Uganda

Mr. Chairman,
Your Excellencies, Ministers, Ambassadors and High Commissioners,
The Secretary General-ITU,
Deputy Secretary General, ITU
The Directors of BDT, TSB, BR,
Heads of Delegation,
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen

I bring warm greetings from the government and people of Uganda to you all distinguished delegates.

The government of Uganda is extremely grateful to the government of Mexico for hosting the Plenipotentiary Conference 2010 and for the warm hospitality accorded to the delegates since our arrival. We are also thankful to the ITU for the wonderful organization in ensuring the success of this conference.

Mr. Chairman, I wish to take this opportunity to congratulate Dr. Hamadoun Toure, Mr. Houlin Zhao, and Mr. Malcom Johnson, upon their reelection to the respective posts of Secretary General, Deputy Secretary General and Director Telecommunication Standardization Bureau. Please accept our heartfelt congratulations. We look forward to your continued good leadership of the Union.

We are pleased that the Plenipotentiary Conference 2010 will consider issues that are indeed pertinent to us in Uganda, such as;

• Emergency telecommunications for Africa region

• Assistance to countries in special need

• Cyber security

• Broadband and infrastructure development

• ICT and climate change and

• Review of International Telecommunications Regulations

Mr. Chairman, since 1998, Uganda has had a technology neutral licensing regime, which has brought forth a number of opportunities. As in the rest of the African continent, Uganda has witnessed a rapid expansion of mobile telephony connectivity. To date, our modest achievements in the ICT sector have impacted positively on the economy by creating direct and indirect socio economic benefits to our people.

The critical issue now is for us to build on these achievements in the communications sector so as to implement a range of policies which promote an integrated ICT infrastructure for Uganda.

Distinguished delegates, l wish to underscore the commitment of the government of Uganda to establish priorities in the creation of a Ugandan Information Society in a globalized world where information and knowledge are utilized to empower all levels of society especially our people in rural so as to create a win-win situation.

Uganda pioneered in Africa the development of a policy on universal access to communications, leveraged through a rural communications development fund covering both telephony and ICT. I am delighted to inform you that since its launch in 2003, the Rural Communications Development Programme has largely been successful with a significant number of our people living in rural areas getting access to basic ICT services.

We have also made significant progress in the transition towards digital TV broadcasting. We have covered significant phases of our road map and are confident that we shall meet our target of December 2012 for the switch over. Similarly, ever since Uganda got connected to the undersea cable in 2009, the government has continued to roll out the national back bone infrastructure throughout the country in order to leaverage on the enormous opportunities presented by the broad band connectivity. I am therefore confident that our targets of meeting the MDGs through ICTs will be realized.

At the global and regional scene, Uganda has continued to play a critically active role in various capacities. Uganda currently chairs the East African Communications Organization (EACO) which brings together regulators, telecommunication, broadcasting and postal operators in the region. These regional initiatives aim at removing barriers to private investment by harmonizing our policies in ICT. Uganda also holds the position of Vice Chair to ITU Study Groups 13 and 17 and has over the years played host to a number of ITU meetings. We believe, at this point in time Uganda is ready again to contribute to the development of the sector through the ITU Council. I therefore wish to re-iterate my Government’s request to your Excellencies to support our candidature for election to the ITU Council representing region D.

Your Excellencies, Uganda will on Saturday 9th October commemorate her 48th Independence anniversary. In addition to our invitations already delivered to your Excellencies, let me take this opportunity to make this reminder and say that we look forward to your joining us as we celebrate on Saturday at 6pm at the Intercontinental Hotel.

I wish all delegates fruitful deliberations.

Thank you.