ADDRESS BY THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS... AT THE CTO CONFERENCE ON IMPLEMENTING THE WSIS ACTI

Transcription

1 PAPER PRESENTED BY THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS, MR ALBERT KAN-DAPAAH ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY IN A RAPIDLY EVOLVING MARKET AT THE CTO CONFERENCE ON IMPLEMENTING THE WSIS ACTION PLAN, NAIROBI, MARCH 2004 Your Excellencies, Fellow Participants, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, I wish to first and foremost, express my gratitude to the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) and the Chief Executive Officer for continuing with the crusade to ensure that the journey to bridge the Digital Divide is indeed shorter than is anticipated. Indeed, we are very much encouraged by the position of the CTO that greater partnership efforts need to be made by the global community to bridge the capital divide which actually worsens the digital divide. In the same vein I wish to express appreciation for the cordial reception we have received from our hosts and it gladdens us that this Conference has succeeded in bringing together the major stakeholders concerned with implementing the various Action Plans developed at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in December 2003.

2 Ladies and Gentlemen, The December Summit on the Information Society affirmed that the development of communications infrastructure is essential for speeding up the process of the deployment and exploitation of ICTs within the society and economy and so our emphasis should now go beyond the original voice considerations. Original Role of Governments In the past Government involvement in telecommunications has basically been one of supplying telecom services albeit through public sector telecos and procuring ICT equipment. In the evolving environment, Governments are challenged to move from being providers of communications services to developers of forward-looking policies and encourage competitive regulatory environment to enhance investment in the sector so as to promote rapid social and economic development. I am therefore delighted to share ideas on the topic Telecommunications Policy relevant for a rapidly evolving market in this globalised environment of ours. Distinguished Participants, the WSIS succeeded in several respects to build a consensus that the emerging technologies in information and communications provide enabling opportunities for the realization of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Balance of relationships in Telecommunications Policy Generally Government takes responsibility for deciding policy direction for the country. This is exercised through the Ministries responsible for Communications matters. They also operate as competition authorities in most countries. In previous times these have been variously named to include the Posts, Transport, Technology etc. The choice of name however depends on national

3 circumstances and the priorities of Government anyway. The National Regulatory Agencies as stakeholders also exist to implement the policies and also apply established regulatory and competition principles with substantial autonomy from government. It is appreciated that over the years countries have reformed their telecommunications sectors to reflect the changing face of the industry as a result of which several of the Regulatory Authorities have been established. The other stakeholder of telecom policy is the Operator whose responsibility is in the provision of service to customers on terms permitted by law and regulation. The evolving competitive market situation imposes great challenges on telecom operators and so strategies should be crafted with incentives to permit the delivery of quality service throughout the country. For the success of telecommunication policy, a lot depends on the state of the relations existing between these three major players. It is difficult in circumstances where telecommunications policies are not made clear enough for the Regulatory Authorities to implement. The situation is even worsened when Regulatory Authorities assume the role of policymaking and also resent openness and accountability for their actions. The understanding of the respective roles of the Ministry and the Regulator is therefore required for the smooth development of the telecommunications sector. The problems can also be addressed through transparent and clear regulatory policy guidelines for the Regulators while improving upon their capacities to operate as neutral referees inspiring confidence among the operating entities. Policy Context

4 It is acknowledged that special policy measures and initiatives are required to develop the infrastructure to improve universal access and service. These policy measures should be directed at creating the necessary legal, regulatory and institutional enabling environment to facilitate the development of telecommunications to promote development. Policy Process It should be appreciated that intense public interest is being stimulated through effective governance and so in the development of policy, the following attributes should be respected: It should involve the public, To be demand-driven, Must be inclusive, Must be transparent, Consultative, and Holistic. These need to be taken on board to facilitate the ownership of the Policy and thereby facilitate its implementation. The problem with most policies lies with the manner by which they are adopted. In most instances, they have been suggestions or directives from outside sources without involving the national circumstances. These templates may even have been re-cycled from other areas with little contributions from the home front. These have proven to be unworkable and rather tended to complicate the problems they were meant to address in the initial instance. Evolving Trends Beyond the national efforts, the global trend now is to ensure harmonization of policies and activities among states to promote regional integration. Such

5 cooperation is well intended to prevent duplication of efforts and rather optimize the use of resources for maximum benefit. The affirmations made by the Heads of State during the WSIS and contained in the Declaration of Principles, outline a common vision for the building of the Information Society. This is presented to us as a global challenge in the new Millennium. This challenge expects countries to put the potential of knowledge and ICTs at the service of development. The resulting Action Plan has provided targets to be taken into account in the establishment of national targets depending on national circumstances. These targets include among others: a) To connect villages with ICTs and establish community access points, b) Connect universities, colleges, secondary schools etc with ICTs, c) To connect scientific and research centers with ICTs, d) To connect health centers and hospitals with ICTs, e) To connect all local and central government departments etc, f) To ensure that all of the population have access to television and radio services, g) To ensure that more than half the world s inhabitants have access to ICTs within their reach, etc, etc. In this instance, the key words for consideration are to connect this or that. The platform on which this can be executed is obviously the development of telecommunications. This is particularly problematic for the developing countries. It is the efficiency of the telecommunication system that can determine the degree to which the targets would be accomplished. It is this, which makes proactive Telecommunications policy very critical to the development of the Information Society in our countries.

