Interview avec Siaka Kone, CEO of AIGF (Agence Ivoirienne de Gestion des Fréquences Radioélectriques)

We should start off by introducing the structure, as it is new. It is less than two years old, is that correct?

Yes, exactly.

Even though activities have been going on for a long time, the structure is new. This is interesting as you are currently at an advantage. Could you give us an example of this?

In fact, the AIGF was pleased about the dissolution of the PCA, the dissolution of the Telecommunications Council in Ivory Coast and the dissolution of the National Telecommunications Front. There used to be three infrastructures managing the telecommunications sector and in order to adapt to new situations and visions, they created three new entities in the self-regulating telecommunications sector such as Ivory Coast’s Frequency Management Agency and the National Agency of Universal Providers (ANSUT). So our mission, with certain new organisations, is to manage the frequency sector in accordance with our new vision. This means the end user will have a representative which is not necessarily the agency. We call this entity the assignor; it’s our representative to which we make the African frequency ranges available. It demonstrates the wealth and depth of neutrality and equity.

What do operators have to gain from this now? What is the immediate effect? How can they be reassured?

We are reassured because there is a heavy demand and there is sector management. Without management there are no possibilities to roll out different services at the same time. So what do we do? We give them just enough to meet their needs to achieve sector distribution. What happened previously? These frequency ranges are known on an international scale. When the assignor has the entire range, they often focus on the desire for wealth- in other words resources. So one range which serves six or seven subscribers, benefits from gaining one or two and they give just these two. This increases competition. When this increases it means there is a plurality of services. I used to have a service, when those which are now authorised didn’t exist. I supported available ranges so these services could develop. Amongst my objectives, I had to go through the services which don’t exist in order to deploy those which I need.

Can you give us some examples of the big operators that can request a frequency?

I always talk about assignors. Assignors because they are the people who we give frequency ranges to and they are in charge of dividing it up according to the needs of the staff and the subscribers.

So we work on the project at an international level because it is the International Union who manages the frequencies. We have teams there who work on the Study Commission and it’s from there that we devise regional plans. This means, in terms of radio communication, that we have divided the world into three large regions. There is the region of Europe and Africa, the region of America and the third region is Asia and the rest of the world.

So, when we have finished this planning, our role is then to bring this planning into the region and adapt it to our current situation and needs. When we have done this second level work, we give bandwidth to each assignor. I mentioned earlier that to request telecommunications, the assignor is the coordinating authority. Therefore we found different frequency ranges suited to each use. We make them available and gradually if we see there is no more availability, so we give them just enough to start up the services.

Therefore amongst the assignors there is the coordination authority, there is the general management of maritime and port affairs, the National Civilian Agency, the Authority of Audio-visual Communication and then obviously key departments such as the Ministries of Interior, Security and Defence. These are silent sectors but they are large users of frequency. Therefore, we are obliged to do a breakdown to make the frequency ranges available to entities. And these entities are in charge of internal distribution to the end users.

We have the compensation behind us, when distribution was done on a sector level, they are supposed to come back to us to report on what they did with the telecommunication bandwidths. This means that from now on, we are more rigorous with sector management which can take a whole range to become available to users and after it is to optimise the use to allow the most requests to be satisfied. It is really our role as is taking care of the quality of service. When requests are carried out and that frequencies are made available, we have equipment to verify the conformity of emissions against national or international regulations. So we confirm that when we were reassured that the frequency which was made available functions and conforms to international and national rules, it was at that moment when we became aware of the International Communication Unit. Notably at the Office of Radio Communications which is the body specialised in matters relating to frequency agencies.

What is it called?

The Communications Unit which has at its heart the Office of Radio Communications. This has an international register where all of the frequencies in Ivory Coast are registered for different services and it observes that it is done in harmony with our international conventions.

What is your relationship with the Office? I imagine you are constantly being monitored.

Yes, exactly.

