(Ecofin Agency) - Technology-neutral licenses are now available in Burkina Faso. Indeed, during the ministerial council held on December 5, 2018, in Ouagadougou, the government adopted a decree in that regard. This decree defines the terms and conditions for the attribution of the license for establishment and operation of electronic communication networks and services in the country.

A technology-neutral license allows operators the freedom to offer innovative services based on advanced technology, according to the needs in the market, provided they have the frequencies and other telecom resources thanks to which they can offer those services.

For telecom operators, this is the end of multiple licenses (2G, 3G and the others) acquired over the years. With this new licence, they can easily adopt new technologies once they are available.

Apart from the decree materialising the availability of technology-neutral licenses, Burkina Faso also adopted a decree modifying the decree n°2010 245/PRES/PM/MPTIC/MEF on terms and conditions defining individual licenses, general authorisations and registrations for establishment and operation of electronic communications.  

According to the government, "broadly speaking, the adoption of these decrees helped set the duration of individual licenses to fifteen (15) years maximum, subject to some incentive measures that could be granted by the state. The technologically neutral individual license replaces the other individual licenses already granted to the holders”.  

FAVORI