service and run as a governmental
Department.
 1978 – 93 Sudan Telecommunications Public
Corporation (STPC) formed and operated.
April1993: privatization of the telecom sector & the
establishment of the Sudan Telecommunications
Company(Sudatel), a Fixed wire-line phone service.
1994: Sudatel starts commercial operation.
1996: The first mobile phone system, a GSM license, is
awarded to the Sudanese Mobile
Telecommunications Company(Mobitel).
1997: Sudan’s first ISP(Sudanet) starts commercial
operation, with 128Kbps Bandwidth capacity.
1997: Sudan’s first GSM system operator, Mobitel,
starts commercial operation.
10
 2001: Establishment of the National
Telecommunications Corporation(NTC), a new
regulatory body for telecom.
 2003: A second mobile-phone (GSM) license is
awarded to Bashair(MTN).
 2004 : A second fixed-wireless phone(CDMA)
license is awarded to CanarTel.
2005: International gateways are opened for all
operators(telecom sector fully deregulated).
2006: A third mobile-phone (CDMA) license is
awarded to Sudani, an affiliate of Sudatel. Sudani
later on built an GSM network.
11
1) Mobile phone system Subscribers = 26,370,531.
2) Fixed phone system Subscribers = 467,541.
3) Internet users = 11 millions.
4) Internet Broadband users >= 1 millions.
5) Phone density = 70%.
6) Geographical coverage= 35%.
7) Population coverage= 88%.
12
Zain(Mobile)
MTN(Mobile)
Sudani(Mobile)
Canar( Fixed Wireless)
Thabit(Fixed Wireline)
Total
(Q1,2012)
(Q2, 2012)
13,309,486
6,349,356
6,426,493
314,959
160,469
26,560,763
12,611,642
6,920,560
6,838,329
330,725
136,816
26,838,072
Fixed & Mobile Subscribers (2012)
14,000,000
136,816
160,469
330,725
6,838,329
314,959
2,000,000
6,426,493
4,000,000
6,920,560
6,000,000
6,349,356
8,000,000
12,611,642
10,000,000
13,309,486
12,000,000
0
Zain(Mobile)
MTN(Mobile)
(Q1,2012)
Sudani(Mobile)
(Q2, 2012)
Canar( Fixed
Wireless)
Thabit(Fixed
Wireline)
Coverage:
Geographic coverage:35%
Population coverage:88%
Coverage:
Geographic coverage: 31%
Technology: GPSR, HSPA
Technology: CDMA 1x EV-DO
Subscribers: 12,697,024
Subscribers: 6,975,145
Coverage:
Geographic coverage:8.5%
Population coverage:55.1%
Coverage:
Geographic coverage:33%
Population coverage:28%
Technology: GSM / UMTS
Technology: WLL CDMA
Subscribers: 6,969,019
Subscribers: 314,976
Total Subscribers: 26,956,164
Item/Period
(Q1,2012)
(Q2, 2012)
Local Traffic(Off net)
849,641,316
843,185,127
International Incoming traffic
365,732,201
453,662,775
International Outgoing traffic
164,280,214
205,908,763
Total(minutes)
1,379,653,731
1,502,756,665
Traffic(2012) in minutes
300,000,000
200,000,000
100,000,000
205,908,763
400,000,000
164,280,214
500,000,000
453,662,775
600,000,000
365,732,201
700,000,000
849,641,316
800,000,000
843,185,127
900,000,000
0
Local Traffic(Off net)
International Incoming traffic
(Q1,2012)
International Outcoming traffic
(Q2, 2012)
# ICT provides numerous benefits & advantages
resulting in considerably better:
Time, effort & cost utilization &saving,
Financial leveraging,
Human capacity training, allocation & reorganization,
Safety measures standardization, &
implementation, and
Environment protection & preservation
17
The VoIP Case
18
Q. What is VoIP(Voice over internet protocol)?
(1) The routing of a voice conversation over the
internet or through an IP based network.
