| United Nations | E/CN.17/1996/20/Add.6 |
Economic and Social Council
Distr. GENERAL
29 February 1996
ORIGINAL: ENGLISH
COMMISSION ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Fourth session
18 April-3 May 1996
PROGRESS IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROGRAMME OF
ACTION FOR THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF SMALL
ISLAND DEVELOPING STATES
Report of the Secretary-General
Addendum
Development of communications in small island
developing States
CONTENTS
Paragraphs Page
INTRODUCTION ................................................ 1 - 5 4
A. Background ........................................ 1 4
B. Definitions ....................................... 2 - 5 4
I. WHY TELECOMMUNICATIONS ................................ 6 - 19 5
A. Telecommunications for overall development ........ 6 - 13 5
1. Trade and commerce ............................ 8 6
2. Rural development ............................. 9 - 10 6
3. Tourism ....................................... 11 7
4. Transport and communication ................... 12 7
5. Administration and good governance ............ 13 7
B. Telecommunications for environmental protection ... 14 - 15 7
C. Early warning and disaster mitigation ............. 16 - 18 8
D. Security .......................................... 19 9
II. PRESENT STATUS OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS IN SMALL ISLAND
DEVELOPING STATES ..................................... 20 - 53 9
A. Overview .......................................... 20 - 35 9
1. Africa ........................................ 25 - 26 15
2. The Americas .................................. 27 - 29 15
3. Arab States ................................... 30 - 32 16
4. Asia-Pacific .................................. 33 - 34 16
5. Europe ........................................ 35 17
B. Investment in telecommunications .................. 36 - 40 17
C. Introduction of new technologies .................. 41 - 45 18
General ........................................... 41 - 45 18
(a) Mobile cellular phones ........................ 42 18
(b) Internet ...................................... 43 19
(c) Cable television .............................. 44 19
(d) Other technologies ............................ 45 19
D. New policy options and opportunities .............. 46 - 53 19
General ........................................... 46 - 53 19
(a) Globalization ................................. 48 20
(b) Sector restructuring .......................... 49 - 51 20
(c) Technological change .......................... 52 - 53 21
III. PROBLEMS OF THE SECTOR ................................ 54 - 65 21
A. The problems ...................................... 54 - 58 21
B. Activities to address the problems ................ 59 - 65 23
1. Buenos Aires Action Plan ...................... 59 - 60 23
2. SIDSNET ....................................... 61 - 64 23
3. Other activities .............................. 65 24
IV. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ....................... 66 - 73 25
A. Conclusions ....................................... 66 25
B. Recommendations ................................... 67 - 73 26
1. To small island developing States ............. 67 - 71 26
2. To development partners of small island
developing States ............................. 72 - 73 26
INTRODUCTION
A. Background
1. The major outcome of the Global Conference on the Sustainable Development
of Small Island Developing States was the Barbados Declaration and the
Programme of Action. The Conference, unlike the United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development, held at Rio de Janeiro, specifically mentioned
telecommunications and its importance to this group of countries. The
Inter-Agency Committee on Sustainable Development subsequently named the
International Telecommunication Union (ITU) as the task manager for
telecommunications, with the task of reporting to the Commission on
Sustainable Development at its fourth session. The present report, which
contains an overview of telecommunications development in small island
developing States, examines its possible uses for sustainable development in
these islands and makes some recommendations for the future.
B. Definitions
2. Telecommunication is defined by ITU 1/ as any transmission, emission or
reception of signs, signals, writing, images and sounds or intelligence of any
nature by wire, radio, optical or other electromagnetic system.
Telecommunication transmission media include metallic cables, optical fibre
cables, terrestrial radio and satellite radio links. Telecommunication
services include telephony, telegraphy, telex, data communications, facsimile,
broadcasting (radio and television), and electronic mail.
3. With the advent of digital technology, there is an increasing merger
between telecommunication and computing, ushering in a maze of information
technologies with attendant new services, among which electronic mail -
Internet - is the fastest growing. The merger has caused the coining of a new
word in European usage - telematics - which is the application of computer
services to telecommunications.
4. Non-public applications include meteorology, civil aviation, maritime
communications, remote sensing, radar and telemetry, military etc., over which
ITU has a nominal regulatory role through frequency assignment and certain
transmission characteristics.
5. Mobile services, which were largely maritime in the past, have now
encroached upon land with cellular services and global land-mobile services
via fixed satellites or, soon, via low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites. There is
virtually no limit to the proliferation of new services, making
telecommunication and its associated information technologies the most
profoundly pervasive service in the modern information society for the twenty-
first century.
I. WHY TELECOMMUNICATIONS
A. Telecommunications for overall development
6. As is already apparent, the pervasiveness of telecommunications means that
it finds application in virtually every human activity. It is now
acknowledged as the engine for growth and development in the socio-economic
development of any modern economy. Consequently, ITU has upgraded its status
from a priority requirement to a basic human need, and from a catalyst to an
active element in the development equation. The right to communicate is a
basic human right, as ITU and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO) now plainly put it. For small island
developing States, the need for telecommunication services of all sorts is
more compelling, given their general remoteness, smallness and isolation.
7. That telecommunications and its information technologies are essential for
modern socio-economic development is now an accepted fact. The relationship
between telecommunications and socio-economic development has been a topic of
numerous studies in the past. Though the studies differ as to the exact
degree to which telecommunication contributes to economic development,
virtually all agree that there is a close relationship. The strength of this
relationship is evident in a graphic representation of gross domestic product
(GDP) per capita (as a surrogate for economic development) plotted against
teledensity (column 5 vs. column 7 of table 2), which is shown in the figure
for small island developing States. This relationship is drawn in the figure
as a straight line, but it is more accurately a non-linear relationship as it
appears easier to increase teledensity for low-income countries than for the
high-income ones. If this is true, it would suggest that telecommunication
investment brings higher social and economic benefits in the lower-income
countries than in the higher- income ones, at least in terms of benefits per
extra dollar spent.
Figure 1
Some developmental applications are briefly discussed below.
