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

[Fahd A. Batayneh]

Salanieta, while I would never disagree on your insight, and while I agree
that it is a win-win case for both the ITU and developing/least-developed
countries, I think the ITU should start approaching these countries
differently.

While I also agree that the ITU provides training and consultancy services
based on requests from members, who does that? *Governments*. When
governments start to rely heavily on bodies such as the ITU (but not
limited to), they neglect the learning aspects and just follow blindly.
This is what makes them followers rather than trying to be innovators and
leaders.

Fahd

On Mon, Aug 6, 2012 at 11:08 PM, Salanieta T. Tamanikaiwaimaro <
salanieta.tamanikaiwaimaro at gmail.com> wrote:

>
>>
>> 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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