6 The time has therefore come for the African continent for example to take advantage of the SAT-3 submarine optic fibre cable that stretches from Portugal along the coast right through to East Africa. This facility links terminal stations in 17 African countries and Europe and has an initial transmission capacity of 10 Gb/s to be upgraded to 40 Gb/s after one year. It provides a secure and reliable alternate traffic to the outside world and can support the growing telecommunications requirements for ICT progress in the continent. The effective utilization of this facility should therefore reflect in our telecommunications policy considerations. Ghana for instance, is exploring the possibility of building a national communications infrastructure backbone out of the SAT-3/West African Submarine Cable and its stock of fibre currently used for electricity generation by the Volta River Authority. This essential facility would be subject to regulations governing its lease by competing operators and purchase of services. Objectives of Policy Guided by appropriate standards, best practices and guidelines, a forwardlooking telecommunications policy should among other things: Promote and facilitate initiatives targeted at the development of a reliable, fast adaptive and robust national ICT infrastructure, Facilitate and encourage the development of the nation s physical infrastructure to promote access to ICTs for the whole community, Define universal service goals Promote competition in the communications industry to increase customer choice and promote the provision of affordable services within the industry, Ensure that as far as possible development is not constrained by inadequate transport, communications and energy infrastructures and networks,

7 Stimulate local content and content development. Contentious Issues in Policy After undertaking diagnostic study of the telecommunications landscape and assessing its potential for growth, it is necessary to consider certain contentious issues. Some of these involve: Availability of affordable and effective telecommunications; How would the Policy provide a risk/reward approach to regulation so as to facilitate investment in infrastructure? Encouraging Interconnection between the networks. How can this be done in circumstances of extreme hostility between operators and in the absence of credible accounting information for use by Regulators? Provision of balance between the provision of universal service to under-served areas and the provision of high-level services capable of meeting the needs of the country s economy. There is a programme to extend broadband service to all towns with Senior Secondary Schools and Teacher Training Colleges within 2 to 3 years. How would the schools, particularly those in deprived areas meet the cost of the broadband service? Transformation in a time-bound manner, the telecommunications sector to a greater competitive environment in both urban and rural areas thus providing equal opportunities and level playing field for all players. This recognizes the evolutionary development of the sector and responds to the growing needs of the country as a whole. How does the telecommunications sector determine the optimum number of players? Creation of an environment for the development of an efficient telecommunications infrastructure taking into account the convergence of IT, media, telecom and consumer. The consideration is the development of a national fibre optic programme for the improvement of

8 telecommunications to support the deployment of high-speed Internet. What other guarantees are required to persuade the private sector to play its expected role? The experiences of liberalization and privatization have not been pleasant so far for our countries. Achievement of efficiency and transparency in spectrum management. The increasing demands on frequency require careful management of the resource to address the needs of the ICT industry and there is the need to develop regulatory accountability and transparency that provides operators with improved visibility and predictability. Why is this activity shrouded in secrecy? Treatment of the VoIP issue so that it does not create problems between regulated and illegal services. Administration of Universality Funds to provide for telecommunications services especially to develop facilities in remote areas of the country. Who manages the Universality Funds? Are they for use in telecom development or to be paid into the national chest? Strengthening research and development efforts to provide an impetus to build manufacturing capabilities. How can the industry respond to this? Protection of defence and security interests of the country. How does this conflict with the general policy of liberalization? I have brought these issues to your attention so that Policy-makers will address them in their efforts to evolve pro-active telecommunications policies to keep pace with the volatile market trend. Conclusion Developing Telecommunications Policy has generally been regarded as Worksin-Progress activity. Since we are no longer in a stand-alone situation but need

9 to design telecommunications policies within the wider context of a national ICTled socio-economic development policy and plan, the pressure for continual revision would increase. However, the strategies outlined if successfully implemented, would go a long way to herald the new environment that seeks to: Develop an Information Society and Economy, Pursue a Multi-Sectorial ICT-led Socio-Economic Development Goal, and finally Develop an ICT Sector that will use ICT as a Broad-Based Enabler of Development Goals. Thank you.