Pacific Islands ICT Status Overview Dr Robert Guild Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat Suva, Fiji Th er e ar e 14 in depend en t an d self -g ov er nin

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1 Chapter2: ICT

2 Pacific Islands ICT Status Overview Dr Robert Guild Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat Suva, Fiji Th er e ar e 14 in depend en t an d self -g ov er ning island co un tr ies of th e Pacific: Co ok Island s, Federated States of Micr on esia, Fiji, Kiribati, Naur u, Niue, Palau, Papu a New Gu in ea, Repu blic of th e Marshall Island s, Samo a, So lo mo n Island s, Ton ga, Tuv alu, an d Van uatu. Th ese co un tr ies sp an th e eq uato r an d th e in tern atio nal dateline, acro ss 30 millio n sq uare kilo meters of ocean, with a to tal po pu lation of un der 8 millio n. Un derstand in g each co un tr y's un iq ue situ atio n is th e key to ICT sector an alysis, plan ning, an d po licy develo pmen t acro ss th e region. Th e so cio- econ omic ch ar acteristics of th ese co un tr ies vary widely, perh ap s mo re so th an in an y other region of th e wo rld. Nation al po pu lation s rang e fr om 1,50 0 in Niue to 5 millio n in Papu a New Gu in ea, with th e pr op or tion of peop le living in remo te ru ral ar eas rang in g fr om zero in Naur u to near ly 90 % in So lo mo n Island s. In co me levels differ by a factor of ten, with per capita GD P figu res rang in g fr om US $7 00 in Kiribati to ov er US $8,0 00 in Palau. Ed ucatio nal attain ment rang es fr om su b- pr imar y to po stgr ad uate degr ees earn ed at region al un iv er sities an d ab ro ad. Var iation s in th ese ch ar acteristics ar e ty pically wider with in co un tr ies th an betw een co un tr ies. Nation al ICT in fr astr uctu re is develo ping rapidly, bu t in mo st cases lags behind many other parts of th e wo rld. Alth ou gh has been av ailable fo r ab ou t ten year s to a few in stitutio nal user s th ro ug h su ch services as PEACES AT an d th e Un iv er sity of th e So uth Pacific's wide ar ea netw or k, tr ue In tern et access has beco me av ailable on ly recently, beginn in g first in in Fiji an d mo st recently in in Tuv alu. 22

3 Telep ho ne penetr atio n is generally go od in ur ban ar eas, bu t generally very po or in ru ral ar eas. Alth ou gh ur ban teledensities rang in g fr om ab ou t 20 to 60 per hu nd red po pu lation ar e lo w by glob al stan dard s, wh en ho useh old sizes an d so cial patter ns ar e taken in to co nsid er atio n near ly all ur ban residents have access to teleco mmun icatio n serv ices. Ru ral teledensities ho wever rang e fr om on e half to on e tenth of th ose in ur ban ar eas. Mo bile ph on es ar e in cr easing ly co mmon, bu t in mo st co un tr ies do no t yet ap pr oach th e levels of usag e seen elsewh er e. Ho wever, th e in tr od uction of pr ep aid cellular has led to an ex plosio n of gr ow th in mo bile cu stomer s in so me co un tr ies an d in Fiji, mo bile su bscr ib er s ex ceed ed fixed line su bscr ib er s in Fo ur Pacific co un tr ies have digital mo bile ph on e serv ices, th e remain der offer on ly an alog, an d on e co un tr y do es no t offer an y mo bile serv ices. On ly user s in Ton ga have a ch oice of carr iers fo r teleco mmun icatio ns, wh ile all other co un tr ies ar e serv ed by mo no po ly pr ov id er s fo r bo th do mestic an d in tern atio nal serv ices. Ap pr ox imately 25 % of Pacific island er s have regu lar access to ICTs, pr imar ily th ro ug h th eir wo rk places, a few seco nd ar y an d tertiary ed ucatio nal in stitutio ns, an d a few pu blic centres an d In tern et cafes. Th e nu mb er of In tern et su bscr ib er s rang es fr om ab ou t 1 in 5 in Niue (w here access is fr ee) to 1 in in So lo mo n Island s. User s in on ly th ree Pacific co un ties (P ap ua New Gu in ea, Samo a an d Ton ga) have a ch oice of In tern et Serv ice Pr ov id er s; wh ile user s in all other co un tr ies ar e serv ed by mo no po ly IS Ps. Fo r residential In tern et access, on ly Ton ga offers br oadb an d serv ices to user s, wh ile all other co un tr ies rely on dial-u p serv ices via th e pu blicly sw itch ed teleph on e sy stem. Fo r bu siness an d in stitutio nal user s, mo st carr iers offer In tern et serv ices an d virtual pr iv ate netw or ks via leased lines of vary in g band width. Fo r in tern atio nal serv ices, on ly Fiji an d Papu a New Gu in ea have su bmar in e cable link s to metr op olitan co un tr ies. All other Pacific island co un tr ies rely ex clusiv ely on satellites. 23

