Chapter2: ICT
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 email 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 19 95 in Fiji an d mo st recently in 20 00 in Tuv alu. 22
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 20 02. 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 10 00 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
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 $5 00 0 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 email, 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 email 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 email 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
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 19 95 faxes were a no velty, an d th er e was no su ch th in g as email 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 email, 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
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38