Global Telephone Access Improves As Internet Gap Widens

["Irfan Khan" <khania@super.net.pk>]

Press Release
Global Telephone Access Improves As Internet Gap Widens

ITU Reports Reflect New Telecommunication Environment

Istanbul, 15 March 2002 -- The latter half of the 1990s saw the
sharpest rise globally in the rate of telecommunication network
growth since the 1950s, while investment in infrastructure exceeded
$200 billion in 2000. However, while the gap between developed and
developing countries in telephone lines is closing, a divide is
opening up in the availability and quality of Internet access.

Regulators have a critical role to play in bridging the digital
divide by creating a climate conducive to enhanced investment and
diffusion of services. However, this can only be achieved if they are
given the right tools and resources to become effective: a firm
mandate and clear goals; sufficient human and financial resources;
adequate enforcement powers; organizational flexibility and timely
decision-making.

According to Yoshio Utsumi, Secretary-General of the International
Telecommunication Union, "Governments and regulators have an on-going
responsibility to ensure universal access to telecommunications. They
must also strive to make the technology and the services reasonably
priced."

Two landmark reports being launched by the ITU at its 3rd World
Telecommunication Development Conference in Istanbul, Turkey — "World
Telecommunication Development Report 2002: Reinventing Telecoms" and
"Trends in Telecommunication Reform 2002: Effective Regulation" —
pinpoint the key issues for telecommunication planners and best
practice for regulators in the new telecommunication environment.

"The ITU is responding to the needs of the sector with two state-of-
the-art reports," said Hamadoun Touré, director of the ITU’s
Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT). "In a new, more sober
environment in telecommunication, these two reports point the way for
planners to reinvent access to services and for regulators to
reinforce themselves to face the challenges of the moment. Both these
reports will become essential reading as the sector positions itself
for an age of responsive governance and plentiful and ubiquitous
supply."

The latest World Telecommunication Development Report (WTDR 2002)
shows that access to the Internet is harder to measure. "The new
digital divide is not just about the number of access lines, but also
about the quality of the experience, as evidenced, for example, by
the availability of IP connectivity," says Tim Kelly, head of ITU’s
Strategy and Policy Unit and co-author. "The greater the bandwidth,
the quicker the response time."

One notable development is that the world’s Least Developed Countries
(LDCs), surpassed the important threshold of one telephone subscriber
per 100 inhabitants in the year 2001 and now have the world’s fastest
growing networks, due in large part to competition in mobile cellular
markets. "Moving beyond traditional measures, such as the number of
phone lines per 100 inhabitants, WTDR-02 proposes new targets
depending on a nation’s level of economic development. This includes
50% household penetration for Internet access in developed nations
and 90% coverage by mobile service in developing ones," says Michael
Minges, head of ITU’s Data and Statistics Unit and co-author of WTDR
2002.

The report also demonstrates, through the use of country case
studies, that the difference between fast and super- fast network
growth is often the quality and timing of reform.

Regulators hold the key to facilitating investment flows into the
sector and enabling the benefits of Information and Communication
Technologies (ICTs) to be dispersed as widely as possible. From a
mere 13 countries in 1990, now some 115 countries, or over 60 per
cent of ITU’s Member States have created a regulatory body. However,
simply declaring telecommunications "competitive" does not ensure
that any new market entrants would, or could, actually begin
competing. Government guidance and action has been found necessary in
nearly every country to nurture competition and the need for
regulatory expertise2 has become more, not less, acute.

"The effectiveness of the regulator is closely related to his or her
credibility and independence," explains Doreen Bogdan, regulatory
officer in ITU’s Sector Reform Unit and co-author of Trends 2000.
"There is no blueprint or national precedent for how regulators could
achieve effectiveness and independence. However, this report shows
that there are remarkable similarities in the issues that all
governments face when they attempt to establish effective regulatory
regimes."

"Increasingly, governments are realizing the value of their national
ICT assets is linked to the strength of their sector reform
programmes," adds Susan Schorr, also an ITU regulatory officer and co-
author of Trends 2002. The growth in the number of ICT service
subscribers worldwide continues to swell, and for the most part,
these services are provided in a competitive framework that requires
effective regulators to ensure fair and transparent market rules."

Complementing the reports is a series of case studies.

For the regulatory report, the studies provide best practice
guidelines on the organizational
structure, levels of transparency, financing, functions and powers of
regulatory bodies that
may be used by regulators and policy makers around the globe to
achieve their national ICT
development goals. They are downloadable here http://www.itu.int/ITU-
D/treg/Case_Studies/Index.html
Case studies on the telecommunication and Internet sector analyze the
relationship between the
traditional telecom sector and the Internet. They are available for
download here
http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/cs/
In addition, the ITU will be releasing a brand new version of its
flagship World
Telecommunication Indicators database at the conference. The database
is the premier source of
ICT statistics in the world.

For additional background information please click here
http://www.itu.int/newsroom/wtdc2002/backgrounder.html



source: http://www.itu.int/newsroom/press_releases/2002/05.html