l’inter connectivité cout que cout

Article paru sur le journal il y a quelques jours.

Les tarifs de MT sur le câble SAFE trop chers

La Banque mondiale (BM) critique les tarifs pratiqués par Mauritius Telecom (MT) pour la connexion au système SAFE, câbles sous-marins en fibre optique qui relient Maurice à l’Afrique, l’Europe et le Sud-est asiatique.

Elle estime que ces tarifs sont de 350 % au-dessus d’un niveau globalement compétitif. Elle considère que MT doit ajuster ses tarifs au taux international, les coûts élevés de télécommunication décourageant l’investissement, interne et externe. Elle souligne que priorité doit être accordée à la réduction des tarifs de connexion à SAFE.

Pour la BM, si les taux de télécommunications internationales sont excessifs, le développement du business process outsourcing et des centres d’appels s’en trouvera entravé. L’accès aux vastes ressources de l’Internet sera également limité. Les tarifs excessifs affectent aussi la profitabilité des investissements potentiels et envoient en même temps un mauvais signal.

Le même message évoqué par J Michel Billaut. Il nous faut se battre pour que les tarifs permettent le développement.L’ avenir de Maurice est en jeu.

Je suis d’opinion que les tarifs de l’inter connectivité ne sont pas d’ordre économique mais de l’ordre politique et de vision de l’avenir du pays. Comment faire pour bouger la politique ? Avez-vous une idée ? Une lettre ouverte aux autorités ?

6 comments ↓

#1 Roushdat on 02.28.07 at 6:35 pm

Greve de la faim! Sa em solution mo p trouver moi, nous tous mobiliser ensam, nou al faire 1 la greve!

#2 joseph on 02.28.07 at 9:17 pm

Workable idea I would think Roushdat. However, I think that we need to move and convince public opinion to rally enough people to back the cause first.At this stage not many people understand the issue, I think. Did you find any reaction on the report of the press on the comments of la banque mondiale(BM) from the Minister of Telecomunications ? Silence Radio! We bloggers can understand easier the impact. So let us move.

#3 Olivier on 03.01.07 at 6:03 pm

I do not understand the impact and purpose of a hunger strike.
How will that make things move forward when the problem is bureaucracy, nickel and dimes.

If it were so effective, hunger strikes would move mountains. What counts is voting for people that make sensible legislations, set up lobbying organizations which could comprise of parties with vested interest and so on.

Instead of pouting and complaining, the way to get things going is to act, so act NOW!

#4 Roushdat on 03.01.07 at 7:04 pm

Olivier, I’m not that sure that for the time being, we can look back at whether we voted the right ones or not.

You say: “Instead of pouting and complaining, the way to get things going is to act, so act NOW!”

Right!, that’s what we are trying to do, finding ways to act now…So instead of just telling us to act, you can also come forward with ways to act! Strike is just an option among many others, so I guess you can propose some 😉

#5 Olivier on 03.02.07 at 8:11 am

As I said before, lobbying does wonders. Let’s look at a plausible action plan. I assume there must exist some kind of tech micro-ecology in Mauritius. This would be the group that would be the brain of this movement and drive it forward.

Determine reasonable short term goals, think long and hard about long term objectives. The group needs to be fair to its constituents, however, leadership should be taken by a small and strong core team to minimize disputes and other bureaucratic wastes of life. Integrity of the leaders are tantamount. The smaller the core team the better.

Find a champion; a lawmaker, a publicly visible spokesperson, who will gain the support from the private lobbying group. There needs to be vested interest for this champion in seeing this project succeed. He/She only needs to be the public figure of this movement, but definitely an important piece whose allegiance needs to be at all times monitored. The duties will be to advocate the cause and to constantly pop in “reminders” both in parliament but as well in the general populace to raise awareness and interest.

Allies are essential. They may be friends of the champion, fence-sitters or opponents that will join the cause. They can be other organizations having their own agenda (e.g. other S.A.F.E. vendors) or other voices that have a say in parliament or public opinion. One of the champion’s role will as well be to sell the ideas to potential allies.

Public opinion can be very powerful but it may as well be very fickle, seeking for instant gratification. Most of the weight of the lobby would be to use events in public relations very carefully and in an opportunistic manner, however, hunger strikes may be a bit lacking for a lasting effect.

This is a very hand-wavy and high-level attempt to formulate my opinion. However, I hope it makes the point that for the revolution to be successful, it needs to be meticulously planned and orchestrated.

#6 joseph on 03.03.07 at 5:06 pm

Thanks Olivier for the lengthy input. Who would like to be the champion? Or who would like to designate one?

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