1. Trade and commerce
8. Modern trade and commerce requires rapid and at times interactive means of
communications. As news of world events and occurrences that affect trade now
travels faster or instantaneously, e.g., behaviour of economic indicator
variations in major currencies, take-overs and mergers, and disasters, it is
vital to be "plugged in" in order to take appropriate measures and
countermeasures as may be required. As the World Telecommunication
Development Report, 1995, published by ITU, states:
"Try to imagine an amount of money equal to US$ 2.3 trillion, larger
than the economies of most countries, moving through an electronic
network. That is the magnitude of electronic financial transactions which
travel over just one network every day. It is mind-boggling, but only one
example of the increasing flow of electronic information in the form of
telephone conversations, fax, electronic mail and television broadcasts.
This gigantic electronic wave illustrates the extent to which the world is
becoming more dependent on electronic communications, is altering
businesses, lifestyles and societies: children in Singapore use
radiopaging devices to stay in contact with parents, aborigines in
Australia sell paintings using videoconferencing, Brazilian banks offer
services over the Internet, French residents consult electronic telephone
directories to choose a plumber. From the dynamic to the mundane,
electronic information services cross cultures, languages and age
differences."
2. Rural development
9. Apart from tourism , it should be stressed that the overall socio-economic
development of most small island developing States is strongly related to
primary production, and that agriculture is the backbone of their economies,
providing the source of livelihood for the population as well as being a major
export earner. In view of the narrow natural resource base, its proneness to
disruption by natural disasters, the small range of primary product exports
and the limited local capital for productive investment, small island
developing States need to join forces for their development. In this regard,
communication and exchange of information becomes vital to their development.
Avenues are there for island economies if tourism and agriculture are linked.
Besides providing outlets for local agriculture and generating job
opportunities in crafts and service sectors, fulfilling certain conditions
(e.g., strict hygiene rules, guaranteed agricultural commodity, supplies in
quality and quantity) requires a reliable communication system.
10. Telecentres or telecottages in rural areas provided on a communal basis
not only offer the basic services such as telephony and fax but also reception
centres for broadcasting services (radio and television) as well as telematic
services and mass media. UNESCO and ITU have established many such pilot
activities for overall rural socio-economic and cultural development,
education, health, agriculture and tourism.
3. Tourism
11. Tourism and associated service industries are major contributors to the
GDP of most small island developing States. Hotel reservations, tour
operators and international travel services all require a sound
telecommunication network at both local and international levels. No hotel
can acquire a four- or five-star status without being endowed with
ultra-modern telecommunication services, including a global news channel and a
business centre. Service industries represent more than 50 per cent of GDP in
small island developing States, of which telecommunications contribute, on
average, 3.3 per cent (Sao Tome and Principe, 10.9 per cent; Barbados, 8.5 per
cent; Kiribati, 6.5 per cent; Saint Kitts and Nevis, 9.6 per cent).
4. Transport and communication
12. Transport and communication services are increasingly reliant on good
telecommunication systems for their efficient operations and management. Road
and water public and private transport systems must be equipped with mobile
telecommunication services to maintain a competitive edge, as well as to
enhance their safety and security in regions of often hostile climatic
conditions. In civil aviation, special air control communication is a
mandatory requirement, without which the safety of aircraft and lives of
airfarers would be jeopardized.
5. Administration and good governance
13. Efficiency in the administration and management of both public and
private sector institutions, enterprises and concerns is enhanced by the
present-day telecommunication services and information technologies, without
which these activities would be severely bottlenecked and would probably grind
to a halt. In national administration and capacity building, the government
authorities in urban areas would find information technologies essential for
communication with remote areas and islands. Telecommunications, electronic
media and a vibrant press nurture democracy and good governance. The large
diversity of sources and applications now makes it hard for dictators to
control and manipulate the communications media as had been done the past.
Good governance enhances sustainable development, which seeks to optimize the
benefits of existing resources and to create new ones for present and future
generations.
B. Telecommunications for environmental protection
14. The surveillance and monitoring of limited natural resources (water,
forests, minerals, biological diversity etc.) is facilitated by special
applications of telecommunications facilities in remote sensing, radar and
telemetry. The ITU Plenipotentiary Conference, held at Kyoto, Japan, in 1994,
adopted resolution No. 35, which commits the Union to accelerating the use of
telecommunication technologies for the protection of the environment in
pursuance of the ideals set out in Agenda 21. For small island developing
States with relatively tiny land areas, the protection of their environment is
all the more crucial to assure sustainable development for present and future
generations.
15. Measures to protect the environment, to use natural resources more
efficiently and to promote sustainable economic development have been among
the key issues of the 1990s. The 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro served
to focus the attention of the world on the future of our planet. The Global
Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States
specifically called for the use of telecommunications to help meet the ideals
of Rio in this area. The telecommunication sector is playing its part in this
process in a number of ways, including the following:
(a) By transporting information, in written, spoken, visual and electronic
forms, telecommunications provides a viable substitute for the transport of
goods or people. It is invariably more energy efficient and less polluting to
move information. Videoconferencing can provide an alternative to long-
distance travel; telecommuting, an alternative to commuting to work; and fax
offers an alternative to postal services. Of course, the level of direct
substitution will never be close to 100 per cent. Nevertheless, as tariffs
for telecommunication services fall and congestion in transport networks
rises, the equation is moving in favour of the former;
(b) Telecommunications can help directly in environmental programmes. For
instance, telemetry (remote sensing and measurement) systems help in
monitoring pollution levels, in assessing the size of the gap in the ozone
layer, or in measuring traffic flows. Similarly, telecommunication systems
are increasingly being used in programmes designed not only to monitor changes
but actually to intervene, for instance in flow control systems for
irrigation, in urban heat-recycling schemes or traffic management systems;
(c) Telecommunication manufacturers and operators are implementing their own
environment-friendly programmes. For instance, these and other examples show
how the telecommunication sector can play its part in achieving sustainable
development for the benefit of mankind. Nevertheless, telecommunications
development is not necessarily benign. Cellular radio transmitters and
satellite dishes can blight urban environments. Unbalanced deployment of
telecommunication networks can serve to reinforce the competitive advantage of
urban areas over rural areas, thus speeding up processes of unplanned
urbanization and accentuating differences between the information rich and the
information poor.
C. Early warning and disaster mitigation
16. Most of the small island developing States are geographically located
within the tropical zone where they lie exposed to seasonal climatic
conditions of a catastrophic nature such as cyclones, hurricanes, typhoons and
tropical storms. Satellites can now track these weather formations on a
continuous basis and early warning can be given in good time on television,
radio and other special networks to populations in the path of such a menace.
