ITU GSR Regional Regulatory Roundtable and Regional Economic Dialogue for the CIS region
Opening Remarks
Ms. Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Director
ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau
15 June 2021
Excellencies, distinguished colleagues,
Representatives of ICT Ministries and Regulatory Authorities,
Welcome to the ITU GSR-plus Regional Regulatory Roundtable and Regional Economic Dialogue for the CIS Region.
Thank you Ms Mercy Wanjau, Acting Director-General of the Communications Authority of Kenya, and the chair of our Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR) 2021, for your support in our regional roundtables and economic dialogues in the lead up to the GSR core sessions next week.
I also extend a warm welcome to Mr Pavel Tkach, First Deputy Minister of Communication and Informatization of the Republic of Belarus and Mr Talant Kalykov, Director, State Communication Agency under the Ministry of Digital Development of the Kyrgyz Republic.
Thank you for joining us in this dialogue.
For reflection in our discussions, I wanted to touch on 3 issues:
(i) The realities in connectivity challenges in the region and the potential of regulation to redress them
(ii) The place for fit-for purpose regulation in a rapidly changing environment, and our corresponding initiatives to help strengthen regulatory and institutional frameworks
(iii) And the need for these dialogues at a global level, as we advance towards our goal of bridging the digital divide.
COVID-19 has highlighted the shared challenges all Member States face, and the urgent need to work together to enhance resilience through connectivity.
As most countries grapple with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, ICTs and digital services, and the infrastructure on which they ride, have proved vital to the continuation of economic and social activities.
Global and national leaders are now moving connectivity to the top of their agendas. We are seeing more conversations dominated by topics related to the development and deployment of ICT infrastructure.
Along with fit-for-purpose policy and regulation, ICT infrastructure is ultimately at the heart of this transformation and the predominant enabler of the future competitiveness and prosperity of the CIS region.
Looking at the last four years, the CIS region has shown impressive growth in most areas of ICT infrastructure, access, and use.
To give you a glimpse of the developments, let me share with you some figures that demonstrate this growth.
ITU statistics show that the region's mobile cellular coverage is 98.6 per cent.
Along with that, 88.7 per cent of the population is now within reach of a 3G signal and 80.8 per cent within reach of LTE mobile broadband signal.
The percentage of individuals using the Internet in the CIS region increased from 66.1 per cent in 2017 to 72.8 per cent at the end of 2019, with a similar rate of increase for households with Internet access at home.
There is a caveat.
While growth is generally evident, it is not evenly distributed because data shows that there is a persistent large rural/urban divide.
In the region, 72.1 per cent of the urban population has access to the Internet, yet less than half of rural households have such access.
With the COVID-19 crisis having highlighted the unrelenting digital divide, the urgency to reach those people who are still unable to connect to the Internet, is real.
In the context of the discussions at the upcoming 2021 Global Symposium for Regulators, it may be timely to re-examine and probe how ICT regulations can play a greater role in fast tracking connectivity.
How can we also direct attention to regulatory improvements necessary to spin the change that we want to see? And this brings me to my 2nd issue.
For the last 20 years, ITU's GSR has focused on helping countries optimize their regulatory strategies and to put in place fit-for-purpose regulatory frameworks which are key to successful digital transformation and to driving faster and more inclusive connectivity.
As the pace of digital transformation picks up, these effective regulatory approaches naturally gain importance in defining the path for growth.
ITU's ICT Regulatory Tracker and the new Benchmark of Fifth Generation Collaborative Regulation (G5 Benchmark) identify the broad tracks for regulatory development and pinpoint how countries can accelerate their progress.
As we have seen from the data, the CIS region's markets continue to experience healthy growth.
However, as observed during the Regional Preparatory Meeting for the World Telecommunication Development Conference, the regulatory frameworks in the region have not kept pace with the rapid evolution of the digital sector.
The 5th Generation regulation signals state-of-the-art digital policy frameworks – so far one CIS country has achieved G4 status, with the others at level 3 or below.
We will be sharing more on this today, and welcome your comments so that we can collectively help the region move faster in evolving regulatory frameworks.
Now to my last point, the discussions held during this roundtable provide a good ground for rich conversations not only at the GSR-21 which kicks off next week, but also for other discussions leading up to our next World Telecommunication Development Conference.
With global attention on the importance of connectivity, we have an unprecedented opportunity to use WTDC to dramatically redraw the roadmap for digital development.
Recognizing the vital role you all play in this field, I sincerely hope you will remain active in connectivity conversations and ultimately be a part of a landmark WTDC.
The region and the world at large is looking at us, to provide direction.
I know we can count on each other to harness the power of partnership and the catalyzing force of collaboration, to ensure meaningful connectivity for all.
I wish you very stimulating and fruitful discussions.
