SEYCHELLES: E-COMMERCE

On this Page:

- SEYCHELLES INTRODUCTION
- SEYCHELLES OFFSHORE ACTIVITIES
- SEYCHELLES CASE STUDIES

As a rapidly-developing jurisdiction with modern legislation and attractive tax regimes, the Seychelles certainly has the opportunity to become a centre of e-commerce activity. The Internet has yet to have much direct impact on the conduct of offshore business from the Seychelles, but as with all other aspects of business activity, no one can doubt that there will be an impact, that it will be soon, and that it will be substantial.

Following recommendations made by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Seychelles Government set up an ecommerce task force in 2004, headed by the Telecom Division of the Ministry of Economic Planinng that will discuss and propose the implementation of a national e-commerce strategy. This exercise is expected to bring together the economy’s main stakeholders to discuss how the Seychelles can benefit by adopting a strategy that will make use of the Internet as a medium for marketing of its national resources, products and services.

Currently Cable & Wireless is the main telecommunications company in the Seychelles operating over 12,000 lines.

Since 2003, competition has been provided by Airtel, a joint venture between the Bharti Group, Emtel, the premier GSM operator in Mauritius, some private investors and the Government of Seychelles. Registered as Telecom Seychelles Limited and operating under the brand name of Airtel, the company is licensed to offer comprehensive telecom services including GSM Cellular, PSTN (Fixed Lines), Fax and Data, International Roaming, connectivity to Internet Services and Maritime Telecom Services (INMARSAT).

Airtel provides the whole range of telecom services, from GSM Mobile services, Airtel Prepaid Mobile Cards available at a string of outlets, International Roaming with 140 operators in 61 countries, a host of Value Added Services, Fixed Cellular services and a fast growing Fixed Line network as well.

The Seychelles' only ISP used to be Atlas, formed by a consortium of the three main computer companies in the Seychelles, Space95, VCS and MBN.

In February 2001 a second Internet Service Provider was established: Kokonet claims to employ state-of-the-art technology and aims to encourage wider use of the Internet in the Seychelles. Kokonet, which is jointly owned by Space 95, Mauritian group Blanche Birger Limited as well as some staff members, is connected to the Internet backbone through a VSAT gateway. Initial bandwidth of 2 Mbps/512 Kbps is being used, more than doubling the bandwidth available to Internet users in the country.

Customers have available a choice of different technologies to link to Kokonet - dial-up, digital leased line and wireless. With dial-up services, there are two digital ISDN lines and a further one has been ordered from Telecom Seychelles (TS). Customers will also have the possibility of accessing the Kokonet network through digital leased line circuits offered by the local telecommunications providers.

In January 2001 ATLAS announced the launch of an internet roaming service. Through ATLAS's local network, the service allows customers to access the Internet via a laptop by using the same ID and password as their home PC. It is of particular advantage to foreigners who wish to communicate with individuals and businesses in the Seychelles but do most of their electronic communications on the move.

To enable ATLAS to offer the service the company got together with ipass, a major player in the international global virtual network providing people with secure, low-cost access to their corporate networks and Internet from virtually anywhere on the globe. Currently ipass serves 150 countries with around 8000 points of presence (POP). Users can connect to the Seychelles from almost anywhere in the world. With a point-and-click interface, users can input the country they are calling from thus allowing ipass to link the user to the most convenient ISP to the user's location. In addition, iPass will provide secure authentication to protect user names and passwords. Those customers using the service outside of the Seychelles will be charged by ipass through their usual ISPs.

In 2003 the government passed the Interactive Gambling Act, 2003, providing for the licencing and regulation of any internet gambling business carried on in or from Seychelles. The Act conforms to strict international regulatory norms and draws heavily from solid Australian legislation. See Law of Offshore for further details of the legislation.

In February, 2004, ATLAS launched "Skyway" a new high-speed broadband wireless internet service. "Skyway" will provide high-speed fixed wireless access to homes and businesses on Mahe, Praslin, La Digue, Silhouette, North island, Ste Anne island, Cerf island and other marine park islands.

With speeds ranging from 128Kbps (Kilobytes per second) to 10Mbps (Megabytes per second), this new service will provide downloads that are 50 to 500 times faster than current dial-up modems.

Atlas can also boast to be the first provider of wireless “hotspots” in Seychelles with deployment of the technology at the Wharf Hotel & Marina and at the Seychelles International Airport.

In October, 2005, the Seychelles awarded its first Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) licence to cable television entertainment service provider Intelvision, as the government advances its policy of liberalisation in the telecoms sector.

According to the Seychelles Department of Information Technology and Communications, Intelvision, through its cable television network, will be able to offer internet and telephone services. The firm has also been issued with an Internet Service Provider's licence, bringing the number of ISPs in the jurisdiction to three.

The department has stated that it is also considering applications for additional VoIP licences.

The announcement comes at a time of further liberalisation of the Seychelles telecommunications market in a bid to bring about more choice and cheaper prices for consumers.

"Now that there are more providers of telecommunications services in Seychelles, it is expected that prices will be even more competitive and that both consumers and businesses will enjoy more choices,” the department stated.