Highlights in March

World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC–02) ends on high note

The all-important WTDC–02, hosted by the Government of Turkey, ended on 27 March 2002 with the adoption of a multi-pronged Action Plan underlining the leading role which ITU can play in bridging the digital divide, and a Declaration that enshrines a shared vision of the future development of telecommunications worldwide (see our Special Report). Several other highlights from WTDC–02 are summarized below (see www.itu.int/newsroom/wtdc2002/releases.html for full details).

Top policy-making ITU conference all set for Marrakesh

An agreement was signed on 20 March 2002 between the International Telecommunication Union and the Government of Morocco to host the sixteenth ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in Marrakesh from 23 September to 18 October 2002. The signing ceremony was held at the Istanbul Conference and Exhibition Centre during WTDC–02 with the Secretary of State in charge of Post, Telecommunication and Information Technologies, Nasr Hajji and ITU Secretary-General, Yoshio Utsumi. Morocco is the first Arab country to be selected as the venue for such a major ITU event since the inception of the Union in 1865.

ITU and Alcatel launch contest for African youth

In an agreement concluded between ITU and Alcatel on 19 March 2002, participants in the highly acclaimed Youth Forum at ITU TELECOM AFRICA 2001 have been invited to enter a contest to propose ways of promoting Internet in their country as an extension to universal access. This contest is only open to the 84 university-age youth who attended the Johannesburg event hosted by ITU in November 2001. A committee composed of representatives of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) and Alcatel will select the best three proposals. In addition, winners will each receive prize money to the tune of EUR 5000 towards their present or future studies. Winners who have completed their studies will be offered an internship, one scenario being for them to work on their own project.

Norway pledges contribution to support ITU in bridging the gender divide

The Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communication has pledged a financial contribution to reinforce BDT’s gender-based activities. This announcement was made at WTDC–02 on 22 March 2002 by Eva Hildrum, Director-General of Posts and Telecommunications at the Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications. In a paper to WTDC–02, Norway underscored the importance of a gender policy in telecommunication restructuring and planning for developing countries. Encouraging the strategic development of medium, small or micro-sized telecommunication businesses run by, or specifically targeted for, women is recommended as an effective means of providing access to communications for under-served and lower-income areas and populations.

Global telephone access improves as Internet gap widens

According to World Telecommunication Development Report 2002: Reinventing Telecoms, ITU’s landmark report launched at WTDC–02, the latter half of the 1990s saw the sharpest rise globally in the rate of telecommunication network growth recorded since the 1950s. Investment in infrastructure exceeded USD 200 billion in 2000. This new report also indicates that while the gap between developed and developing countries in telephone lines is closing, another divide is opening up in the availability and quality of Internet access. The new digital divide is not just about the number of access lines, but also about the quality of the experience. One notable development is that the world’s least developed countries surpassed the important threshold of one telephone subscriber per 100 inhabitants in the year 2001, due in large part to competition in mobile cellular markets. The report points the way for planners to reinvent access to services (see new pull-out in the centre pages of this issue entitled Policy and Strategy Trends).

Bhutan to serve as test bed for ITU’s E-Post venture with the Universal Postal Union

ITU and UPU have agreed on a three-year joint project that will bring e-mail and e-post services through post offices in the developing world. The Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan will be the first country to benefit from this project unveiled on 26 March in an agreement signed during WTDC–02 by Hamadoun I. Touré, BDT Director and Thomas E. Leavey, Director-General of the Universal Postal Union. Bhutan Post and Bhutan Telecom will act as joint national executing agencies in the new initiative, which foresees the establishment of simple kiosks in 38 postal facilities capable of being connected to local telephone exchanges. About 20 of these offices are agency and community mail offices scattered in remote and isolated areas across the country. Community mail offices cater to the postal needs of a village, and are often run by a local teacher, a government employee or simply, a literate person in the village.