The Address of Dr' Amr Badawi, NTRA Executive President

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(No Transcript)
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A Converged Egypt

• The Address of Dr. Amr Badawi, NTRA Executive
  President
• to the
• Convergence of ICT and Broadcasting
  Conference'Regional Prospective and
  Opportunities'Sharm El Sheikh, 19th of May, 2006

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Contents

• Introduction
• Convergence at a Glance
• The Converged Telecom Scene
• The Impact of Convergence on Regulation
• The Convergence Roadmap
• Convergence Challenges
• Issues for Debate

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Introduction

• Egypt possesses a number of comparative
  advantages which positively positions it as a
  promising market for ICT and Media convergence
• infrastructure
• talented ICT professionals
• efficient service providers
• empowering regulatory framework.
• Content is a key word in the convergence game.
• Egypt has always been, and continues to be, the
  leading source of culture and entertainment in
  the Arab world.
• Egypt could become an exporter of content to the
  Arab world consequently economies of scale could
  be achieved.

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Convergence at a Glance

• So what is convergence?
• In a nutshell, it is the ability to provide
  a range of services (voice, data, and
  broadcasting) over a single network (triple
  play).
• Examples
• Voice over IP, which makes very low and flat rate
  calling plans possible.
• Television over IP, which provides much more
  flexible access
• Radio over IP, which enable users to listen in
  real time or on demand
• Convergence is being applied to many fields
  commerce, education, health, publishing, and
  manufacturing, etc.

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Convergence at a Glance (cont..)

• It has changed many aspects of our everyday life
  the way we communicate, the way we access content
  and entertainment, the way we make our purchases,
  even our own mobility.
• A phone is no longer used for merely exchanging
  conversations, but also for watching movies,
  listening to MP3s or even watching and listening
  to the finals of the World Cup, live.
• The NTRA has been active in convergence
• Cooperation between MCIT and RTU (Radio and
  Television Union)
• VoIP
• BGAN

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The Converged Telecom Scene

• Since its introduction, convergence has had a
  profound impact on the telecommuncation field and
  media sector, dramatically changing its
  infrastructure, services and overall environment.
  
• Infrastructure
• - digitalized
• Competition
• diversity of service providers and offers
• low and affordable prices
• wide range of complementary services
• Innovation
• new services
• new business models
• new devices
• content creation industry to support demand
• local loop unbundling

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The Converged Telecom Scene (cont..)

• Examples
• Gradual shift to VoIP and VOB (Voice over
  Broadband) now almost 15 of voice traffic is
  through VoIP.
• CATV (cable TV) systems are now offering video on
  demand, broadband access and voice telephony.
  Consequently, CATV operators are now competing
  with telecom operators.
• The current trend in several parts of the world
  is for service providers to offer triple play
  service bundles in inclusive packages (ex.
  monthly)
• There is a steady growth in 3G networks and
  wireless broadband services

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The Impact of Convergence on Regulation

• Convergence is reshaping regulation and policy
  and raising several implications
• Convergence is leading to a rise in the number of
  wireless services, which in turn raises the need
  for spectrum management reform.
• Convergence entails revisiting current licensing
  regimes and favors regimes that are
  technologically neutral.
• Convergence might lead to the broadening of
  certain market definitions, with the result that
  several narrowly defined markets are replaced by
  a single more broadly defined market.
• Convergence may pose a threat on the industry if
  it induces mergers of large scale operators and
  drives out small local operators.

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The Impact of Convergence on Regulation (cont..)

• Access to communication channels and access to
  content
• New issues of competition and monopoly
• Privacy, security, IPR
• A transition from monopoly/oligopoly direction to
  maximizing participation via open access
• Target is not technological neutrality, but
  maximum development of all technology services
  advantages
• Maximum opportunities for competing firms to
  achieve public interest goals
• Maximum stimulation to market development through
  both private and public participation

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The Convergence Roadmap

• For any country to successfully integrate
  convergence into its communication and media
  sector, it must develop the following convergence
  pillars
• Technical
• 1) Digitalized Infrastructure
• - Broadband
• - Wireless and mobile technologies
• High-speed backbone networks
• 2) Digitalized Media Content
• - DRM
• - DAM

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E. The Convergence Roadmap (cont..)

• Regulatory
• - Conducive Market Conditions (supply, demand,
  competition)
• - Technological Neutrality
• Intellectual Property Rights and GATS agreement
• Business
• Encourage investment
• More service providers
• Diverse services options
• Digital content creators

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F. Convergence Challenges

• Political and Legal
• Law restrictions
• National security considerations
• Politically acceptable
• Business
• Must find feasible business models
• Revenue from customers and advertisers
• Evidence of demand is still very unclear
• Which firms have the expertise to make profits in
  these areas? (telecom co. vs. content
  providers)
• Social
• Socially acceptable content
• Literacy (traditional and ICT literacy)

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F. Convergence Challenges (cont)

• Economy
• Income levels
• low GDP per capita
• misdistributions of wealth within countries
• Spending capacity
• Are people willing to spend on entertainment?
  And if so, how much?
• Infrastructure
• which networks are best and cheapest?
• availability of electricity
• availability of computers
• availability of telecommunications networks
• availability of investment

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G. Issues for Debate

• Convergence is raising a wide array of regulatory
  and legislative issues that should be addressed
  by both policy makers and regulators
• The need to
• - encourage investment
• - lower market entry barriers
• Policy should
• ensure competitive markets
• encourage the provision of better and cheaper
  services
• - be responsive to market changes updated upon
  need
• Need to avoid regulatory arbitrage and
  gamesmanship
• Reducing the digital divide Universal Service

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G. Issues for Debate (cont)

• Is the trend of institutional convergence (the
  example of Ofcom) really the best way to address
  Convergence?
• Are current telecom or ICT regulators competent
  to regulate content?
• Can content regulation be avoided?
• What is the most effective role for national
  telecom regulators?

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Thank Youabadawi_at_tra.gov.eg