Toward a Strategic Plan for Telecommunications Services in

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Toward a Strategic Plan for Telecommunications
Services in CARICOM

• Hopeton S. Dunn, Ph.D.
• Director, Telecommunications Policy and
  Management Programme (TPM)
• Mona School of Business, UWI, Mona

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Overview of Presentation

• Status of Regional and Global Economy
• Definitions and Scope
• Global and Regional Trends in Telecom
• Telecommunications Landscape in CARICOM
• Regional Telecom Legislation and Policy
• Global and Regional Policy Framework
• Key Issues and Challenges
• The Strategic Planning Framework
• Approaches towards developing a CARICOM Strategy
• Closing Thoughts

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Image Source unicef.org
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Status of the Global Economy

• Global economic activity for 2009 still set to
  contract by 1.4
• In over 25 developing countries, investment
  growth in the final quarter of 2008 fell by an
  average of 6.9
• IMF has increased its forecast of growth rate by
  0.5 to 2.5 for 2010. However growth will be
  sluggish and uneven

Source Prospects for the Global Economy (2009).
A World Bank Publication . World Economic Outlook
(updated) (2009). IMF Publication
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Impacts of Economic Crisis on CARICOM Countries

• US and other major markets for CARICOM exports
  are now in recession
• Traditional exports (aluminum, oil, bananas,
  sugar and rice) suffering decreasing demand
• Overall major fall off in tourist arrivals (2009)
  
• Anguilla (-24.2)
• Antigua and Barbuda (-27.7)
• Barbados ( -17.4)
• Montserrat (-12.2)
• Cruise Ship passengers arrivals down (between
  2008 and 2009)
• Source Clegg (2009). The Caribbean and the
  Global Financial Crisis Implications for
  Domestic Politics and Foreign Policy Caribbean
  Tourism Organization

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Growth of Global Services Economy
Source http//diec.onene2dev.raki.enigmainteracti
ve.net/page/service_economy.cfm
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Growth of Services in Selected CARICOM Countries
Source CARICOM Regional Statistics
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Centre-Periphery Model

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Increased Competitiveness through Telecom Services

• Increased recognition and emphasis on Telecoms
  and ICTs as one of the major drivers of economic
  growth and development, with a focus on access
  and affordability, across the populace
• High voice telephony penetration but low Internet
  access and connectivity
• Recognition of the rapid contraction of
  conventional agricultural export crops and
  limited manufacturing production within the region

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Definitions and Scope - WTO

• At the WTO, Telecommunications Services defined
  based on two categories
• 1 - Basic Telecommunications include private and
  public services that involve end-to-end
  transmission of information and provided through
  a network infrastructure, including
• Voice telephone services
• Packet and Circuit switched data transmission
  services
• Telex and Telegraph Services
• Facsimile Services
• Private leased circuit services

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Definitions and Scope - WTO

• 2- Value-Added Services, where suppliers add
  value to the customer's information by enhancing
  its form or content or by providing for its
  storage and retrieval. Services include,
• Electronic Mail
• Voice Mail
• Online information and database retrieval
• Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)

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Definitions and Scope Telecom Services

• Telecommunications services must be recognized
  as not being limited to an industry, but as a key
  component to the development of other industries
  in the matrix of social and economic development,
  such as Manufacturing, Banking and Finance.
• Telecommunications services do not refer only to
  infrastructure and hardware but also to data,
  information and knowledge and the associated
  human resource skills that are required.

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Definition and Scope
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COMPETITION IN TELECOM SERVICES MAJOR TELECOM
PROVIDERS
Bahamas Flow (Cable Bahamas), BTC
Antigua Digicel, LIME
Haiti Digicel, Conatel Teleco Haitel
St. Kitts and Nevis Digicel, LIME, Orange
Belize Digicel, Belize Telecom Ltd. Speednet
Montserrat LIME
Dominica Digicel, LIME, Orange
Jamaica Flow, Digicel, LIME, Claro
St. Lucia Digicel, LIME Antilles Crossing
St. Vincent Digicel, LIME
Barbados Digicel, LIME TeleBarbados, Antilles
Crossing
Grenada Digicel, LIME, Flow
Trinidad Digicel, Flow, TSTT, Laqtel
Guyana Digicel, GTT, Cel Star
Suriname Digicel, Telesur, RTBG
Adapted from Stern, 2006, Promoting Investment in
ICTS in the Caribbean. Updated where information
is available
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Global and Regional Trends in Telecoms