There are also early-warning systems on drought, deforestation,
desertification, flooding and insect (locust) infestation, which are vital in
agriculture and the environment.
17. The ITU Plenipotentiary Conference, held at Kyoto in 1994, adopted
resolution No. 36, which calls for further studies designed to bring about
intensified application of new telecommunication technologies for early
warning, preparedness, disaster management and reconstruction in accordance
with the ideals formulated under the auspices of the International Decade for
Natural Disaster Reduction (see A/50/521) and the Tampere Declaration on
Disaster Communications.
18. Telecommunication is also applied in agriculture to avoid disasters of
serious food deficits which may lead to widespread famine. The Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has been operating, since
1975, a Global Information and Early Warning System on Food and Agriculture
(GIEWS), in which about 10 small island developing States participate. The
principal objectives of the System are to monitor continuously food supply/
demand conditions, identify where food shortages are imminent and assess
possible emergency food requirements with a view to disseminating in a timely
manner information necessary for policy makers and operational relief
agencies. Information is vital to warn where shortages may occur and how big
they may be in order to prevent a crop failure causing widespread famine.
Although measures are in place to improve the quality and flow of data from
developing countries to the System, greater commitment from countries in
providing the required information (on a voluntary basis) would contribute to
producing more accurate analyses of the supply/demand situation.
D. Security
19. Many small island developing States are remote and isolated, which makes
them susceptible to external aggression or even internal destabilization. The
Comoros has been subjected to more than a dozen coups or coup attempts.
Seychelles and Sao Tome and Principe have gone through this experience, as
have some other small island developing States. The existence of good
international telecommunication services tends to deter such action, as
Governments can quickly call for assistance from friendly nations.
Psychologically, good external telecommunication services help reduce the
sense of isolation, as the islands feel they are part of a global village when
plugged into a global information infrastructure. For archipelagic States,
aerial surveillance of their huge exclusive economic zones (EEZs) against
foreign illegal fishing is considerably enhanced by good intra-island
telecommunication services.
II. PRESENT STATUS OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS IN SMALL ISLAND
DEVELOPING STATES
A. Overview
20. In general, most small island developing States are relatively well
served by telecommunication networks and services. However, there are large
disparities between regions and among countries. The measure of
telecommunication accessibility or penetration - teledensity - is expressed in
the number of main lines (ML) per 100 inhabitants. A similar ratio of radio
or television receivers expresses the density of radio receivers or TV sets.
Table 1 shows the average densities of these services in small island
developing States against regional and world averages. With the exception of
the Americas and the Asia-Pacific regions, whose figures are distorted by very
high values in North America and Japan, all other groups of small island
developing States are ahead of their respective regions. Table 2 shows the
basic indicators in small island developing States, including teledensity.
Teledensity is today considered one of the more accurate indicators of the
socio-economic development of a country, perhaps more so than GDP per capita.
Table 1. Main line and television densities in small island
developing States, 1994
ML density TV density
GROUP SIDS Region World SIDS Region World
Africa 7.71 1.67 11.60 4.00 4.00 21.70
Americas 7.51 27.90 " 22.4 42.3 "
Asia-Pacific 16.31 21.72 " 20.70 28.60 "
Arab States 24.77 4.36 " 41.90 11.40 "
Europe 44.95 31.95 " 38.90 38.90 "
21. The reasonably good state of telecommunications in small island
developing States is mainly attributable to the fact that it is relatively
much easier and cheaper to implement a telecommunication network over a small
area than over huge expanses of land where long terrestrial trunk routes
and/or domestic satellite links add considerably to unit cost. In addition,
larger populations tend to keep teledensities lower. But in no way should the
commendable effort that the small island developing States have made to
develop their networks be played down.
22. Small island developing States forming an archipelago or composed of
atolls such as Maldives and the Marshall Islands have special problems in
providing full access to all the populated and widely dispersed islands.
Solutions usually involve submarine cable and terrestrial radio and satellite
systems to interconnect the islands. Under these circumstances, it is evident
that the cost of providing services in these islands is higher than that for a
single small island.
Table 2. Basic indicators
Population GDP
Small island Total Density Total Per
developing (millions) (per km2) (billions capita
States 1994 1994 of US$) (US$)
1993 1993
Cape Verde 0.38 94 0.3 815
Comoros 0.49 260 0.2 470
Mauritius 1.10 592 3.1 2 799
Sao Tome and Principe 0.13 130 0.0 318
Seychelles 0.07 181 0.4 6 366
Africa 2.17 238 4.2 1 866
Antigua and
Barbuda 0.07 147 0.5 6 867
Aruba 0.07 360 0.8 b/ 12 274 b/
Bahamas 0.27 20 3.1 11 523
Barbados 0.26 607 1.6 6 280
Cuba 10.95 96 16.2 c/ 1 537 c/
Dominica 0.07 95 0.2 2 715
Grenada 0.09 267 0.2 2 436
Jamaica 2.43 213 3.8 1 590
Netherlands Antilles 0.20 247 ... ...
Saint Kitts and
Nevis 0.04 157 0.2 4 712
Saint Lucia 0.15 236 0.5 3 145
Saint Vincent and
the Grenadines 0.11 285 0.2 2 140
Trinidad and
Tobago 1.29 252 4.6 3 575
United States
Virgin Islands 0.10 303 1.3 c/ 13 048 c/
Americas 16.10 108 33.3 2 152
Cook Islands 0.02 81 ... ...
Fiji 0.77 42 1.7 2 219
Kiribati 0.08 113 0.0 b/ 490 b/
Maldives 0.25 826 0.2 958
Marshall Islands 0.05 29 ... ...
Micronesia, Federated
States of 0.11 77 0.2 1 773
Nauru 0.01 514 ... ...
Niue 0.00 8 ... ...
Papua New Guinea 4.21 9 5.1 1 227
Singapore 2.82 4 575 55.1 19 214
Solomon Islands 0.37 12 0.2 708
Tokelau 0.00 16 ... ...
