WEDNESDAY 13 October, 1999 - Geneva, Switzerland
DR IVY MATSEPE-CASABURRI
INTRODUCTION
For the last few days we have been reminded how, the Information Communications Technology sector has experienced exponential growth over the last 30 years, largely through rapid technological changes and liberalization of markets. However, d espite these revolutionary changes, we do not seem to be anywhere near the commitment outlined even in the Maitland Commission Report: "The Missing Link".
Indeed the development challenge in telecommunications remains: how and when will we integrate those currently without access. As policy makers, regulators, technology developers and service providers we have to collectively achieve common under standing of and find an acceptable framework to reach our goal of universal service and universal access. For us the question is still, access to what?
THE SOUTH AFRICAN CASE
My own country South Africa is best captured by the metaphor of "three worlds, one country". In spite of 130 years of telephony in South Africa, we experience the contradiction that on the one hand, we have the most modern infrastructure that can c ompete in the information age. While on the other our townships have minimal access, and we have rural areas where some people have never used a telephone in their lives.
This contradiction presented us with enormous challenges with regard to
We had to make hard choices. It was imperative for us to develop the right policy, enabling regulation and appropriate infrastructure in order to attract foreign direct investment.
We had to make a concerted effort to establish connectivity in our rural areas. Through a considered policy and regulatory intervention we will within a five-year period ending 2002, have every village of a hundred to five hundred households connect ed to basic dial tone and Internet access. This will bring 1,6 million new telephone connections to areas that previously had no telephone access.
However, the rapid changes in technology has now fundamentally altered our understanding of universal access. Universal access is a moving target, it changes form and content with time. Clearly, access could no longer be measured by the provision of b asic dial tone. Our Mission had to change to include services that will create a flourishing information society such as Internet, tele-medicine, tele-education tele-agriculture, and other convenience measures that would improve the quality of life of our people, while contributing to the growth of our economy.
Provision of public access points such as multi-purpose community centres, telecentres, public pay phones and Public Information Terminals offers us practical and cost effective solutions to meet basic access. This also provides an opportun ity for the creation of new entrepreneurs and promotes local economic activity. These could be upgraded as and when technology and economic development permit. Piloting public access has spawned new ways to extend access, and bring people into the communications fold. It is now possible for someone who had never made a telephone call in their life before, to have access to Internet connecting them to the world.
Cognisant of the fact that our economy had to grow, attention was paid to the needs and demands of the private sector using high end technology – such as broadband networks in particular. We now, have an ATM backbone linking every major ci ty and trading centres. The challenge is to extend these high speed links to smaller towns and rural areas.
An ambitious undertaking of this magnitude can only be possible within a clear policy and regulatory framework, that provides the required certainty for investors and flexible deployment of a range of technologies providing choice. Significant ly what this achievement demonstrates is that we can attract private sector investment for the provision of services to areas that previously had no service at all.
As policy makers we have to remain conscious of the fact that the fundamental purpose of telecommunications regulation is to serve public interest and attract the large amounts of investment required for information infrastructure. But as deve loping countries we also need to develop policy and regulatory frameworks that assist us to compete for and reduce the actual and perceived risk of telecommunications investment. The challenge is to create a comprehensive, transpa rent and predictable regulatory framework that balances these competing demands.
However, there are serious constraints such as human resource capacity and the required expertise for us to proceed in the implementation of this model. One approach to deal with our limited expertise is to pull together our resources into a database of case studies outlining options on vexing regulatory and policy issues. This sharing of experience could prove a cost-effective way to rapidly build the skills base so necessary for the development of the sector especially in the develop ing world. The role of the ITU in building human resource capacity can be invaluable and this should be kept in mind as the ITU restructures itself.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion I would like to reflect on an observation of President Mr. Thabo Mbeki a few weeks ago when addressing the United Nations General Assembly. He urged the Assembly to urgently address the question of reforming the United Nations a nd its specialised agencies to be democratic and relevant to the needs of all its members.
It is in this light that my country feels particularly honoured to chair the Working Group on the ITU reform. I would also like to extend my gratitude to the ITU for the contribution that the Union has made in the development of telecommunications pol icy in South Africa.
Our Success is Your Success. I thank you.