[governance] ITU signs deal to build 180 base stations in Africa to expand broadband access

[Salanieta T. Tamanikaiwaimaro]

>
>
>
> From my exposure to ITU activities, I can conclude that the ITU tend to
> tap countries that are low on ICT resources,
>

If one looks at the statistics on penetration rates via
http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/statistics/index.html you will see that for
most of the developing countries have extremely low penetration rates. In a
separate thread on Ethiopia, I had attempted to show some of the variables
that exist that one could call significant deterrents to rolling out
infrastructure. You see the reality is that Telcos will only pump money
into CAPEX projects if they know they will get a Return on Investment
(RoI). A consistent trend for most Telcos involved in Broadband
infrastructure is that they are realising that it takes at least 15 years
to recover that RoI.

Also consider the IDI ranking which measures a host of things including
accessibility, affordability etc, and you will find (not suprisingly) alot
of developing countries at the bottom of the rung. Whilst there are
numerous studies that show the linkages between broadband
deployment/investment with economic growth, there are other factors that
put a dampener on basic things like "access". I can only assume that Africa
has numerous forums where access challenges would be discussed. I think
that sometimes people forget that part of living in an "ecosystem"
(apologies to those who despise the term) is that everything has its place.
Just as when a species or genus becomes extinct it eventually affects the
environment so too in the internet ecosystem.

The ITU only steps in when countries through their governments make a
request for assistance. As an advocate for development, I think that this
should be applauded. One of the Internet Governance policy areas identified
in the WGIG 2005 includes high interconnection costs. At some point it
would be interesting to see a review of the WGIG Report and its findings.
-- 
Salanieta Tamanikaiwaimaro aka Sala
P.O. Box 17862
Suva
Fiji

Twitter: @SalanietaT
Skype:Salanieta.Tamanikaiwaimaro
Fiji Cell: +679 998 2851
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