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CRREA:
Consumer Rights in the ICT Sector in Eastern & Southern Africa
Empowering regulators to protect consumer rights in the ICT sector
This 24-month qualitative applied research study focused on regulation to protect and empower consumers in the ICT sector.
This project covered five countries - Ethiopia, Mauritius, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia - all members of the Association of Regulators of Information and Communication for Eastern and Southern Africa (ARICEA) - and aimed to to identify, implement and monitor best practice policy and regulatory interventions to protect consumer rights in the ICT sector.
The research built on a previous research project that had culminated in 2006 with the publication of a report entitled 'Assessing consumer activity in the telecoms and Internet sectors'.
Research team members in each of the target countries summarised the current position in respect of ICT consumer protection regulation, workshopped and reported on the in-country research they undertook, and drafted regulatory action plans for agreement with the national regulatory authority. In addition, a summary of international best practice in ICT consumer protection regulation was produced.
The objectives of the project were to:
Establish through qualitative research what issues consumers in the five countries most want addressed and how they would like to see them addressed;
Assess through qualitative research the regulatory effectiveness of consumer protection interventions to date in each of the five target countries in order to identify where consumer protection regulation is most effective and where it most needs strengthening;
Undertake, in collaboration with the national ICT sector regulatory authority, a defined set of action-oriented activities that are based on consultation with local consumers and consumer groups., informed by their perceptions and priorities, and which may include both specific interventions and broader changes in the regulatory framework to empower consumers.
The research set out to provide independent, Africa-based primary research that will give both the regulators and consumers groups the necessary information on which to base specific actions that will address consumer issues.
The process was also designed to empower staff in the regulators’ consumer sections. Finally, it also aimed to prioritise consumer concerns so that all stakeholders can see what issues need to be addressed and in what order of importance.
The research took place within the membership area of a single regional regulatory body in Africa, the Association of Regulators in Central, East and Southern Africa (ARICEA), in order to ensure the requisite the political support and to facilitate access to the regulators, along with their buy-in.
Primary qualitative research was carried out in the following areas:
1 The identification of best practice in respect of consumer protection regulation in both developed and developing countries, by:
• Identifying best practice from a wide range of places;
• Comparing the baseline situation in the five selected countries with best practice found elsewhere;
• Identifying gaps and areas for improvement that are appropriate to the national contexts of the countries selected;
• Identifying areas where the selected regulators are themselves generating best practice;
• Creating a future agenda of issues that may become of relevance as new developments take place.
This component of the research was based on collection and analysis of primary documentation, as well as interaction with regulators in a number of jurisdictions.
2 Consumer perceptions of issues and what they think should be done about them, by:
• Determining what issues African consumers raise in terms of Internet and telecoms services;
• Noting how consumers rate or prioritise these issues.
• Recording consumer experiences of dealing with service providers in terms of consumer issues;
• Identifying the different ways in which consumers feel they would best be dealt with by the regulator.
This component of the research was primarily be undertaken through qualitative structured interviews based on a defined interview protocol, supplemented by a single focus group in each country.
3 Creating responses to consumer concerns, through developing an action plan comprising a defined set of activities in respect of:
• Choice: Getting competitive services and providing comparative information on these services (particularly tariffs and Quality of Service).
• Voice and representation: Giving consumers and consumer organisations access to policy processes and the governance of the regulatory body.
• Information: Working with the media to help inform consumers of their rights and about the choices they might make.
• Processes: Ensuring that regulators have a consumer charter of rights and that operators have Consumer Codes of Conduct and that clear complaints procedures are in place.
This project was funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada, and undertaken by the LINK Centre, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, and Balancing Act, London, with the assistance of a number of in-country researchers, viz: Lishan Adam (Ethiopia),
David Mukosa, University of Zambia (Zambia),
Albert Nsengiyumva (Rwanda),
Viv Padayatchy, Cybernaptics (Mauritius) and
Dr F.F. Tusubira, Knowledge Consulting (Uganda).
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