• Communications intensive economies, with high
  demand for new, mobile technologies in support of
  the increasingly culturally based service
  economy
• Increased demand for bandwidth to satisfy
  connectivity needs
• Moves towards regional harmonization in regional
  policy and planning and
• Increased telecommunications and ICT investments
  in the region since 2000

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Global Advancements in Telecom

• Focus on mobile broadband and 3G / 4G services
• Increasing demand for high-end wireless
  technologies such as WiMax, mobile video
  calling/conferencing

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Next Generation Networks (NGNs)

• Rapid growth and demand for NGN services which
  afford the convergence of a host of services on
  the computer, laptop, netbook or mobile phone
  including
• Media services
• Real time e-transactions and other business
  services
• Mobile marketing
• GPS / GIS and Security services
• Social Networking and virtual gaming

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Telecommunications Landscape in CARICOM

• Countries are at different stages on the ICT
  development continuum

Source Nurse. L.A. PhD. Digital Diaspora Network
for Caribbean and ICT Development in CARICOM
countries, 2003.
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Telecommunications Landscape Digital Access
Index, ITU, 2003
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Other Digital Indices

• Countries ranked in the Economist Intelligence
  Units E-Readiness Index, 2008
• Jamaica 49th 5.17
• Trinidad and Tobago 50th 5.07
• Digital Opportunity Index (ITU, 2007)
• Barbados 27th
• Jamaica 55th
• Trinidad and Tobago 59th
• St. Vincent 69th
• Grenada 71st
• St. Lucia 73rd

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Preliminary SWOT Analysis
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• The most important factor that led to Americas
  stunning success in information technology was
  not the free market but government regulation
  These actions opened the door to competition and
  lower prices. More important, they changed the
  industrys structure, replacing monoliths with
  smaller, specialised companies which have to work
  with others with complementary skills. The result
  has been tremendous innovation.
• Economist.com. June 2, 2009

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REGIONAL TELECOM LEGISLATION AND POLICY (1)
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REGIONAL TELECOM LEGISLATION AND POLICY(2)
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Re-Thinking Regulation

• Legislation dated with many Acts and Laws
  governing the telecom sector pre-dating Telecom
  liberalization in many states
• Legislation to address convergence of sector with
  Information Technology and media and its
  interactions with financial sector
• Other severely outdated laws to be reassessed
  include
• Competition Laws
• Broadcasting and Cinema Laws
• E-Transactions and E-Government legislation still
  under development in a number of countries

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The Global Policy Framework
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The Regional Policy Framework

• CARICOM Connectivity Agenda
• Individually and collectively move towards
  expanding access to global knowledge and full
  integration with the knowledge society
• Modernization of the telecommunications sector
• Promoting and strengthening free and fair
  competition in telecommunications services
• Facilitating access to and usage of computers and
  software in our learning environments

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The Regional Policy Framework
Source Green Paper - Action Plan for
Telecommunications/ICT Services in CARICOM, 2007
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Key Issues and Challenges
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Policy, Legislative and Regulatory Framework

• Pace of development of policy, legislative and
  regulatory framework not equal across the region
• Non-harmonized approach except in a few areas
  e.g. Spectrum policy.
• Technological advances often outpace the rate of
  change of the framework

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Human Resource Requirements

• Developing a renewable cadre of skilled
  specialists in technology and policy of the
  telecoms sector
• Identifying training and development gaps as well
  as the opportunities to fill those gaps within
  the region collaboratively
• Expanding existing training facilities
• Facilitating OPEN ACCESS cross-regionally

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Infrastructure Requirements

• Redressing the digital divide through regional
  level connectivity infrastructure
• Adequate investments needed in providing
  affordable region-wide broadband coverage
• Some level of investment has taken place through
  foreign firms such as Digicel, Claro, Orange,
  Verizon etc.
• However, the cost of capital for indigenous firms
  to compete in providing telecommunications
  services at affordable prices to the end users is
  often prohibitive.

