Africa-Press – Senegal. States cannot ensure regulatory functions in complete impartiality because of their readiness to defend their sovereign functions, maintains the director general of the Telecommunications and Posts Regulatory Authority (ARTP) of Senegal , Abdou Karim Sall, who invites the public authorities to « separate the political functions coming under the Ministries of Telecommunications from the regulatory functions ».
“Regulation is certainly a mission of the State, but the latter being political and committed to its sovereign functions cannot ensure this regulation in all impartiality,” said Mr. Sall.
He expressed this view at a conference of the Assembly of Telecommunications Regulators of Central Africa (ARTAC) on Thursday in Kinshasa.
« Consequently, he (Abdou Karim Sall) pleaded for independence combined with the credibility of the regulatory authorities », affirms the service in charge of communication of the ARTP, in a press release received by APS.
Guest of honor at this ARTAC meeting, according to the same source, Mr. Sall insisted on “sharing with the audience the […] Senegalese model” of telecommunications regulation.
« He specified that the ARTP does not have supervision but an institutional anchoring », which « gives it a lot of leeway and autonomy in its operation », says the press release.
« In short, it is necessary to separate the political functions coming under the Ministries of Telecommunications from the regulatory functions. In reality, management autonomy allows the regulatory authority to have and manage its budget autonomously, » underlined the director general of ARTP.
It is preferable that “the regulator be financed by royalties or taxes from the sector, not by the state budget”, Abdou Karim Sall told the leaders of the Assembly of Telecommunications Regulators of Central Africa.
He insisted on the training which, in his view, must be adequate, permanent and above all of quality to meet the requirements of the personnel of the regulatory authorities, according to the press release.
« In this sector, technologies and needs are advancing very rapidly », underlined Mr. Sall, adding that the agents of the regulatory bodies « must not be less trained than those of the operators », under ‘ their independence.
« Today, with new issues such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of things, fintechs, OTT, social networks and e-commerce, this training is imperative to avoid corruption and the capture » of regulatory bodies « by the operators », he said.
« The notion of regulation is often misunderstood by the public. Today, it is slipping towards the concepts of compliance and collaborative regulation, » said the director general of ARTP.
“Empowering telecommunications regulatory agencies to deal with changes in the ecosystem” is the theme of the ARTAC conference, according to the text.
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