Tonga 0.10 140 0.1 1 543
Tuvalu 0.00 398 0.0 d/ 1 212 d/
Vanuatu 0.17 11 0.2 b/ 1 171 b/
Samoa 0.17 59 0.1 b/ 916 b/
Asia-Pacific 9.12 17 63.0 7 035
Bahrain 0.55 830 4.0 e/ 7 724 e/
Arab States 0.55 830 4.0 7 724
Cyprus 0.73 79 6.7 b/ 10 821 b/
Malta 0.36 1 151 2.4 6 671
Europe 1.10 115 9.1 9 278
Total 29.0 41 113.6 4 036
Main telephone lines
Small island Total Per 100
developing (thousands) inhabitants
States 1994 1994
Cape Verde 18.6 4.87
Comoros 4.3 0.88
Mauritius 129.4 11.72
Sao Tome and Principe 2.5 1.97
Seychelles 12.5 17.08
Africa 167.2 7.71
Antigua and Barbuda 19.2 a/ 28.86 a/
Aruba 21.0 a/ 31.34 a/
Bahamas 76.2 a/ 28.64 a/
Barbados 87.0 33.35
Cuba 350.0 3.20
Dominica 16.7 23.52
Grenada 21.0 22.83
Jamaica 250.5 10.31
Netherlands Antilles 50.0 a/ 25.54 a/
Saint Kitts and Nevis 13.6 33.16
Saint Lucia 25.0 17.24
Saint Vincent and
the Grenadines 17.2 15.47
Trinidad and Tobago 203.8 15.78
United States
Virgin Islands 59.0 56.52
Americas 1 210.2 7.52
Cook Islands 4.8 25.59
Fiji 59.5 7.71
Kiribati 1.9 2.50
Maldives 11.9 4.82
Marshall Islands 3.0 5.69
Micronesia, Federated
States of 7.2 6.74
Nauru 1.7 15.74
Niue 0.5 25.00
Papua New Guinea 40.0 0.95
Singapore 331.7 47.26
Solomon Islands 6.0 1.64
Tokelau - -
Tonga 6.5 6.60
Tuvalu 0.5 5.04
Vanuatu 4.4 2.68
Samoa 7.8 4.62
Asia-Pacific 1 487.4 16.32
Bahrain 135.9 24.77
Arab States 135.9 24.77
Cyprus 330.4 45.02
Malta 162.9 44.80
Europe 493.3 44.95
Total 3 493.9 12.04
Source: ITU, United Nations, International Monetary Fund, World Bank,
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Note: Three dots (...) indicate that data are not available.
a/ 1993.
b/ 1992.
c/ 1989.
d/ 1990.
e/ 1991.
Table 3. Telecommunications investment
Telecommunications investment
Small island Total Per inhabi Per
developing States (millions tant (US$) main
of US$) 1994 line
1994 1994
Cape Verde 4.6 12.1 248
Comoros 0.9 c/ 1.6 217
Mauritius 33.5 30.3 259
Sao Tome and Principe 0.4 3.3 165
Seychelles 7.9 108.4 634
Africa 47.3 21.4 283
Antigua and Barbuda ... ... ...
Aruba 23.7 b/ 354.4 1 164
Bahamas 31.2 b/ 119.1 392
Barbados 22.6 c/ 87.1 274
Cuba 38.1 b/ 3.5 113
Dominica 5.2 b/ 72.1 378
Grenada ... ... ...
Jamaica 114.8 c/ 47.5 550
Netherlands Antilles ... ... ...
Saint Kitts and Nevis 2.5 60.5 182
Saint Lucia 18.5 127.6 740
Saint Vincent and
the Grenadines ... ... ...
Trinidad and Tobago 36.0 27.8 177
United States Virgin Islands ... ... ...
Americas 292.6 19.0 297
Cook Islands
Fiji 15.6 b/ 20.8 314
Kiribati 0.0 1.2 49
Maldives 8.0 32.6 677
Marshall Islands 10.3 c/ 197.9 4 474
Micronesia, Federated
States of 7.7 71.7 1 064
Nauru ... ... ...
Niue ... ... ...
Papua New Guinea 98.5 b/ 24.3 2 701
Singapore 342.5 121.5 257
Solomon islands 1.6 c/ 4.7 310
Tokelau ... ... ...
Tonga 1.5 b/ 16.4 275
Tuvalu 1.5 c/ 160.0 9 975
Vanuatu ... ... ...
Samoa ... ... ...
Asia-Pacific 487.3 57.0 336
Bahrain 48.6 88.7 358
Arab States 48.6 88.7 358
Cyprus 75.4 102.7 228
Malta 8.0 22.1 49
Europe 83.4 76.0 169
Total 959.2 34.5 297
Small island As a As a
developing States percentage percentage
of revenue of GFCF a/
1994 1993
Cape Verde 21.9 5.7 b/
Comoros 19.7 2.3
Mauritius 49.4 6.7
Sao Tome and Principe 15.8 0.9
Seychelles 28.2 6.2
Africa 38.2 6.3
Antigua and Barbuda ... ...
Aruba 49.6 ...
Bahamas 25.9 ...
Barbados 16.3 6.8 d/
Cuba 12.1 ...
Dominica ... ...
Grenada ... ...
Jamaica 51.6 16.6 d/
Netherlands Antilles ... ...
Saint Kitts and Nevis 11.8 2.0 b/
Saint Lucia ... ...
Saint Vincent and
the Grenadines ... ...
Trinidad and Tobago 24.1 2.9
United States Virgin
Islands ... ...
Americas 26.5 9.1
Cook Islands
Fiji 35.3 7.5 b/
Kiribati 3.1 0.4 b/
Maldives 54.1 ...
Marshall Islands 249.2 ...
Micronesia, Federated
States of 100.3 14.2
Nauru ... ...
Niue ... ...
Papua New Guinea 75.2 9.7 b/
Singapore 14.9 1.6
Solomon islands 17.4 2.7 d/
Tokelau ... ...
Tonga 59.7 ...
Tuvalu 728.5 ...
Vanuatu ... ...
Samoa ... ...
Asia-Pacific 19.3 2.0
Bahrain 21.2 ...
Arab States 21.2 ...
Cyprus 47.7 3.1 b/
Malta 10.1 1.0
Europe 35.2 2.6
Total 22.7 2.7
Source: ITU.
Source: ITU.
Note: Three dots (...) indicate that data are not available.
a/ Gross fixed capital formation.
b/ 1992.
c/ 1993.
d/ 1991.
