Unfortunately we arrived a little late for this session because the opening ceremony and opening session dragged on for an extra half an hour. By the time we grabbed a quick, yummy lunch of “pao de queijo” from the coffee shop and checked out the IDRC booth, we were about twenty minutes late. I regret missing these first couple of minutes because Ms. Helani Galpaya of LIRNEasia was wrapping up her talk and one of her recommendations was the use of mobile phones as an alternative method of accessing the Internet. As I hope to discuss this topic further in the paper I am expected to write at the end of the conference, it would be have indeed been an useful presentation for me. I guess I will have to track her down later... : )
Mr. Edwin San Roman, an Indotel consultant from Latin America was the first speaker we experienced. He opened his presentation on the rural areas of Latin America (Peru and the Dominican Republic) and about the celebrations held in these towns when the first calls were made using IP technology. So providing Internet access is indeed a big deal! How can we make sure this happens more often? Of the suggestions Mr. Roman, he emphasized that competitive markets was perhaps the most important. He went on to say that the new regulatory approach should include:
- simplifications in licensing
- basic interconnection for rural operators
- allow wide use of VOIP
- spectrum allocation
- flexibility in quality of service requirements and rural standards
Coming from a country like Sri Lanka, where the market is dominated by four big operators, I was especially interested in why one of the suggestions made was to introduce small operators. Apparently, big operators work on a national level and they want to maximize on costs, so they don’t really care about who can access their services. If they do provide services to rural areas which aren’t cost beneficial, it’s mostly because of license obligations. Conversely, smaller operators choose new technologies and have a lower capital expenditure than bigger operators, so they can afford to spread to rural areas. I don’t know if necessarily agree with this, but I need to think this one out a bit… at the moment there are no small operators in Sri Lanka as far as I know and the largest operator is expanding to include as many rural areas under their network as possible. I wonder how small operators would fit in?
Ms. Radhika Lal of UNDP was the next speaker. Her main points of focus were the following:
- Why does IT matter?
- How can incentives make a difference?
- How can ICTs jump start investment?
According to her the principle of competition works mainly for urban areas and not rural areas. Therefore, incentives may be the way to go. I guess this is in line with the whole big operator/ small operator story and related to her next recommendation of introducing co-operatives. These are community driven systems which operate at lower costs and have lower profit margins. An added benefit is that by keeping resources local, reinvestment will lead to the growth of the sector in that area. This approach worked in the United States.
Ms. Lal made a valid point in saying that infrastructure is needed in all sectors such as electricity, roads etc. and not just IT. Of course. How can communications be more important than power and transport? I would say they are on the same level. Therefore, a multi sector approach is needed to share resources and to increase sustainability.
Finally, she recommended that regulation, finance and the public sector must all be considered when considering universal access. Failures often occur because the focus is mainly only on one of these categories.
The next gentleman (sorry! I couldn’t quite catch his name in his hurried introduction!) spoke about how providing financial services could improve economic growth. He used the Nokia Siemens Networks Village Connection as an example. In this case, a village entrepreneur would own or manage the village Access Points and interconnect with the GSM operator for external connectivity to other villages and to other networks. This is currently being implemented in 18 villages in India and will be extended to Africa and South America.
But what else do we need?
- more competition
- capacity building for regulatory authorities on new technologies
- services that are relevant to the community
Through this mobile network, financial services are one aspect that is being looked into that will be relevant to the community. Dialog, the largest mobile operator in Sri Lanka recently introduced the Ezpay system hoping to bring the benefits of the mobile to the people in the rural community in a similar manner, especially to those who do not have a bank account.
Mr. Edwin San Roman, an Indotel consultant from Latin America was the first speaker we experienced. He opened his presentation on the rural areas of Latin America (Peru and the Dominican Republic) and about the celebrations held in these towns when the first calls were made using IP technology. So providing Internet access is indeed a big deal! How can we make sure this happens more often? Of the suggestions Mr. Roman, he emphasized that competitive markets was perhaps the most important. He went on to say that the new regulatory approach should include:
- simplifications in licensing
- basic interconnection for rural operators
- allow wide use of VOIP
- spectrum allocation
- flexibility in quality of service requirements and rural standards
Coming from a country like Sri Lanka, where the market is dominated by four big operators, I was especially interested in why one of the suggestions made was to introduce small operators. Apparently, big operators work on a national level and they want to maximize on costs, so they don’t really care about who can access their services. If they do provide services to rural areas which aren’t cost beneficial, it’s mostly because of license obligations. Conversely, smaller operators choose new technologies and have a lower capital expenditure than bigger operators, so they can afford to spread to rural areas. I don’t know if necessarily agree with this, but I need to think this one out a bit… at the moment there are no small operators in Sri Lanka as far as I know and the largest operator is expanding to include as many rural areas under their network as possible. I wonder how small operators would fit in?
Ms. Radhika Lal of UNDP was the next speaker. Her main points of focus were the following:
- Why does IT matter?
- How can incentives make a difference?
- How can ICTs jump start investment?
According to her the principle of competition works mainly for urban areas and not rural areas. Therefore, incentives may be the way to go. I guess this is in line with the whole big operator/ small operator story and related to her next recommendation of introducing co-operatives. These are community driven systems which operate at lower costs and have lower profit margins. An added benefit is that by keeping resources local, reinvestment will lead to the growth of the sector in that area. This approach worked in the United States.
Ms. Lal made a valid point in saying that infrastructure is needed in all sectors such as electricity, roads etc. and not just IT. Of course. How can communications be more important than power and transport? I would say they are on the same level. Therefore, a multi sector approach is needed to share resources and to increase sustainability.
Finally, she recommended that regulation, finance and the public sector must all be considered when considering universal access. Failures often occur because the focus is mainly only on one of these categories.
The next gentleman (sorry! I couldn’t quite catch his name in his hurried introduction!) spoke about how providing financial services could improve economic growth. He used the Nokia Siemens Networks Village Connection as an example. In this case, a village entrepreneur would own or manage the village Access Points and interconnect with the GSM operator for external connectivity to other villages and to other networks. This is currently being implemented in 18 villages in India and will be extended to Africa and South America.
But what else do we need?
- more competition
- capacity building for regulatory authorities on new technologies
- services that are relevant to the community
Through this mobile network, financial services are one aspect that is being looked into that will be relevant to the community. Dialog, the largest mobile operator in Sri Lanka recently introduced the Ezpay system hoping to bring the benefits of the mobile to the people in the rural community in a similar manner, especially to those who do not have a bank account.
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