| Serving up mobile at Regulatel conference |
|
|
| Written by Amy Mahan | |
| Friday, 08 December 2006 | |
|
The study was done by the Forum of Latin American Telecommunications Regulators (Regulatel), the World Bank, and the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). Representatives from about 25 different countries, including from more than half of Regulatel’s member country regulatory authorities (as well as regulators from Africa), private sector actors, researchers and members of policy advocacy groups convened on the outskirts of Lima, Peru on 27 and 28 November for Connecting the Future: Strategies to Reduce Telecommunications Access Gaps, two days of intensive plenary sessions and workshops to consider and comment on different aspects of the New Models for Universal Access in Latin America. Given the report's findings on the current state of universal access in Latin America, the conference provided an opportunity to build consensus on the final recommendations and paths forward. As shown in the two figures below, the Regulatel gap analysis model developed by the project team (see New Models for Universal Access in Latin America for a graphical depiction of the model and further discussion) indicates that there is a high persistence of access gaps for mobile coverage across the region.* The situation is worse for broadband, for which there is much lower penetration and much higher incidence of access gaps. Thus the strategies for moving forward are two-fold: to finish the project of connecting the region to ubiquitous mobile service; and then to connect the future – to build the foundations of information society infrastructure.
As documented in the table below, the problem of access gaps has been compounded by failure to disburse universal access funds. (NB: the reported 100% disbursement for Chile and Mexico is due to the fact that government funds were directly allocated to specific projects – rather than administered via universal access funds.)
Questions raised during the workshops on this theme considered:
No more "old wine into new bottles" Recommendations included:
Dialogue on Connecting the Future Bjorn Wellenius commenced a workshop on “Regulatory Policies to Promote Investment in Rural and Underserved Areas” with the list of items to be discussed under this theme, including: spectrum allocation, management and reform; VoIP; licencing; quality of service issues; pricing and interconnection; and shared access to infrastructure. The intention was only to discuss these different issues in order to identify their most important elements and to report these back to the plenary. In spite of very effective moderating, discussion only reached the first three items during the allocated time. Clearly there will need to be more opportunities to further strategise the weak points in achieving universal access throughout Latin America – especially in the context of a diverse and representative forum of stakeholders. The Connecting the Future conference affirmed the benefits of public / private partnerships in working towards new solutions. Considerable political will in this regard will still need to be invested in this process as traditional telephony paradigms become obsolete, and as new technologies, business strategies and ownership models create conditions for zero access gaps. * The Gaps Model results for cellular telephone access (coverage) figure has changed significantly since the draft publication has been made available. Version 4 of Chapter IV provided a figure illustrating an almost 90% average of coverage across the region. The figure used in this note (Version 5) shows a much less rosy picture.
Conference website: Connecting the Future: Strategies to Reduce Telecommunications Access Gaps Conectando el futuro, estrategias para acortar las brechas de acceso a las telecomunicaciones Conference Presentations and Reports (available in Spanish only) Acto Inaugural Ceferino Namuncurá – Presidente de Regulatel - Video Eloy Vidal – Banco Mundial / World Bank - Video Álvaro Díaz – CEPAL / ECLAC - Video Edwin San Román – Presidente de OSIPTEL - Video Ponencias Perspectivas para los Fondos de Acceso Universal en la era de la convergencia. Eloy Vidal – Banco Mundial - Presentación Resultados y Recomendaciones del Estudio. Peter Stern – Consultor - Presentación Las Brechas de Acceso y Eficiencia de Mercado en América Latina. David Townsend - Consultor - Presentación / Modelo en excel Panel de comentaristas José Pascual Gonzales – Consejero CMT (España) - Presentación Francisco Alderete Deneb – SUBTEL (Chile) - Presentación Cynthia K. Moncada – CONATEL (Honduras) - Presentación José Gallardo – OSIPTEL (Perú) - Video
Conference Workshops: Workshop 1: Telefonía Móvil y la Brecha de Acceso / Mobile Telephony and the Access Gap Workshop 2 : Soluciones a la Brecha de Acceso a Internet / Addressing the Internet Access Gap Workshop 3 : Modelos de Telecentros / Telecentres and Public Access Workshop 4 : Nuevas Tecnologías para extender la Cobertura / New Technologies to Extend Coverage and Services in Rural and Underserved Areas Workshop 5 : Diagnóstico y perspectivas de Fondos de Inversión / Assessment and Perspectives for Universal Service Access Funds Workshop 6 : Nuevos Modelos comerciales y de negocios / Innovative Business Models for Universal Access Workshop 7 : Experiencias de los operadores / Experiences from Industry Workshop 8 : Nuevas Estrategias de Financiamiento Innovadoras / Innovative Financing Strategies for Universal Access Projects Workshop 9 : Políticas regulatorias para la inversión en áreas rurales / Regulatory Policies to Promote Investment in Rural and Underserved Areas Panel de conclusiones Oscar Melgen – Gerente del Fondo para las Telecomunicaciones - INDOTEL (Rep. Dominicana) (Presentación) Ena Garland – Telefónica del Perú (Presentación) Richard Lander – Locust World - (Presentación) Pedro Jaime Ziller – Consejero ANATEL (Brasil) - (Presentación)
Edwin San Román – OSIPTEL - Video Eloy Vidal – Banco Mundial - Video Ceferino Namuncurá – Presidente de Regulatel - Video Cayetana Aljovín – ViceMinistra de Comunicaciones - Video
To consult the draft report: New Models for Universal Access in Latin America
For more information: Global Partnership on Output-Based Aid (GPOBA) Public Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF) United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC / CEPAL) |
In the words of Nobel prize winner Muhammad Yunus, "The quickest way to get out of poverty right now is to have one mobile telephone." However, according to the report New Models for Universal Access in Latin America, most of the region's poor will have to find another way out of their poverty. That was one of the conclusions of an international conference to discuss the findings of a two-year study of universal access programs and policies in Latin America.
community level initiatives including community telecom cooperatives, micro telcos, etc. and on using technologies creatively to make voice and broadband available in rural areas, and what regulators and universal access fund administrators should be doing to support them. 
