National Computer Board - ICT Industry in Mauritius

ICT Sector Development

Snapshot of the ICT industry

BPO-ITES Sector

Government Policy

Legal Framework

Institutional Set-up

State-of-the-art infrastructure

Telecommunications Network

ICT Sector Development

Mauritius has emerged as an international and competitive ICT destination and is steadily positioning itself as a regional ICT Hub.

Over the recent years, the ICT sector has experienced a rapid and sustained growth and is a major pillar of the Mauritian economy. The ICT sector represented only 4% of the country's GDP in 2002 and has grown to 5.6% in 2016. More information on ICT Indicators …

An increasing number of foreign companies are nowadays setting up their bases in Mauritius to conduct ICT and ICT-related activities.

In line with its vision to transform Mauritius into a Cyber Island and make of ICT an important engine of economic growth, the Mauritian Government has consolidated bases for a strong ICT sector and has launched the National ICT Strategic (NICTSP) which includes 124 programmes to be implemented over the period 2007-2011. The National ICT Strategic Plan was reviewed in 2011 for the period 2011-2014, towards i-Mauritius, and is one of the three activities undertaken under the Competitiveness and Public Sector Efficiency (CPSE) program, which aims to sustain growth and employment, while helping Mauritius to address the impact of the global recession. The National Broadband Policy 2012 – 2020 (NBP2012) sets out a strategic vision for a broadband Intelligent Mauritius, is in line with the NICTSP 2011-2014, and establish national goals regarding broadband while elaborating specific policies to achieve those goals within the overarching National ICT Strategic Plan (NICTSP) 2011-2014 context. The NICTSP report for 2016-2020 is under preparation and will address issues pertaining to new era of digital technology.

Snapshot of the ICT industry

Some 600 ICT companies presently operate in Mauritius, in a wide range of activities including software development, call centre operations, business process outsourcing (BPO), IT-enabled services (ITES), web-enabled services, training, hardware assembly and sales, networking, consultancy, multimedia development, disaster recovery (DR) and other support services.

Major international ICT players, including Oracle, Microsoft, IBM, HP, CISCO, Orange Business Services, Accenture, Infosys, Hinduja Group, France Telecom, Ceridien, the TNT Group, have set up their operation and development centres in Mauritius.

There are two main ICT industry associations in Mauritius, namely:

	Mauritius IT Industry Association (MITIA)
	Outsourcing and Telecommunications Association of Mauritius (OTAM).

MITIA is an association of major ICT companies, whereas OTAM represents the interests of the Telecom operators and the BPO players in Mauritius.

BPO-ITES Sector

BPO_ITES is a very strong segment of the Mauritian ICT industry and has been the fastest growing sector over the recent years, with more than 330 companies mainly servicing export markets such as France, the USA, the UK, Belgium and other European countries.

Government Policy

There is an unfailing commitment of the Government to transform Mauritius into a Cyber Island and to develop ICT as an important pillar of the economy. The Government addresses issues relating to infrastructure, telecommunications, human resources, legal and regulatory framework, e-governance and investment policies for the proper development of the ICT sector.

The Government has always been very conscious of the strategic importance which the telecommunications sector plays in ensuring a sustainable development of our ICT industry. In this perspective, the telecommunications sector has been liberalised in December 2002, one year prior to the scheduled. Such liberalisation has revolutionised the telecommunications sector by allowing new players to join the industry and provide competitive connectivity rates.

Legal Framework

The Government of Mauritius is fully conscious of the key role which the legal framework has to play in ensuring a healthy and sustainable development in the ICT industry. In this perspective, appropriate legislations on data security, protection of intellectual property rights and cyber crimes have been enacted to encourage the effective growth of the ICT sector, namely:

Copyright Act (1997) which has been enacted to ensure the protection of intellectual property rights, including software and electronic databases.

Electronic Transaction Act (2000), which provides the legal framework for the establishment of a public key infrastructure (PKI) - also called trusted CA services – to facilitate the use of digital signatures in Mauritius. This legislation has also been enforced for facilitating electronic transactions and to give a boost to e-Business activities.

Information and Communication Technologies Act 2001 which has repealed the Telecommunications Act 1998. This legislation lays out the institutional and procedural guidelines for the regulation and democratisation of information and communication technologies and related matters. The setting up of the ICT Authority, the ICT Advisory Council, and the ICT Appeal Tribunal is pursuant to the adoption of this Act.

