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Mpapalika, John Andrew (2012) Analysis and modeling of interconnection costs in telecommunications based on a case study of Tanzania. Doctoral thesis, London Metropolitan University.
This PhD thesis is concerned with research for the analysis and modeling of interconnection costs in telecommunications based on a case study of Tanzania. The research formed the basis for recommending the review of the current interconnection charges. Chapter 1 of the thesis started to introduce the United States of America's (USA) Reform Act of 1996,which was the first Act in the world that liberalised the telecommunications markets and opened them up to competition in the USA. The competition brought up interconnection of telecommunications networks and associated costs, which is the focus of the research. Chapter 2 provided for the design and architecture of the interconnection of telecommunications networks m the liberalized and competitive telecommunications markets in terms of types of interconnection models, interconnection components, types of services, interconnection costs and call route types and factors. In chapter 3 the thesis presented the telecommunications development in Tanzania from 1888 to date covering the period of the monopoly era where there was no interconnection of the telecommunications networks and the post-monopoly era where there is interconnection of the telecommunications networks. The chapter also presented the growth of the mobile networks over time in terms of number of mobile phones and mobile density. Chapter 4 discussed charging principles, call routing and operations of the international roaming and non-international roaming services referred to as the One Network concept, which was launched simultaneously in East Africa (Tanzania, Kenyaand Uganda) by the Zain GSM mobile network operator for the first time in the world on 26th September, 2006. Review of the existing generic interconnection cost models developed by the British Telecommunications Company Limited and Europe Economics' Consulting Firm was presented in Chapter 5. The review formed the basis for collecting data from Tanzania. Chapter 6 presented the analysis of the data collected from Tanzania. The analysis revealed that the interconnection costs per minute for the five competitive telecommunications network operators for 2007-2009 were far below the interconnection charges per minute set by the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority for the same period. Chapter 7 concluded that the interconnection charges per minute for the telecommunications industry in Tanzania for2007 -2009 have been set over and above the interconnection costs per minute obtained from the analysis of the collected data. The research reviewed the existing generic interconnection cost models mentioned above and identified the interconnection cost estimation methods. The research then collected audited operators' accounts and traffic throughput in minutes from the five competitive telecommunications network operators in Tanzania for 2007-2009. It analysed the data and gave results, which showed a big percentage difference of an average of at least 300% between the interconnection costs obtained from the analysis of the collected data and the interconnection charges set by the Regulator. The research results have justified insufficient interconnection regulations currently used by the Regulator in Tanzania. Hence, the need for the objective and accurate interconnection cost estimation methodology for setting up the cost based interconnection charges have been confirmed by this research.
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