What is the number one worry for this office, is it reassured now? Is the office happy with the division of services? What interests do you have with them? Are you in the structural framework which is convenient for them?

This research led us to create the AIGF, because as I said earlier, the range has been defined at an international level to serve a certain number of users. The frequency sector is of course a natural commodity but is also uncommon. It’s necessary to apply yourself with the supply and distribution.

Certain studies take several years for us to determine the capacity of a service used with a given range. When you are given a wide range (broadband) for four and you only use it for two, it means that you haven’t covered the concept of planning. So, the entity controlling it is in fact the office which controls radio communications. As each time we make frequencies available, we are bound by signals which are registered on what we call the international list of frequencies. It’s a register which says that in Ivory Coast there are so many users, which ones are normally issued, which ones work for which sectors and the conditions in which they work.

And you know why? It is to assure and to guarantee our security. It means that there are frequencies used everywhere. Even services which are used underground which can have interference. Ivory Coast has the same frequencies as its neighbours. Simultaneously using frequencies creates what we call frequency jamming. So, if there is frequency jamming between two countries, the one which is cut is the first one to notify the Telecommunications Union and takes priority. That’s why people forget to point it out. Therefore there are processes and procedures to follow when providing frequencies for different users. So if you do not notify them, which is part of the regulations, you will not be registered. You will not do what has been recommended and what you are hired to do. This means conventions and commitments on an international scale. If you act like that you will not be registered. You know it’s not guaranteed. If you have frequency jamming on a level, you don’t exist. It must be available on an international level and we have obligations as far as assignors concerning frequencies.

Do you have an increase in cooperation, whether it be international, governmental, private etc? Are you looking for collaboration with international entities?

The range has been defined at an international level to serve a certain number of users. The frequency sector is of course a natural commodity but is also uncommon. It’s necessary to apply yourself with the supply and distribution.

Yes the management of frequencies itself is an isolated phase. We forget to work with other entities especially international ones to exchange experiences like we have with the Agency of Frequency Management in France (The ANFR). We signed a cooperation agreement which ensures the transfer of technology and also ensures staff agencies bring capacity development up to scratch. Not to mention if we have other representatives, all over the world, notably the Agency of Frequency Management in Tunisia or the industry in Canada. In fact it’s necessary to see how to deal daily with administration. Therefore cooperation is part of our values and we forget to work with international companies. So that’s our mission.

What are your mid-term projects for 2015, what are the major actions you are going to put in place?

In fact I mentioned earlier activities and projects we have in progress during 2015. You know in the course of this year, 2015, we will have what we call the world conference of radio communication. This conference takes place every 4 years. During this conference the administrative and technical rules are modified which we call the radio communication regulations. Well they are our reference manual, our guide. So everything is implemented following the content within the radio communication regulations.

How does collaboration work? Does Ivory Coast say I want to change this and that? How does it work with requests for collaboration?

Correct. There are seven Study Commissions for telecommunications especially for radio communication. These seven Study Commissions work regularly at the heart of telecommunications. What does that mean? It means that if we, the AIGF has interests to defend, any issues are dealt with at the heart of the Study Commission. We are obliged to send elements to drive the studies with others to defend the position of the studies. Yet ranges are created to carry out a service provided. We in Ivory Coast, during our national studies, realised we have a particularity for the range identified to offer a universal service, a service which will go through all of the country. Our studies have shown that these frequencies are much more available to offer a specific service to our country. What do we do? We discuss what can be expected, we make analyses with respect to the region and the area. This frequency has been installed to update program 1 (where we are) in all countries of this region, and particularly in Ivory Coast, this frequency can provide for these other services. You will never maintain a good quality of service if you are not protected.

The international union of telecoms, is it close to each government or is there a telecoms ministry? Does each government have a committee which is taken care of by the State and which is supported by the union?