(2) “VoIP Services” cover a range of services:
1) Voice over broadband (VoB), i.e. international
private lease circuits.
2) Voice over digital subscriber loop (DSL).
3) Voice over Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN).
4) IP telephony or voice over IP-based networks.
(3) VoIP is also integrated with other services
( data, video) that are available on the internet.
19
(1) A number of presentations were given
highlighting the Regulatory and Technical aspects
of voice over internet protocol(VoIP) at the NTC
quarters.
(2)A set of amendments was proposed to the Law
& Regulation of telecom services , to include VoIP ,
and to be “formulated textually” and put to open &
comprehensive discussion .
(3)A “public consultancy” was formulated and
presented to interested parties, post approval from
the NTC Consultancy Council.
(4) Responses were received some Operators,
while others asked for an extension of the period.
20
5. Documents Currently available are:VoIP Signaling Protocol,
Regulating telephone calls over Internet Protocol
Public Consultancy “Regulations of telephonecall services over Internet
Protocol”(Arabic/English).
Operators’ Responses.
21
 2 Fixed-phone Operators(Sudatel &CanarTel).
 3 Mobile-telephone Operators(Zain, MTN, Sudani)
 2 ISP(Vision Valley, Suddern)
 VoIP is not officially Regulated.
 Current policy does not officially ban VOIP in Operators’
core networks.
 Permitted in private networks.
 Wide-spread gray market.
22
 Appreciable international traffic volume routed via VOIP.
 Telecom sector income (hard cash) drops significantly.
International calls Prices are low compared to legacy
calls, depriving the national economy from sizable hardcurrency revenues.
Presumably will have an affect on NTC reputation in
local, regional and international organizations and
institutions.
23
Recommendations
24
1) Issue 2 types of licenses for VoIP Gateways: Intra-gateway(Individual-authorization license), and
Inter-gateway(General-authorization license.
2) Intra-gateway to be licensed only to ISP’s with proven
record of adherence to NTC laws & regulations.
3) VoIP QoS to be specified in comparison with toll quality.
4) VoIP Tariff to be specified for both toll quality and below
toll quality.
5) All agreements between Operators & ISP’s to be under
supervision of NTC.
25
1) Terms of Reference(TOR) for General Authorization
and Individual Authorization be clearly stated &
immediately issued.
2) VoIP license should be restricted to ISP’s only.
3) Intra-gateway license should not be awarded to Mobile
& Fixed phone operators, to ensure government attains
its full share of telecom revenues.
4) Inter-gateway license may be awarded to Mobile &
Fixed phone operators, to access international VoIP
gateways via their own networks. This allows their
customers the use of their own devices to make lowrate VoIP ILD calls.
26
# Regulating phone calls via Internet protocol (VoIP)
requires concerted, relentless efforts by all stakeholders.
# A few steps to be taken are below:
1. 1st Brain Storming meeting:(NTC Staff).
2. 2nd Brain Storming meeting :(Operators, ISP’s,…).
3. Assistance request: (ITU, ATU,VoIP experts).
4. VoIP Regulatory commission: Experts in Law, Economics& Eng.,
5.VoIP commission mission is as follows:
* Device a VoIP Regulatory Framework.
* Put clear rules for VoIP Interconnection.
* Recommend a globally-proven Tariff Model.
# Indicators for evaluating “ VoIP Status ” must be
periodically gathered, analyzed and
recommendations forwarded about them to NTC
Directorate.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Institute neutral consortia for VoIP development.
Clearly define VoIP service & service models.
Measure the impact of grey traffic.
Determine desired market outcome.
Develop policy.
Enforce policy.
# IP technology will become the future
network architecture. All proper
measures must be taken for the
benefit of all stakeholders.
28
Conclusion
29
# The key regulatory challenges include:-
(1)Regulating the internet, especially voice
calls transported via the internet,
(2) defining a minimum criterion for legal
VoIP for equivalence to traditional voice,
(3) measuring the financial and social
impact of illegal VoIP traffic on licensed
telecoms operators and economies in
general.