(Business in Cameroon) - Philemon ZO'O Zame, director-general of Cameroon’s telecommunications regulator ART, recently granted an audience to a delegation of Chinese technology solution provider Huawei. Led by Lois Tamalgo, Huawei’s Vice-President of Public Affairs and Communication for Sub Saharan countries, the delegation discussed matters related to the development of the digital economy in Cameroon, we learn.  

"Noting that the country’s spectrum potential is poorly exploited, therefore affecting revenues, Mr. Tamalgo presented a range of proposals to the DG/ART [Philemon ZO'O Zame] to bridge the technological and financial gap between Cameroon and some African countries of equal digital potential. He added that he was in Cameroon to initiate discussions on the country’s sectoral policies [in the telecommunication sector], most of which are implemented by the ART, " the regulator writes.

It also indicates that after the audience, Philemon ZO'O Zame authorized part of his staff to take part in the planned discussions and will seek the approval of the Ministry of Telecommunications for the organization of such discussions.

By partnering with Huawei, ART should better control the use of frequency bands and prevent unauthorized uses. This will optimize communications in the country and improve its quality.

In 2015, ART purchased equipment to assess the quality of the telecommunication services offered by operators active in Cameroon. At the time, it explained it would better control the services of telecom operators, which used to question the facts presented by the regulator because of the unsuitable equipment it was using.  "This often led us to revise the sanctions imposed on them," ART's director-general explained at the time.

The results achieved are not up to the agency’s expectations. Indeed, at the opening of the 23^rd, 24^th, and 25^th ordinary sessions of the Inter-ministerial Committee for the Assignment of Frequency Bands (CIABAF), on November 23, 2020, in Yaoundé, the Minister of Telecommunications Minette Libom Li Likeng revealed that the unlawful use of frequency bands was a threat to the safety of air navigation in the country. Such unlawful uses are against the laws that confer on the Telecommunications Regulatory Agency (ART) the mission of assigning and controlling the use of the frequency spectrum of different radio communication services, including broadcasting services, she added.

S.A.