Asia-Pacific Confirmed as Global Telecommunication Leader
ITU Telecom Asia 2002 Highlights Regional Policy, Potential and Innovations

Hong Kong, China, 7 December 2002 — The sixth regional telecommunications Exhibition and Forum for the Asia-Pacific, was held from the 2 to 7 December at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC), Hong Kong SAR, China. ITU Telecom ASIA 2002 again attracted world and regional leaders from the telecoms and IT industries as well as key figures from governments across the region.

ITU Telecom ASIA 2002 combined policy initiatives and discussions with a trade showcase for information and communication technologies. The depth of technology innovation in the Asia-Pacific was highlighted by the fact that 60% of the exhibitors were first time participants from the region. According to Mr Yoshio Utsumi, Secretary-General of ITU, the extremely high quality of the exhibitors, trade visitors, industry and policy leaders in attendance "reinforces the ITU Telecom reputation as a unique non-profit showcase for telecommunications technologies and as a Forum for strategic policy discussions relevant to the regional and global industry."

ITU, as the United Nations specialized agency for telecommunications, is uniquely equipped to spark change in the telecommunication sector through regulatory reform, human resource and technology development "all of which underlie the ITU mandate to ‘help the world communicate’ and to promote the ‘right to communicate’ as fundamental to humanity," added Mr Utsumi.

The role of the Asia-Pacific region as the largest telecommunications market and emerging epicentre for global growth was also confirmed during Telecom ASIA. The effects of a global economic slowdown have been milder in the region, which has emerged as a global player in technology deployment and the innovative and flexible nature of its policy models. However, the event was not immune to the challenges facing the global telecommunications industry including the technology exhibition sector, with 30% fewer exhibitors as compared to ITU Telecom ASIA 2000.

A Mobile Internet Giant

The release of the 2002 edition of the acclaimed ITU Asia-Pacific Telecommunication Indicators during the event reinforced the theme of ‘Asia Leading Change’ as the theme of Telecom ASIA 2002.

In the mobile economy, the Asia-Pacific region is poised to overtake Europe as the world’s largest market during 2002, although mobile penetration is still below 10%. Two of the top three mobile economies worldwide, as measured by mobile phones per capita, are from the region. They are Taiwan, China and Hong Kong, China. The region also hosts the economies with the largest number of mobile Internet users: Japan and the Republic of Korea.

Mobile technologies also contributed to raising total teledensity dramatically in many developing countries that might otherwise have expected to remain locked into low levels of access. Thanks to mobile substitution, while half the region’s developing countries had a teledensity of less than one in 1993, this had been reduced to only two (Afghanistan and Myanmar) by mid-2002.

One decade ago the Asia-Pacific was home to just over 20% of telecommunication users worldwide. It now accounts for over one third of all subscribers. It is unique in being the only region in the world to have significantly grown its market share. It is currently adding new connections at the rate of more than one new user every second of every day, a growth rate that has been sustained for more than ten years.

A Forum for the Future

240 leaders in the field of telecommunications were selected to make presentations in the Forum on new technologies and their application. More than 600 delegates participated in discussions on cutting-edge theories focused on the relationship between policy and market structure, the essential steps to create a dynamic communications environment, the relationship between regulation and the business environment, and the evolution of new types of content and new ICT business models throughout Asia.

The tone of the forum was set by Mr Henry Tang, the Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology, from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China. "Looming over the industry are issues relating to overcapacity, market consolidation, a need for greater investor confidence and better corporate governance."

China’s Minister for Information and Industry, His Excellency Mr Jichuan Wu, posed several challenging questions for the delegates to consider in their deliberations. He asked: What is happening to the giant industry that once outperformed other industries in the capital markets? Will it regain its past glory? What has shielded countries like China from the upheaval of the market? In a highly complex environment, how can some of the countries in the region maintain the steady and pragmatic growth they have built up in recent years? He then shared his views on some of the underlying causes of the current crisis in these words. "The huge network bubble has led to the exaggerated expectations of multimedia services and false forecast for the network bandwidth market, which has given rise to unrealistic market demands."