The International Telecoms Union is firstly specialised in united concepts for the telecoms sector. So to begin with it was simply to do with telecommunications, as radio communication also had its own organisation which was called the International Community of Radio Communication. As it was to do with activities which couldn’t be developed separately, it was therefore necessary to make the two entities into just one entity. This is the International Union of Telecommunications. At the start, the telecommunications sector also had its own organisation which was called the International Telephone and Telegraph Community. You see there were two different entities. But in time, we realised that each one had its own needs but it was better to have one entity, representing two entities, which is called the International Union of Telecommunications. This is a committee, an entity specialised in unique concepts in the world of telecoms.

Where does the revenue come from?

Today the revenue comes from royalties, as the use of frequencies is subject to authorisation. This authorisation relies on the royalties and payments from radio electric emissions.

Are the telecom operators directly your clients or are they a client of the ICT for example?

Well, there was a transition period from the State where telecom operators just had representatives from the Authority of Telecommunications Regulations. This works well when it is dealing with administrative issues but if it concerns technical questions touching upon the frequency domain, the Authority of Regulations is no longer powerful. Therefore, it has progressively developed and from now on the operator knows that he can’t work without the support of the Ivorian Frequency Management Agency. Therefore each entity can charge and directly recover these resources with the operators.

What are you biggest sources of clients, telecom operators, television authorities, airports? Where do they come from?

They are the telecom operators. They are the biggest users of telecommunication frequencies. They are the ones to which we dedicate the largest quantity of spectrums.

Are telecommunications operators needs increasing? What things do you need?

Yes I will take an example, our authorities must examine frequency usage and the frequency ranges in particular. We have equipment for that. So often we see that frequencies are saturated. All frequencies have limits. When they have limits, they are pushed back by other information which wants to go through. We have equipment to monitor that. So when we look at a quantity of spectrums at any given moment, if there starts to be concerns concerning saturation, we look at the load because that affects the quality and when the quality is affected it’s us who has to bring attention to the user who is overusing. But when there is an overuse, we withdraw- we call this rescheduling. This is what we did with the GSM frequency range operator. We looked at it, observed the use of the frequencies, and realised that the biggest users use 50% of the frequency range to cover 80% of the cost. And then the other 50%, just 20% of them overuse and the rest under-use.

So that’s what you did in fact?

Yes. It’s inefficient. It’s not a good use of frequencies. We therefore reinforce the capacity of others. In any case, it covers just 20% of the population. Therefore it is necessary that they are amalgamated for maximum use. This study comes from the AIGF and it observes the economy in general, leads studies and makes propositions to the government or to ministries. The GSM 91 range has been revamped and the proposition is such that it is optimised. We look for a good quality of service. In order to achieve this, you must have at least one channel which has a certain dimension for recent developments. So it’s another team which observes the frequency ranges and looks to see which ones are over-used and those which are under-used. Putting in place a study, allows the State to do another distribution.

In three years if you had a magic wand and you could achieve whatever you wanted to achieve, what would you like to achieve? What will be the AIGF’s situation in 3 years time if your wishes could come true?

Our wish is to meet Ivory Coast’s demands. What does that mean? It means all our lines are open in terms of ICT. The operator can give out or withdraw resources. It is essential that the State does something. What should the State do? The State with the same frequencies should put in place equipment to cover the small lines which exist everywhere. So, if the lines are covered they will go into the health, transport or educational domain. All areas are open and as I previously mentioned, it means Ivory Coast can thrive. That is our objective, to make Ivory Coast thrive at all times.

What would you tell foreign investors?

The market is more and more competitive in Ivory Coast. I mentioned to you earlier that when it is planned to serve ten people or rather ten entities, ten users, we make sure the range can serve those ten users. The old method consisted of observing and allowing the interior to develop. We want to serve the maximum number of demands and provide the best service, that’s our mission. So for all the people who want to come and invest in this domain using frequencies, I think that it’s the perfect time to come to Ivory Coast. We are open and we know that we can respond to their aspirations.