23. Table 3 shows investment per main line and confirms the significantly
higher cost for dispersed groups of islands (Maldives, Papua New Guinea, the
Marshall Islands etc.). Comparison with non-island States of similar wealth
shows that the cost of providing services in the small island developing
States is only slightly higher, principally owing to economies of scale
enjoyed by the larger countries.
24. A review of the regional perspective is given in the paragraphs below.
1. Africa
25. Africa's small island developing States (with the exception of the
Comoros) have much higher teledensity than the average for the continent,
which stands at 1.67. Mauritius (11.72) and Seychelles (17.08) have higher
accessibility than the best-connected mainland State, South Africa, which has
a teledensity of 9.48. Both Mauritius and Seychelles, which are already
poised to become information societies in the twenty-first century, are
endowed with novel services, including mobile cellular phones and radio
paging, Internet and direct satellite broadcasting. Mauritius also benefits
from the French TV programmes destined for the island Re'union. In
Seychelles, intra-island communications within the archipelago is assured
through terrestrial (submarine cable and radio) links.
26. There are no subregional groupings that involve all of the African small
island developing States. All the five islands will, however, be linked
directly by the proposed Africa-One optical fibre submarine cable around
Africa, which will give all African coastal States access to the global
information infrastructure and the information superhighway. The Pan-African
Telecommunications Union (PATU) is mandated to harmonize the development of
telecommunications in Africa. The Regional African Satellite Communications
System (RASCOM) will facilitate the extension of reliable telecommunication
services to remote and sparsely populated parts of Africa, including the
African small island developing States.
2. The Americas
27. The Americas small island developing States are concentrated in the
Caribbean subregion, which has linguistic, cultural and historic cohesion.
Telecommunication operators are fully or partly owned by Cable and Wireless
(C and W) of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland or
France Telecom. C and W has helped develop the eastern Caribbean fibre
system, which will inter-link these countries and pave the way for cable
television and other advanced new services in the region. A number of
Caribbean small island developing States are exploiting their location and
English language by developing information-processing centres for North
American firms. More than 25 information-processing firms operating in
Jamaica are linked by advanced communication facilities to clients in Canada
and the United States of America. In Barbados, the Government has identified
informatics as one of the areas with the greatest potential for generating
foreign exchange and jobs. The Barbados Investment and Development
Corporation has created Project Infotech 2000 to promote and market the
services of local information companies such as electronic publishing,
software development, computer-aided design and geographic information
systems.
28. The average teledensity of the Americas small island developing States
of 7.51 compares well with that of the Economic Commission for Latin America
and the Caribbean (ECLAC) region, although the inclusion of the United States
and Canada raises the Americas' average teledensity to 27.92. The Virgin
Islands have the highest teledensity among the Caribbean small island
developing States.
29. The Americas region has addressed the issue of information
infrastructures at the Summit of the Americas in December 1994, where 34 heads
of State met to discuss a variety of issues, including telecommunication and
information infrastructures. They recognized that a country's information
infrastructure is an essential element in political, economic, social and
cultural development and agreed to promote private sector investment,
competition and flexible regulatory regimes, and to ensure universal service.
The Organization of American States Inter-American Telecommunications Centre
(CITEL) was identified as the body that should prepare a work programme to
evaluate regulatory, technical and legal issues to assist the countries of the
region to achieve an information infrastructure.
3. Arab States
30. Bahrain, the only small island developing State in this region, has a
well-developed telenetwork with a teledensity of 24.77, which is well above
the region's average of 4.36. The Government is promoting the island as an
information technology centre in the Gulf. Information technology is being
spread through the government, industry, banking, education, insurance and
commerce sectors spearheaded by the Bahrain Computing Forum. Batelco, the
national public communication operator, is working with the country's
information technology industry to develop interactive networked multimedia
applications.
31. The present network is highly modern; it offers facilities that equal,
and in some cases even surpass, the facilities offered in areas traditionally
perceived as being ahead of the Middle East, such as Europe. All national and
international switches on the island are digital. The national switches
became 100 per cent digital in 1991 and the international switches became
digital in 1993. All the national trunks connecting all the exchanges on the
island are digital, constituting a fibre optic cable that forms a ring around
the island connecting the exchanges. There is one satellite Earth station
with three dishes: for the Atlantic Ocean Region (AOR), the Indian Ocean
Region (IOR) and Arabsat. There is an analogue submarine coaxial cable
linking Bahrain to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, and a fibre optic
submarine cable linking Bahrain to Saudi Arabia. A high-capacity fibre optic
submarine cable for Gulf States (FOG) is planned to link Kuwait, Bahrain,
Qatar and the United Arab Emirates in the near future. Bahrain has
international distance dialing service to more than 200 countries.
32. The country also boasts other services such as data communications and
international database access services, maritime communications, paging
services, voice mail, mobile cellular phones, trunked mobile radio service,
Internet and the Integrated Digital Services Network (ISDN). Bahrain Radio
participates in search and rescue operations in the Gulf area.
4. Asia-Pacific
33. There are 15 small island developing States in this region, most of
which are located in the Pacific subregion. They are characterized by very
small populations; only Singapore and Papua New Guinea have populations
exceeding 1 million, while eight have less than 200,000, among which Nauru and
Tuvalu have just 10,000 each. Six of these small island developing States are
least developed countries. Their average teledensity is 16.31, boosted mainly
by Singapore (47.25), Cook Islands (25.59) and Niue (25.00). Singapore has by
far the most advanced telecommunication network among the Asia-Pacific small
island developing States, more developed in fact than some of the networks of
the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Some
15 per cent of its subscribers have mobile cellular phones compared to an
average of 10 per cent for the high-income countries.
34. Regional organizations such as the Asia-Pacific Telecommunity (APT) and
the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum have been promoting the
information infrastructure concept. The APT group has identified areas such
as interconnection, open access, enhancement of value-added services, and
regulatory frameworks as important for information infrastructure development.
The APEC forum adopted the Bogor Declaration, which noted the critical role of
infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific region and the need to create, as soon as
possible, an information and communications network to connect the region to
achieve sustainable growth and equitable development. The first APEC
Ministerial Meeting on the Telecommunications and Information Industry adopted
the Seoul Declaration for the Asia-Pacific Information Infrastructure (APII),
setting out five objectives and 10 core principles to facilitate the
development of an APII. The principles extend the elements of the group of
seven industrialized countries to include the protection of intellectual
property rights and the construction of national infrastructures based on
their own reality.
