The use of geo tools is also a priority, particularly for the collation of data necessary for the development of appropriate national policies. Annex C provides further information on the key application of geo-information in economic planning. 4-1-2 Sector Challenges One of the biggest constraints to the expansion of the telecommunications infrastructure in Sierra Leone (outside of the capital and a few main cities), is the limited extent of the electricity grid, which has yet to reach many of the provincial areas. These areas typically lack electricity or fixed phone service and are completely unconnected with the rest of the country. Even in the main cities, the provision of Internet bandwidth is limited, expensive and largely unavailable. These are all significant constraints to investment promotion in the ICT sector. In addition, the public telephone network is largely circuit-switched as opposed to packetswitched and relies heavily on copper wire rather than fibre optics. The limited infrastructure makes congestion management difficult since Internet traffic shares the same network as voice traffic. Furthermore, most of the available ISP providers concentrate their wireless broadband services in the greater Freetown area and only expensive VSAT services are available in the other major cities (VSAT bandwidth fees can range from US$500 to US$15,000 per month). 4-1-3 ICT for Basic Infrastructure Management and Operations Currently, basic infrastructure systems are poorly managed and maintained due in part to ineffective information communication systems. Basic infrastructure systems include water supply, electricity supply, sewage, solid waste collection, right-of-ways, communication networks and land use. Recent and projected investments in such infrastructure involve the introduction of prepaid services inclusive of monitoring and payment systems. These prepaid service operations rely on ICT devices at the client’s premises and community distribution hubs that are connected offline and online to databases at the responsible agency. Effective management of the basic infrastructure operations will depend on the collection, transmission and analysis of demand and supply information between client and responsible agency. This policy therefore envisions the introduction and customization of reliable ICT devices that are appropriate for the delivery services mentioned above. Coordination in ICT infrastructure development is also considered paramount to achieving national backbone networks that can carry data, voice and video, as would be employed in effective management and operations of basic infrastructure. ICT Policy of Sierra Leone Page 17 / 63