ASIA PACIFIC TELECOMMUNITY

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ASIA PACIFIC TELECOMMUNITY
Regional Overview of ICT and Broadband Development
by R.B. Kumarapathirana Director, Project
Development
Seminar on ICT Technologies and Broadband
ApplicationsAugust 3-5, 2005 Bangkok, Thailand
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APT Membership

• MEMBERS 33
• ASSOCIATE MEMBERS 4
• AFFILIATE MEMBERS 102

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APT Member Countries
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What does the APT do?

• The APT improves our
• members expertise
• through
• Training programmes
• Study Visits
• Short term Experts/consultancies
• Workshops/Seminars
• Meetings/Conferences/Forums
• Coordination and Harmonization of regional views
  for international events
• Access to APT Publications
• Expert Groups on Standardization, Radio
  communications
• and Study Groups

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What the APT Does

• The APT provides the liaison between the Asia
  Pacific nations in their preparations for major
  ITU and ICT related Conferences.

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Major Regional and Global Initiatives

• MDGs (Millennium Declaration Goals)
• (UN Millennium Summit, September 2000)
• Tokyo Declaration The Asia-Pacific Perspective
  on WSIS
• (13-15 Jan. 2003, Tokyo)
• WSIS Geneva Plan of Action and Declaration of
  Principles
• (10-12 Dec. 2004, Geneva)
• Regional Road Map Towards an Information Society
  in Asia and the Pacific (13-15 Aug. 2005, 5th IWG
  on ICT)
• Bangkok Agenda
• (Ministerial Conference on Broadband and ICT
  Development, 1-2 July 2004)

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What does all this mean?

• The purpose of the global and regional activities
  is to achieve the political underpinning that ICT
  development needs.
• Without support at all levels of government ICT
  will not reach many of the people in the region.
• ICT and the supporting infrastructure is still
  beyond the reach of many communities and will
  remain so unless there is the political will to
  address the issues and meet costs.

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Ministerial Conference on Broadband and ICT
Development1-2 July 2004, Bangkok

• Objective Establishment of the Bangkok Agenda
• Taking into account of
• - The Declaration and Plan of Action of the
  WSIS, Geneva, 2003
• - The Declaration and Action Plan of the Asia
  Pacific Summit
• on the Information Society,
  Tokyo, 2000
• - The Constitution of the Asia Pacific
  Telecommunity as revised
• at New Delhi 2002
• Commemorate the Silver Jubilee of APT

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Bangkok Agenda Items
The conference confirmed the need for action at
the National, Sub-regional and Regional level for

• Raising Awareness, Capacity Building and HRD
• Creating an Enabling Environment to Encourage
  Broadband and ICT Investment
• Improving Access and Encouraging Broadband and
  ICT Usage
• Increasing Confidence and Security for Broadband
  and ICT Usage
• Strengthening International Cooperation

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APT BANGKOK AGENDA BROADBAND DEVELOPMENT
Activities
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ICT Operators in APT Countries

• Fixed line operators
• Mobile operators
• ISPs

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Source APT Year Book ,2004/ Web
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Source APT Year Book,2004 / Web
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Source APT Year Book,2004 / Web
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Source APT Year Book,2004 / Web
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Source APT Year Book ,2004/ Web
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Source APT Year Book ,2004/ Web
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Source APT Year Book ,2004/ Web
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Observation (1)

• APT Member countries have the basic telephone
  services by Incumbent or the licensed operators.
  Efforts are being made to extend the basic
  telephone connectivity to un-served areas. Still
  the monopoly persists.
• Internet Service Providers are on the rise and
  Internet Technology is being upgraded for better
  service and higher speed.
• Cellular Sector growth is prominent in most of
  the APT Member countries.

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Teledensities in APT Member Countries
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Teledensities in APT Member Countries
Source APT Year Book,2004/ ITU-D / Web
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Rural Teledensities in Some Developing APT Member
Countries
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Total number of telephone subscribers (Broadband
mobile for the top 20 Asia-Pacific Markets in
Thousands
Subscribers for 2004 (top) and telephone density
per 100 inhabitants, cellular and mainline
density in 2004 (bottom).
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Internet user penetration rates

Internet User penetration rates for the
Asia-Pacific Region


Source
ITU World Telecommunication Indicators Database.


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Observation (2)

• The existing telephone densities of the APT
  Member countries are quite low in Rural Areas in
  spite of the multiple operators and availability
  of new technologies.
• Higher Tele densities exist in the developed
  economies such as Australia, Japan, New Zealand,
  Republic of Korea, Singapore, Brunei, Hong Kong
  and Macao .
• Cellular mobile has overtaken the fixed telephone
  lines in most of the APT countries. Cellular has
  a wider coverage in rural areas.
• Internet penetration is low in rural areas in
  spite of the large number of ISPs.

