Sierra Leone News: ‘Govt fully committed to multiple Gateways’ – World Bank Manager Says

The Government of Sierra Leone is fully committed to implementing the multiple gateways to liberalize the telecom space but no date is set to achieve this, new World Bank Country Manager to Sierra Leone Parminder Brar informed the press in Freetown last Friday.
“Government is fully committed to implementing the multiple gateways,” he said, citing discussions with government officials.



The state-owned telecoms company Sierratel has monopoly over the international gateway and provides services to mobile phone operators  Airtel, Africell and SMART and internet service providers (ISPs).
The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) defines an international gateway as “any facility through which electronic communications (voice, data and video) can be sent between the domestic networks of one country and another. In practice, the gateways provide links either to an international (often submarine) cable system, or to a satellite through an Earth station.” The purpose is to control incoming and outgoing voice and data traffic.
The World Bank funded the country’s Fiber Optic project.
The project landed the 17,000 kilometre Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) sub-marine fibre cable in Freetown. One of the conditions attached to the funding was the liberalization of the gateway.
One of the arguments for removing the Sierratel monopoly is that it will reduce the cost of internet access and phone calls. Sierratel on the other hand rely on the gateway to raise revenue and fund its operations.
The country manager hailed President Koroma and his Government for the fight against Ebola and the support to initiatives to address corruption and make government more open through parliamentary oversight, the audit service, open government initiatives and the Anti-Corruption Commission.
A team from the World Bank is in Sierra Leone to do an assessment of the work of the Open Government Partnership (OGP), he said.
The Bank is committed to provide $14 million specifically for agribusiness, he said. Other projects supported currently include the social safety net financing and public works to mitigate Ebola impacts. The Bank is funding 21 active projects in the country with a portfolio of $600 million.