4 Ho wever, difficu lt ru ral to po gr ap hy an d small po pu lation s disp er sed on ou ter island s mean th at few peop le ou tsid e of nation al capitals can make a ph on e call, let alon e access th e In tern et. Near ly all In tern et user s ar e lo cated in capital cities an d a hand fu l of secon dary ur ban ar eas. Fu rthermor e, du e to vast distan ces, small mark ets, an d th e lack of econ omies of scale, impr ov emen ts ar e slow an d ex tr emely ex pensiv e. Th er e ar e ex ceptio ns - fo r ex ample, Co ok Island s has teleph on e access to all its ou ter island s - bu t fo r th e mo st part mo dern ICTs ar e an ur ban ph en omen on. In terms of affo rd ab ility, Pacific island er s ty pically face co nn ectivity ch arges th at ar e amon g th e high est in th e wo rld. Su bscr ip tion an d usag e ch arges fo r dial up access to th e In tern et rang e fr om US $3 to US $1 75 per mo nth, with an av er ag e of US $5 0. On an an nu al basis th is amou nts to on e qu ar ter to on e half of th e av er ag e an nu al per capita GD P in many co un tr ies an d is clearly un affo rd ab le by th e majo rity of peop le. Th e pr ice of fu ll-time In tern et access via a 64 Kb ps leased line varies mu ch mo re widely th an do es th at of dial-u p access, fr om US $7 00 to US $ per mo nth. Th ese pr ices ar e on av er ag e 5 times high er, an d rang e to as mu ch as 20 times high er, th an in AP EC develo ping co un tr ies. In stitutio nal use of th e In tern et is slow ly catching up with th e rest of th e wo rld, ex emplif ied by official ag en cy web sites offering repo rts an d in fo rmatio n, a gr ow in g on -lin e pr esen ce fo r bank s an d to ur ism op er ator s, limited on -lin e retail activity, an d distan ce edu cation offered th ro ug h th e Un iv er sity of th e So uth Pacific. Nevertheless, it is no t un co mmon fo r go vern ment departments to lack access to ev en basic , an d to co ntin ue to rely ex clusiv ely on fax an d ph on e serv ices. Th er e is on ly an ecdo tal ev id en ce of th e patter ns of usag e of ICTs amon g Pacific island er s. In th e larger an d better-o ff co un tr ies, In tern et access an d ar e co nsid er ed essential fo r pr of ession al use, pr imar ily fo r co rr espo nd en ce bu t in cr easing ly fo r co llab or ativ e wo rk an d access to glo bal in fo rmatio n. On e su rv ey in So lo mo n Island s sh ow ed th at ab ou t half of th e regu lar user s of th e pu blic In tern et cafe used to keep in to uch with fr iend s an d family ab ro ad, ab ou t on e qu ar ter were stud en ts lo ok in g fo r ed ucatio nal in fo rmatio n, an d one qu ar ter were bu siness 24

5 an d pr of ession al user s main tain in g co ntacts an d wo rk in g co llab or ativ ely. Th er e is gr ow in g aw ar en ess of th e need to en su re men an d wo men, girls an d bo ys, ar e in clud ed in th e develo pmen t an d use of ICTs to pr ev en t so cial an d econ omic ex clusio n an d facilitate un iv er sal access fo r ev er y Pacific island er. Ho wever, th er e ar e as yet no detailed gend er an alyses av ailable on issu es of access, ap plicatio n an d particip atio n. It is widely reco gn ised th at ad dition al reso ur ces, ed ucatio n, an d capacity bu ilding will need to take place simu ltan eo usly acro ss scho ols, no n- fo rmal co mmun ity pr og rammes, fo rmal ed ucatio n an d tr aining in stitutio ns, an d wo rk places to in cr ease gend er eq uity. Pacific island co un tr ies, in th eir dr iv e to embr ace mo dern in for mation an d co mmun icatio n tech no lo gies, face a sign if ican t nu mb er of co nstr aints. It is ev id en t th at th e high co sts of access an d eq uipmen t ar e majo r barr iers to in cr eased use of ICTs. Other barr iers in clud e limited in tern atio nal band width, ou td ated regulator y fr amew or ks, un reliab le po wer su pp lies, an d limited hu man an d in stitutio nal capacity fo r sector develo pmen t. Th ese co nstr aints ar e co mmon acro ss th e region. Desp ite th ese co nstr aints, th er e have been mark ed impr ov emen ts in many ar eas in mo st co un tries. As recently as faxes were a no velty, an d th er e was no su ch th in g as or web br ow sing fo r mo st peop le of th e Pacific. No w In tern et access is co nsid er ed to be an essential serv ice, peop le cann ot wo rk with ou t , an d user s ex pect th eir mo bile ph on es to ro am acro ss all co un tr ies seamlessly. ICTs ho ld on e of th e mo st impo rtan t keys to cr eating a better fu tu re fo r th e Pacific. In a co ntex t of small island s disp er sed ov er vast ocean distan ces, facing limited natu ral reso ur ces an d high tr an sp or tation co sts, better in fo rmatio n an d mo re efficien t an d affo rd ab le access ar e essential to co nn ect island co mmun ities to th e rest of th e wo rld. 25

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