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Observation (2) Con..

• In most of the APT Developing Countries there is
  a substantial digital divide between the Urban
  and Rural connectivity and services.
• Special attention is to be given to Rural ICT
  development in order to reduce this growing ICT
  divide.

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BROADBAND GROWTH CURRENT STATUS

• Total broadband subscribers
• December 02 63 millions
• December 03 100 millions
• December 04 150 millions
• December 05 215 millions (projected)
• (Source Point Topic Limited)

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Broadband and subscriber penetration rates

Broadband subscribers in different regions and
broadband penetration rates by country - 2003





Source
ITU World Telecommunication Indicators Database.


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Broadband and subscriber penetration rates
Source
ITU World Telecommunication Indicators Database.
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Observation (3)

• The bulk of the broadband subscribers is taken up
  by the Asia Pacific with 42.9
• There is a vast gap between the developed and
  developing countries within the region
• There is an increased deployment DSL technologies
  compared to cable modem technology for broadband
  applications
• The developing countries are yet to deploy DSL
  technologies and cable modem technologies in a
  wider scale to achieve broadband connectivity.

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Competition
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Percentage of PCs in Member Countries Countries
(1)
Source ITU-D / Web
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Percentage of PCs in Member Countries Countries
(2)
Source ITU-D / Web
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Observation (4)

• The distribution of the Personal Computers is
  quite low in most of the developing nations
  within the region.
• PCs are a very important tool for ICT and the
  Internet and is a pre requisite for Rural ICT
  development.
• Most of the APT Member countries are still in the
  early stages of competition. Fair competition is
  the key to encourage ICT and broadband
  development.

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Universal Service Obligation (1)
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Universal Service Obligation (2)
Source APT Year Book,2004/ ITU-D / Web
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Observation (5)

• Universal Service Obligation is recognized by all
  APT Members and efforts are being made to reach
  the Rural Areas using USO.
• Wide variety of funding mechanisms and models are
  used by various countries according to
  demography, geography, population distribution
  and access requirements.
• More funding and investments are needed to enable
  the developing countries to fully connect the
  Rural and un-served areas.

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Needs of Rural Population in Relation to
e-services
Source ITU-D Survey
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Observation (6)

• The primary requirement are for E-health and
  E-education.
• The E-Administration and ICT Training are also
  needed as secondary requirements for the Rural
  Communities in the developing countries of the
  region.
• Rural Banking sector could benefit from
  E-Business and E-Banking services which would
  strengthen the rural economy.
• Basic Telephony and Awareness programmes are also
  necessary to bring about Rural ICT Development

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Challenges and Barriers

• Difficult terrain and poor transport
  infrastructure increases the cost of
  establishing, operating and maintaining telecom
  services.
• Delivering affordable and accessible services to
  populations with very low disposable incomes and
  lack of capital to acquire telecom equipment is a
  challenge.
• In many rural areas, ancillary services such as
  electricity supply are simply non-existent or
  insufficient.
• High degree of illiteracy in some rural areas and
  cultural issues based on oral traditions rather
  than written ones are sociological barriers to
  the adoption of ICT and broadband services.

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APT New ICT Development Programme for Supporting
ICT Pilot Projects in Rural Areas (1)

• The objective of this Programme is to narrow the
  digital divide in the Asia-Pacific region through
  promoting pilot projects to ensure the access to
  ICT in rural areas of each APT Member and develop
  ICT and Broadband in the region.
• APT has embarked on this programme from this
  year, recognizing the importance of Improving
  Access and Encouraging Broadband and ICT as
  endorsed in the Bangkok Agenda.
• APT selects projects from proposals from APT
  Members Affiliate members.
• Supported by Extra Budgetary Contribution of
  Japan.

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APT ICT Development Programme for Supporting ICT
Pilot Projects in Rural Areas(2)

• How we select projects?

• Selection is to be conducted annually.

This is the first year for selection. Applications
can be received from now on to the end of
August, 2005

• Requirements

- Maximum amount of budget for one project is
US100,000. - Applications should be made by APT
Members, Associate Members or Affiliate members.
- Project has to be carried out within the
Asia-Pacific region. - Project should be started
just after the selection and be completed by the
end of April, 2006

• Selection Criteria

- Contribution to realization of the Bangkok
Agenda - Contribution to follow-up of WSIS Plan
of Actions - Financial support from APT Members
- Involvement of Japanese organization /
institutions
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APT ICT Development Programme for Supporting ICT
Pilot Projects in Rural Areas

• Examples of Pilot Projects

• Establishment of multi-purpose telecenters in
  rural areas
• Introduction of wireless LAN systems in rural
  areas

Example Wireless LAN in Rural Area
The Internet
University
Hospital
Access Point
Connection to the Internet
Library
School
Community
Rural Area
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THANK YOU