ITU Secretary-General, Yoshio Utsumi, remarked that one of the reasons for Asia’s continuing growth is that when the region faced its own crisis in the late 1990s, its leaders decided that the best way out was to invest in next generation networks and to continue to innovate. "We have witnessed, throughout the week, how Asia is blazing the trail in third-generation mobile communications and in the deployment of broadband technologies."

During the discussions, a number of speakers reiterated the sentiment that investor confidence has been utterly shaken by many companies filing for bankruptcy protection and by corporate governance scandals. There was broad discussion and consensus on the fact that investors need a stable and certain environment, where the rules of the game are clear for all players, regardless of whether they are domestic or foreign. In this regard, transparency and providing a stable regulatory environment that offer a level playing field were stressed as prerequisites for attracting investment.

A Focus on the Next Generation of Telecommunication Leadership

For the first time at an Asia regional Telecom, ITU hosted a Youth Forum. 76 young high achievers from 40 countries across Asia participated in four days of interactive panel discussions with industry leaders on topics of special interest to youth. Participants have been selected via a region-wide essay competition, and ITU, in conjunction with sponsors, covered the full cost of their participation as part of our efforts to cultivate Asia’s next generation of ICT leaders.

The principal aim of the Youth Forum was to spur innovation and transformation within the information and communication technology (ICT) sector, particularly within developing countries, and to empower and prepare a new generation to take up the reins of leadership. An important objective of the Youth Forum was to help attract and groom future telecoms professionals within a global economy that already places high value on technology leaders.

A Youth Forum Declaration was presented to all of the delegates that envision a world where the digital divide has been bridged, where communication is a fundamental right, a world where we become closer in a global human network. The complete declaration is available here.

Helping Afghanistan and the World Communicate

ITU announced at ITU Telecom ASIA 2002 that it would provide emergency support to the government of Afghanistan in its efforts to restore its heavily damaged telecommunication and broadcasting infrastructure. The two-year agreement between Afghanistan and ITU will strengthen the country’s institutional competence to govern the sector.

His Excellency Mr Masoom Stanekzai, Afghanistan’s Minister of Communications said that his country "has moved backwards toward the stone age at a time when we need to enter the digital age and we need the assistance of an impartial international organization like ITU to ensure we again move forward in telecommunication development." A national framework is needed to "help Afghanistan leapfrog to the digital age and create an environment that will ensure our people have the right to access communications," added the Minister.

The flight of qualified persons during 24 years of war has resulted in a severe shortage of skilled staff in the country and ITU’s timely assistance will pave the way for a restructuring of the Ministry of Communications, equipping it to deal with governance issues on a day-to-day basis during the emergency phase and beyond.

In readiness for a large-scale deployment of wireless communication services, ITU will also play a role in the orderly planning and management of the national frequency spectrum, develop a national frequency plan, install a spectrum management system and put in place coherent licensing and assignment procedures.

Building Human Resource Capacity

During ITU Telecom ASIA 2002, ITU and Cisco Systems, Inc., announced a significant milestone in the ITU Internet Training Centre Initiative for Developing Countries (ITCI-DC). The initiative, a model for public-private partnership to bridge the Digital Divide, has now more than 26 centres worldwide. Significantly, 807 students currently enrolled in this Initiative are now armed with skills to face the challenge of the new economy. In the Asia-Pacific region, eight centres have been signed up with another four set to join by the end of the year.

ITU TELECOM

ITU Telecom events have an unprecedented track record in bringing together governments, industry, investors, operators and other key players in telecommunications. They also provide direct benefits to the developing world with surplus funds generated being used for telecommunications projects in the world’s developing countries.

The previous Telecom ASIA event, held in Hong Kong in 2000, attracted 28 450 trade visitors, 500 exhibitors from 29 countries, and 810 accredited media. Exhibition space comprised 27 896 m² including upper floors.

ITU Telecom ASIA 2002 Statistics are as follows*:

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* All figures correct as of close of business on Friday 6 December 2002. Figures for Saturday, 7 December 2002 (Public Day and last day of the event), were not available at the time of publication of this press release. As a matter of interest, the exhibition welcomed another 3547 visitors on that day, of which 1540 were trade visitors.