5. Europe
35. The two European small island developing States, Cyprus and Malta, have
relatively well developed telecommunication networks by western European
standards. In Cyprus, there is a sharp contrast between the Greek and Turkish
parts of the island, reflecting the development gap between the two
communities.
B. Investment in telecommunications
36. Investing in telecommunication network development is a continuous
process to meet the growing needs of expansion and growth, replacement of old
technologies and developing the human resources and institutions required to
run the network and services. In 1993, small island developing States
invested a total of US$ 909 million on telecommunication development, of which
Singapore invested $338 million.
37. During the same year, small island developing States obtained
US$ 4,033 million as revenues from telecommunication operations, half of which
went to Singapore. This revenue accounted for between 2 and 10 per cent of
GDP in small island developing States, which is a significant contribution to
their economies. As these networks grew at an average rate of 7 per cent per
annum between 1984 and 1994 (cf., Africa, 8.6 per cent; Europe, 4.8 per cent;
Asia-Pacific, 6 per cent), the need for faster growth and the introduction of
new technologies and services, as well as the early retirement of old systems,
means that small island developing States will need to increase their
investment levels by more than 50 per cent during the next decade to pave the
way for the information society of the twenty-first century. Table 3 shows
investment in telecommunication in small island developing States. During the
period 1994-2000, small island developing States are expected to invest a
total of US$ 4.5 billion, or US$ 562 million annually. This projection is
based on the annual growth rate in main lines and in population over the past
eight years. An average cost of US$ 1,500 per main line is used.
38. While small island developing States import most of the
telecommunication equipment they use, some do manufacture and export
telecommunication equipment, notably Singapore, which exported US$ 3,980
million worth of equipment in 1994.
39. More than 70 per cent of telecommunication investment is internally
generated, while multilateral and bilateral assistance makes up the rest. The
World Bank provides about 5 per cent of telecommunication investment financing
to developing countries. With increasing privatization, the private sector is
expected to displace Governments as the main source of financing for
telecommunication development. But it will be some time before there is a
scramble to finance telecommunication investment in small island developing
States and traditional sources should continue unabated. ITU meanwhile has
just created its own organization - WorldTel - to finance telecommunication
development for the least developed networks, mainly in least developed
countries. Some small island developing States may gain access to loans from
WorldTel.
40. There is evidence that those countries that have privatized their
networks and introduced competition have seen a sharp rise in private sector
investment and faster expansion of their networks. Cyprus is a good example
among the small island developing States.
C. Introduction of new technologies
General
41. New technologies have come about owing to digital techniques that have
facilitated a merger between telecommunications and computing, generating what
is popularly known as information technologies. The network to carry the new
information services is ISDN, narrow or wide band. The global information
infrastructure will essentially be an ISDN with virtually unlimited capacity
to carry voice text and video or multimedia services. Some of these new
services are briefly described below.
(a) Mobile cellular phones
42. Mobile cellular phones have been introduced in 18 small island
developing States, with a total of 320,300 subscribers in 1993: Singapore,
having 229,200; Jamaica, 26,100; Cyprus, 22,900; and Mauritius, 5,700, being
the other significant users. Digital global systems for mobile communications
(GSM) cellular systems are quickly gaining preponderance well above the
earlier analogue types. Other than telephones, cellular radios could provide
radio paging and data transmission. The near future has promise for global
mobile services via satellite and many small island developing States will
spearhead their introduction and proliferation.
(b) Internet
43. This is the fastest growing service today, with Singapore, Cyprus and
Jamaica being the principal users in 1994. Figures for 1995 will show a
staggering increase in both the number of subscribers and the number of
countries plugged in.
(c) Cable television
44. Multi-channel cable TV to the home has been gaining penetration in
cities in developed countries in recent years. Aruba is one of the small
island developing States in the lead in this area. In Singapore, the
fibre-to-the-home project, which will carry cable TV among a host of services,
started in 1991 and is scheduled to be completed in 2005. This will give ISDN
quality circuits for an unlimited range of services to and from the home.
Other small island developing States are meanwhile enjoying direct TV from
satellites beamed to their regions. A dish and receiving equipment, and in
some cases a decoder, are required to gain access.
(d) Other technologies
45. Other new facilities and services that small island developing States
are using or will be applying include packet date switching, intelligent
networks, smart services, ISDN, optical fibre cable networks, direct satellite
broadcasting, telemedicine, teleshopping, telebanking, tele-education,
telecommuning, interactive television and high-definition television, among
other things.
D. New policy options and opportunities
General
46. Although the development gap between the haves and the have-nots remains
wide, there is evidence that the faster main line growth in developing
countries will lead to a substantial bridging of this gap during the next two
or three decades. This will make the achievement of the missing link target
possible, that is, by the early part of the twenty-first century, nearly all
of mankind should be within easy reach of the telephone and services that
accompany it. The new developments under way in many countries, and the new
spirit of partnership are all reinforcing synergistic factors that will
accelerate telecommunication development in developing countries.
47. In the present environment, the principal ingredients contributing to a
more rapid telecommunication development are globalization, restructuring and
technology.
(a) Globalization
48. Globalization may be defined as the apparent shrinking of our planet
Earth through the preponderant universal and readily accessible transport and
communications offerings, in particular the telecommunication and information
services provided largely by transnational operators and service providers.
Globalization gives birth to the idea of a "global village", which conjures up
the picture of a vast, worldwide communication network of interconnected
satellite, land and undersea cable links, enabling the rapid transfer of
voice, data and image traffic. But the "global village" is still very much in
the making as the majority of the world's population does not have the
resources or the infrastructure to access communication networks. Yet, the
technological capability to reach distant places via microwave, cable or
satellite is a reality and the expanding web of communications by land, sea
and air, spurred by the dramatic growth in international voice, data and image
traffic, brings us ever closer to a true village.
(b) Sector restructuring
49. Sector restructuring is changing the nature of the telecommunications
industry from a public utility service supplied under a natural monopoly to a
multi-service, multi-supplier, multimedia market. The role of Government is
shifting from one of direct provision of services to regulation. The
character of the public telecommunication operator has changed from being a
government department to an independent commercial entity. An increasing
number of countries have gone further in liberalizing the equipment supply
market, in introducing competition, particularly for mobile, data and
value-added services, and in privatizing the public operator. Over the next
decade, private ownership may become the norm rather than the exception in
telecommunications, and in many countries the public telecommunication
operator will be the largest national firm, with a stock market listing. But
if the benefits of these changes are to be passed on to the consumer, as well
as to the shareholder, the role of the regulator will need to become more
important.