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Access to and Use of Telecommunications

• Mobile telephony penetration is growing at a
  rapid rate in the region
• However there is a slower pace of growth in the
  adoption of more advanced business-oriented
  technologies
• Challenges include
• Adopting regional policies that facilitate the
  move from basic telecommunications services to
  more advanced 3G applications
• Addressing pricing issues that make access and
  affordability of these services a deterrent to
  adoption

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Other Key Issues and Challenges

• Influencing global policy
• Un-coordinated regional participation in
  international processes, including WSIS, EPA, WTO
  discussions
• Missed opportunities to influence the global
  agenda
• Financing
• Enabling access to funding from indigenous
  financial institutions through tax incentives and
  otherwise
• Often unsuitable terms and conditions are
  associated with funding from multilateral
  agencies

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Other Key Issues and Challenges

• Sustainability and Environmental Issues
• Mitigating adverse effects, including
• carbon emissions, climate change, e-junk, etc.
• Regional Coordination / Cooperation
• Redressing the fragmented regional approach to
  telecom policy making with several institutions
  often with overlapping and confusing
  jurisdictions (CTU, CARICOM Division, CKLN)
• This also prevails at the national level in some
  cases

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The Strategic Planning Framework
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Organizational Implications

• Organized, co-ordinated CARICOM machinery and
  strong political will
• Common vision for telecommunications across
  CARICOM
• Public/Private sector/Civil Society partnership
  model
• Evidence-based policy making through Research and
  Development
• Mechanisms for measurement and evaluation of
  progress

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Approaches towards Developing a CARICOM Strategy

• Policy-Relevant Data Gathering
• Analysis of existing plans, strategies and
  policies on regional and national levels
• Review of key global policy documents
• Benchmarking with other regions on existing
  strategies and stages in development
• Region-wide Consultations

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Bridging the Digital Divide
E-Powering Jamaica
National ICT Strategic Plan 2007-2012 Prepared
for Central Information Technology Office
(CITO) Ministry of Industry, Technology, Energy
and Commerce, Government of Jamaica by Hopeton
Dunn Ph.D. and Evan W. Duggan Ph.D. Mona School
of Business UWI, November 2006
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National Development Plans

• Image Sources http//www.broadcastingcommission.o
  rg/documents/2007/Vision2030.pdf
• http//vision2020.info.tt/

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Desk Research

• Key documents for review and analysis
• Global, e.g. WSIS, GATS agreements
• Regional, e.g. CARICOM documents and other
  initiatives
• National, e.g. National Telecom/ICT Plans,
  National Telecom Policies and Regulations
• Statistical Indicators

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Benchmarking Analyses

• Analysis of existing national and regional
  strategies for telecommunications services in the
  developed and developing world including
• Europe
• South East Asia
• Africa
• Central America
• South America
• Also some countries Ireland, Ghana, South
  Africa, Malaysia, Costa Rica, US, UK

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Fieldwork and Primary Data Gathering

• Focus groups and interviews in a selection of
  countries
• e.g. Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad Tobago, ECTEL
• Online questionnaires and online forums for other
  major stakeholders across the region
• Data-gathering through network of in-country
  research coordinators

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Consultative Approach

• Intermittent drafts to be reviewed in 3-4
  consultations to be held at different locations
  in the region
• Jamaica
• Trinidad
• ECTEL

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Expected Outcomes

• Final Document must be the result of
  consultations with stakeholders at all levels
  across the region
• Will include
• Region-wide strategy with consideration of
  commonalities as well as the variations in the
  region
• Operational Plan with specific timelines and
  monitoring mechanisms

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Closing Thoughts

• A pro-active strategy for telecom services will
  require three key elements harmonization at all
  levels, co-ordination and co-operation among all
  stakeholders including governments, businesses,
  civil society and international and multilateral
  interests.

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Thank You!

• hopetondunn_at_gmail.com