Orange calls the Malagasy government to liberalize the telecom

The submarine cable Lion has been connected to Toamasina in time by mid 2009.  Orange expects the state to finally make the rules of network exploitation clear in Madagascar. The worldwide operator worry about the absence of legal institutions to manage the sector in the country as the Telma’s monopoly, its competitor’s, should have ended in June 2008.  

Nearly one year later, no liberalization law has been promulgated yet. “The Lion installation is compromised by the lack of legislative text allowing Madagascans to enjoy the stream of advantages brought by Lion “, repeatedly said Orange. 

This mist represents a risk for the operator because, on the legal plan, the installation of Lion is forbidden by the law because it stands against the monopoly allowed to a privatized Telma.  Madagascar can therefore not exploit the high speed network at present whereas the infrastructures are already in place.    

For Orange, nothing can be done without a liberalization will from the government. “The Malagasy state said to be committed to implement the liberalization of the Telecommunication sector, the government didn’t do so just yet. Madagascar is still expecting for the legal background which will allow the full exploitation of the cable, the liberalization of the sector has been being expected since July 1st, 2008 “.  

Financed by a syndicate made of Orange Madagascar, Mauritius Telecom and France Telecom S.A., this 1.800 km long submarine cable  is being installed by” The Chamarel “, Orange’s cable ship. Lion offers a capacity of 1.3 terabit/sec and will allow a better connectivity the internet.   

Orange’s promise to democratize Internet in Madagascar will only be held when its network exploitation is become legal. “In a concrete way, the cable will cause an unprecedented upset in the telecommunication world. This upset being the one of the possibility of a true high speed which will allow prices’ division by 5, or even more “.