50. Over recent years, a new environment of economic reform and structural
adjustment has swept through the developing world, which has invariably
affected small island developing States. In the telecommunications sector,
because of the intrinsic monopolistic tendencies of national public
telecommunication operators, reforms restructuring, liberalization and
privatization have been more urgent than ever. In most small island
developing States, for historical reasons, the telecommunication entities were
owned or partly owned by a foreign operator emanating from a former colonial
Power, such as Cable and Wireless of the United Kingdom.
51. With sector restructuring and privatization gathering pace, private
investment will increase as Governments divest. In this environment it is of
paramount importance that Governments establish a strong and efficient
regulatory framework, something akin to the Federal Communications Commission
of the United States of America, to ensure that the new maze of
telecommunication activities is properly regulated. The regulatory entity
would have to take the following steps in relating to the private sector:
(a) Promote competition;
(b) Encourage private investment;
(c) Redefine universal service;
(d) Regulate for the benefit of the user;
(e) Favour regulatory convergence;
(f) Require open access;
(g) Accelerate the stands-making process;
(h) Encourage public telecommunications operators to price access not
usage;
(i) Liberalize private networks;
(j) Nurture local content developers.
(c) Technological change
52. Technological change has transformed the industry over the past decade
and the pace of change shows no evidence of slowing down. Three major
developments - digitalization, mobility and bandwidth - mean that the industry
in 1995 is virtually unrecognizable from that of 1985. The exchange of
information in digital form is breaking down the barriers that have
traditionally existed between the telecommunications industry and its close
cousins - computing and broadcasting - that together comprise the electronic
information industry. The development of mobile communications has opened up
a new cycle of investment, market entry and service innovation, which has
created a new industry in its own right. The provision of bandwidth based on
fibre optic and satellite technology, together with the enormous leap forward
in data compression technology, is fundamentally altering the type of service
that can be offered and the way in which those services are tariffed.
53. The three factors or ingredients above contribute in a synergistic way
to accelerating the pace of telecommunication development. They offer new
opportunities and options from which small island developing States and other
developing countries will benefit.
III. PROBLEMS OF THE SECTOR
A. The problems
54. In general, the telecommunications sector in the developing countries is
encumbered with underinvestment, poor management owing to monopolistic
structures and inadequate human resources development, poor maintenance of
equipment and networks, low penetration of services, particularly in the rural
areas, high tariffs owing to lack of competition and relatively higher unit
costs for provision of services. The current environment is particularly
evolutionary and inherently complex, ushering in a new problem of policy
choice, for instance, whether to privatize, what technology to adopt, how much
to invest. Small island developing States suffer from one or more of these
problems.
55. Equipment maintenance problems are often aggravated by poor planning and
unorthodox installation practices. Recent hurricanes Luis and Marilyn caused
severe damages in Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica and Saint Kitts and Nevis;
less seriously affected were Barbados and Saint Thomas (United States Virgin
Islands). Local distribution cables hanging awkwardly between poles were easy
victims to hostile winds, falling trees and other flying missiles. Normal
practice in cities is to have such cables buried in ducts. Any system that
helps in early warning against disasters should itself be secured from such
disasters.
56. Human resources development is becoming increasingly expensive, owing in
part to the rapid change in technology and techniques and the requirement for
a higher calibre of trained personnel. Foreign-owned public
telecommunications operators have often hidden this problem by employing
expatriates, but they must now come to grips with training indigenous
personnel.
57. Although globalization has been cited as one of the factors promoting
rapid telecommunication development, the paradox is that globalization is a
double-edged sword which can become a problem, especially for the weaker,
smaller public telecommunication operators, which have not been able to
quickly embrace globalization and the information revolution it brings.
Instead of consolidating and taking off, the weaker networks may in fact
become marginalized.
58. There is also a real risk that the information revolution will
exacerbate the gap between the information poor and the information rich.
This will have serious implications; in the future, access to information will
more directly affect the welfare of individual citizens. It may determine
opportunities for work, education or medical treatment. For this reason,
public policy makers must continue to insist upon goals of universal access
and affordability, wherever possible. In the absence of such a vision, much
of the investment needed to create new services is likely to be targeted at
wealthy neighbourhoods, at the expense of the urban poor and those in rural
areas. Some degree of cross-subsidization may be necessary, from
international services to national services, for example, or from mature
markets to new services. However, it is important to ensure that
cross-subsidies do not interfere with the operation of normal market processes
or create havens where competitive market entry is disabled by unfair pricing
strategies on the part of incumbent network operators.
B. Activities to address the problems
1. Buenos Aires Action Plan
59. The World Telecommunication Development Conference, held at Buenos Aires
in March 1994, promulgated the Buenos Aires Action Plan, with a core of
12 programmes designed to address priority and problematic areas in the
development of telecommunications in the developing countries. The programmes
are as follows:
1. Policies, strategies and financing;
2. Human resources management and development;
3. Guidelines for the elaboration of a business-oriented development
plan;
4. Development of maritime radio-communication services;
5. Computer-aided network planning;
6. Frequency management;
7. Improvement of maintenance;
8. Mobile cellular radio telephone systems;
9. Integrated rural development;
10. Broadcasting infrastructure;
11. Information services;
12. Development of telematics and computer networks.
60. In addition to the 12 core programmes, regular world and regional
development conferences (held every four years) will develop global policies
and regional strategies, while study groups will study specific questions of
concern to the developing countries and make recommendations thereon.
2. SIDSNET
61. The problems of access to telematics facilities for development-oriented
activities were treated in the joint ITU/UNESCO study entitled "The right to
communicate: At what price?" and subsequently taken into account in both the
Buenos Aires Action Plan (programme 12) and the Barbados Plan of Action
(SIDSNET).
62. ITU and UNESCO initiated a pilot project on access to telematics
facilities in the Caribbean region, which started in 1995 with support from
six other international organizations (Commonwealth of Learning (COL),
International Council for Scientific and Technical Information (ICSTI), ITU,
Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) and UNESCO). This project is considered as a test bed for the future
SIDSNET.