Computer Misuse and Cybercrime Act 2003 which provides for repression of criminal activities perpetrated through computer systems and aims at better protection against computer misuse. It also caters for new forms of Cybercrime, such as illegal interception of data and online child pornography.

The Data Protection Act 2004, which aims at protecting the privacy rights of individuals. This piece of legislation provides a framework to govern the use of customer data and prevent any misuse. The Data Protection Act 2004 covers areas like financial transactions, unsolicited bulk e-mails, hacking and unauthorised access to personal information, such as health information, credit card transactions and other personal details.

The effective legal framework of Mauritius has played an instrumental role in attracting leading flagship ICT companies to set up their bases in Mauritius.

	Institutional Set-up

Paving the way towards a fully liberalised and competitive market implies the setting up of appropriate bodies to provide for a conducive and business friendly environment. The following institutions have therefore been set up:

The ICT Advisory Council has been set up in virtue of the provisions of the ICT Act 2001 to advise the Minister of Information Technology and Telecommunications on specific issues. These include the promotion of interests of consumers, purchasers and other users in respect of quality, variety and improvement of ICT services, tariff policy and the promotion of research and development of new ICT techniques.

The Information and Communication Technologies Authority (ICTA), set up under the ICT Act 2001, is the regulatory body for the ICT sector. It carries out economic and technical monitoring of the ICT industry including the promotion of fair competition and efficient market conduct within the industry, and ensures appropriate control, inspection and regulation of the industry. The ICTA grants licenses to operators, allocates frequencies and ensures safety and quality of service in the ICT sector.

The ICT Appeal Tribunal is also an emanation of the ICT Act 2001. Its role is to hear and dispose of any appeal against a decision of the ICT Authority regarding disputes on ICT-related matters.

A Data Protection Office has been set up under the Data Protection Act 2004 and is headed by the Data Protection Commissioner. The role of the Commissioner is to ensure compliance with this Act and issue or approve codes of practice or guidelines for the purposes of this Act.

	National Computer Board

The National Computer Board (NCB) was set up in 1988 by the National Board Act to promote the development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in Mauritius. It is a para-statal body administered by a Board of Directors and operates under the aegis of the Ministry of Information & Communication Technology.

The NCB is a key enabler in transforming Mauritius into a Cyber island and the regional ICT hub and has the mission to e-power people, businesses and the public sector by developing and promoting ICT and ICT related services in Mauritius.

State-of-the-art infrastructure

The Business Parks of Mauritius Ltd (BPML), a government-owned company, is responsible to spearhead the development, construction and management of state-of-the–art technology and hi-tech business parks in Mauritius.

The BPML has set up the Ebene Cybercity, the first of its kind of a new generation of technology parks in this part of the world. The entire Cybercity, spread over an area of about 172 acres, is wired with fibre optic to provide high bandwidth international connectivity. The main components of the Ebene Cybercity are the Cyber Tower 1, an intelligent 12-storey building of 42,274 square metres equipped with ultra modern features, and the Cyber Tower 2.

The BPML also operates two other technology parks, namely:

The Informatics Park at La Tour Koenig, Pointe aux Sables; and

The TMC building at Mer Rouge, Port Louis

The setting up of a second Business Park by the BPML in the south of the island at Rose Belle is in the pipeline. Spread over 60 acres of land, this integrated park will be only 10 minutes’ drive from the airport.

Telecommunications Network

The telecommunications sector was liberalised at the end of 2002 and has evolved from a classical analogue network to a fully digital one, endowed with enhanced capabilities in terms of bandwidth, connectivity and value-added services.

In addition, since 2002, Mauritius has been well connected to the rest of the world via satellite and through the South Africa Far East (SAFE) submarine cable providing high bandwidth international connectivity. Connection to the SAFE cable network has enabled a significant tariff reduction on international telecommunications services including International Private Leased Circuit (IPLC) and IP connectivity to the Global Internet (IP-IPLC & IP-VPN). Telecommunication rates are revised on a regular basis to facilitate the growth of ICT and boost the competitiveness of Mauritius as a destination for ICT activities.

The Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy), presently under construction, will connect Mauritius and countries of Eastern Africa via a high bandwidth fibre optic cable system to the rest of the world. The Lower Indian Ocean (LION) submarine fibre cable system links Madagascar, Mauritius and Reunion Island and is some 1070 KM in length and consists of 2 fibre pairs. This cable brings resiliency to the country’s connections and makes it more attractive to investors. The 3,000 km-long LION2 cable will extend the LION cable to Kenya via the island of Mayotte.

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ICT Industry in Mauritius

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