Browsing by Author "Mwakatumbula, Hilda Jacob"

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    Consumer protection in the telecommunication sector: a comparative institutional analysis of five African countries
    (Elsevier, 2019) Mwakatumbula, Hilda Jacob; Moshi, Goodiel Charles; Mitomo, Hitoshi
    The telecommunications sector has proliferated in recent years, especially in developing countries. However, little attention has been paid to consumer protection issues. As more people get connected to telecommunication networks and competition becomes increasingly fierce, it becomes essential to revamp institutions that ensure consumer protection in the telecommunication markets. This paper analyses the current status of institutions that protect consumers in the telecommunications sector in five African countries from the perspective of three pillars of sound institutional design. The findings indicate that while all cases analysed herein have some form of institution that upholds consumer protection, in most cases, such protection is limited to mobile communications. Furthermore, in most cases, there are only general sanction provisions that are either too weak to bind service providers or that leave overly discretionary powers to regulatory agencies, which can lead to corrupt practices, hence weakening consumer protection. This paper describes current affairs with regard to consumer protection in the telecom industry, identifies its weaknesses, and proposes areas of improvement to attain a healthier telecommunications sector.
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    Effects of political stability and sector regulations on investments in African mobile markets
    (Elsevier, 2017) Moshi, Goodiel Charles; Mwakatumbula, Hilda Jacob
    This study analyses the effects of regulation and political stability on the allocation of mobile telecommunication investments in the African continent between 2001 and 2011. To better understand the dynamics of investment in telecommunications, a framework was developed to assess factors that determine investments in the telecom industry at the country and industry level, particularly institutions, market size/demand level, market structure and investing cost. The results show that investments in the mobile telecommunications industry are dependent on regulation and liberalization; however, no statistical evidence was found for the effect of political stability as measured by the democratic process. Furthermore, the study has shown that market structure factors, especially competition, market size and the cost of investing in a country, are important in determining the allocation of mobile telecommunications investments among African countries.