63. The concept of a pilot project to demonstrate cooperative principles for
improving this situation was developed during a joint mission and was refined
and approved at a regional seminar held at Port-of-Spain on 22 June 1994. The
idea of twinning one or more of the countries belonging to the Organization of
Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) with a more advanced neighbour such as
Barbados was seen as a promising possibility and was followed up through
additional contacts with potential co-sponsoring agencies and further study of
the needs in Barbados, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines by
surveys of potential participating institutions.
64. In February 1995, a second mission representing UNESCO and ICSTI was
fielded, in collaboration with ITU, to assess recent developments and the
commitment of concerned national and regional organizations, and to finalize
plans for the pilot project. The mission's findings indicated an increased
awareness about telematics, in particular the Internet, as well as a plan in
advanced stages by Barbados External Telecommunications (BET) to offer full
Internet services. They also confirmed the strong potential interest of all
organizations consulted to participate in the implementation of the pilot
project.
3. Other activities
65. There are a large number of ongoing projects and activities in various
disciplines in small island developing States, including the following:
(a) ITU is cooperating with the Pacific Forum to provide human
resources development workshops and seminars for small island developing
States in Oceania;
(b) In the Caribbean, current activities include:
(i) ITU is collaborating with the Caribbean News Agency (CANA), UNDP and
UNESCO on the establishment of a regional satellite news network;
(ii) Cable and Wireless has inaugurated the Eastern Caribbean Fibre
System (ECFS) for 14 countries, while the Western Caribbean Fibre
System (WCFS) will be completed by 1996;
(iii) A seminar has been organized by the International Maritime Satellite
Organization (INMARSAT) in conjunction with ITU, the Caribbean
Telecommunication Union (CTU) and the Caribbean Association of
National Telecommunications Organizations (CANTO) on mobile
satellite communications. A workshop on telecommunication policy
issues was being sponsored by ITU and CTU;
(iv) Under programme 9 of the Buenos Aires Action Plan, ITU is preparing
to undertake pilot studies on rural telecommunications in Guyana,
Haiti and Suriname;
(v) Disaster communication issues are being handled by ITU in close
cooperation with the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency
(CDERA);
(vi) The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is
contributing in various ways to telecommunication improvements in
small island developing States, for example, tropicalization of
equipment, establishment of maintenance centres, remote sensing and
geographic information systems, fishermen's safety at sea and
Internet connectivity.
IV. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
A. Conclusions
66. From the analysis above, the following conclusions can be made:
(a) Telecommunication is essential for the socio-economic development of
any country. It directly contributes to a country's GDP, is a lifeline to
other service industries and is of crucial value added to the non-service
industries;
(b) Small island developing States as a group have reasonably well-
developed networks, with network penetrations much ahead of the average for
developing countries. Yet there remains plenty of room for further growth and
improvement in most small island developing States. Even for the advanced
networks in the United States Virgin Islands, Singapore and Malta no
saturation of traditional and new services is on the horizon;
(c) Overwhelming global trends, namely, globalization, liberalization
and revolutionary technological advances, are together enhancing
telecommunication development. Small island developing States must take
advantage of this scenario, while ensuring that they create an adequate
regulatory entity to assure harmonious growth of an increasingly complex and
rapidly changing industry;
(d) While small island developing States need to cooperate with one
another, they must also maintain and strengthen their communications and
business links on a regional and subregional basis with their bigger
neighbours on the continental shelf, as well as with development partners
abroad;
(e) Most small island developing States are located in the tropical
zone, which is exposed to hazardous climatic conditions. Small island
developing States, therefore, need to develop special networks for disaster
communications for the purposes of early warning, public education and
disaster mitigation. Studies also need to be undertaken in pursuance of
Agenda 21 ideals to harness the immense power of information technologies for
environmental protection.
B. Recommendations
1. To small island developing States
67. Small island developing States should consider closer cooperation among
themselves to pool their resources and strengthen their bargaining positions.
This is difficult because of the wide geographical spread of these States.
However, within certain regions such as the Pacific and the Caribbean, there
are sufficient small island developing States and other developing countries
to act together in areas such as joint training and pooled equipment
purchases. They should also take advantage of existing cooperative regional
and international telecommunication activities, as well as new projects and
institutions such as WorldTel.
68. Governments of small island developing States should give high priority
to rural telecommunications in order to bring about easier access to
telecommunication services by rural populations. Governments need to define
clear universal service objectives and specify how, within the prevailing
conditions, they can be achieved. Policy makers may consider asserting
pre-conditions for the franchising or privatization of lucrative services,
such as mobile communications or international services, for example by
stating obligations to develop rural telecommunications in the licence
conditions of new operators.
69. Small island developing States should increase their investment in
telecommunications development in order to increase the penetration of basic
telecommunications in the country as a step towards achieving universal
availability of those services and to facilitate the introduction of new
services for the information society of the twenty-first century.
70. Small island developing States should endeavour to develop special
networks on a cooperative subregional basis for (a) disaster communications;
(b) environmental protection; and (c) other telematic services on Internet for
specific concerns of small island developing States in tourism, agriculture
and other activities that are crucial for their sustainable development.
71. Where public or private telecommunications monopolies still exist, it is
strongly recommended that steps be taken to create a competitive environment
through restructuring and liberalization of service provision and market
access.
2. To development partners of small island developing States
72. Development partners should assist small island developing States in
identifying the best ways and means of securing financial assistance from
different sources. This could be done through organizing investment seminars
for small island developing States to help raise funds for telecommunication
investment. There needs to be mutual understanding of the requirements and
obligations of each party (country, development partners, private sector).
This will help small island developing States to adopt a long-term strategy to
make their telecommunication sectors self-sufficient.
73. Multilateral donor agencies, such as the World Bank and the regional
development banks, should focus a higher proportion of their overall lending
on small island developing States and should be more systematic by funding a
series of projects over a number of years to remedy the present uneven pattern
of investment. The development banks should work together to develop a common
set of criteria to be used when evaluating potential projects.
Notes
1/ The International Telecommunication Union is the United Nations
specialized agency responsible for the regulation, standardization and
development of telecommunications worldwide. Created on 17 May 1865, it is
the oldest organization in the United Nations family.
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