Federated States of Micronesia

1
Federated States of Micronesia

• APT-ACA Workshop on Capacity Building for Pacific
  Island Countries
• 6-9 January 2004, Suva, Fiji

2
Over View of Presentation

• Country Profile
• FSM Telecom Corporation
• Regulatory Environment
• Telecom Licensing in the FSM
• Conclusion

3
Country Profile

• Population Over 100, 000 (395 person p/sq. m)
• Average Household size.6 person p/hh
• Median Age..18.9
• Land Area. 1 million Sq.m (607 islands)
• GDP230 Million(USD)
• GDP per capita 2,157(USD)
• Telephone Density. 8.02 overall
• Telephone Lines..12,000/11,000 subscribers
• Internet/Cellular Subscribers..2,000/4,000
• Bandwidth for Internet.7 Mbps

4
FSM Telecom Corporation

• (1983) Public Corp. mandated by law as sole
  telecom service provider.
• 5 Members Board of Directors with
  Representatives from each of the 4 State Govts.
  and 1 from the National Government.
• National policies objectives and planning
  responsibilities was built into its charter  To
  operate on a commercially acceptable practices
  and plan for the expansion and improvement of
  services/facilities including expansion into the
  remote islands and unserved areas, in a manner
  consistent with commercial reasonableness to
  promote economic development, the advancement of
  education and health and the preservation of the
  diverse cultures in the FSM
•    

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• Current Services
• Telephony (PSTN)
• Telcard System
• Internet
• Cable TV
• Cellular (GSM)
• GSM/Internet (Ulithi island)

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• International Digital Interconnectivity via
  Intelsat
• KDD (Japan)
• ATT, MCI, ITE and Sprint(Guam, Hawaii,
• USA)
• Domestic via satellite (4 FSM States)
• Future Plan
• Broad band connectivity ( via submarine fiber
  
• cable)
• Universal Access to outer Islands( via V-SAT
• System)

7
Regulatory Environment

• Secretary (Minister) of the Dept. of
  Transportation, Communications and Infrastructure
  is responsible
• For all telecommunications matter in the FSM
  including radio communications. Also
  responsible for memberships in internl. and
  regional Orgs. ITU, APT and the Pacific Island
  Forum.
• Chairman, Communication and Information
• Policy Advisory Committee (CIPAC),
  created
• in 2002 to advice the President on
  ICT
• development regarding telecom
  policies.
• Division of Communications (under the
  Department)
• is responsible to the Secretary for
  all Telecommunications
• matters including management of
  Spectrum and
• Licensing.

8
Policy and Regulatory Issues

• Pricing At present, FSMTC sets its own tariff
  rates. Legislative initiatives must be taken to
  review existing laws to define the
  responsibilities of regulatory functions to
  redefine current power and responsibilities
  mandated to FSMTC in 1983.
• Universal Access to basic telephone lines and
  Internet. Government priority to connect all
  schools, health clinics and the community at
  large at affordable cost.
• Competition in Telecommunications Services
  While FSMTC must remained a monopoly, Government
  believes it eventually should open market niches
  as Internet cyber cafes, private network
  provisioning and wireless communications.

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Telecom Licensing in the FSM

• Secretary of the Department of Transportation,
• Communication and Infrastructure is the
  Licensing
• Authority.
• The Division of Communications is delegated the
  responsibility to manage and administer the Radio
  
• Spectrum, including the processing of all
  licenses.
• Management of the Radio Spectrum is a
• National Government responsibility.

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• All radio equipment must be licensed to operate
  anywhere in
• the FSM (VHF, UHF, HF and Amateur including
  radio
• broadcasting stations ). Duration of radio
• station licenses is1 year.
• At present, FSM Telecom is not required a
  license for its
• satellite terminals, because of their monopoly
  mandate.
• Satellite Receivers are not required licenses.

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Conclusion

• At present, FSM lack the policy and regulatory
  framework for Telecom licensing requirement.
• A draft telecom policy paper addressing telecom
  sector reform was currently submitted to the
  Secretary of TCI for his review and action.

12
Thank You