ICT in the Pacific
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March, 14th, 2001 Snapshots of ICT in the Pacific Ian Thomson SPC - ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DIVISION 1. SPC role for promoting ICT in the Pacific 2. Snapshot of ICT development 3. Perspectives SPC and ICT • SPC role – Provide Technical Assistance to 22 Island countries – ICT Outreach section formed under Economic Development Division early 2010 – 3 staff – ICT Ministers nominated SPC to be the ICT Regional Coordinating Agency in Tonga Meeting of 2010 • Strategies – Framework for ICT Development Action approved 2010 – Action Plan to be considered at Nouméa Ministers meeting in April 2011 – Pacific ICT Portal by SPC www.e-pic.info ICT in the Pacific • Actors – PITA (Pacific Islands Telecommunications Association) – PICISOC (Pacific Internet Society) – USP (University of the South Pacific) – SOPAC (now part of SPC) – ITU (International Telecommunications Union) – UN-APCICT (Asia Pacific Center for ICT) – World Bank – ADB (Asian Development Bank) ICT in the Pacific • Snapshot – Larger countries making good progress – Middle countries following – Small countries struggling – Everyone is struggling with Broadband, some doing wifi well Pacific MAP? – 5 new submarine cables planned • Most recent report from ADB – http://www.e- pic.info/homepage/item/ 284-ict-based-inclusive- growth-and-poverty- reduction-in-the-pacific 1. SPC role for promoting ICT in the Pacific 2. Snapshot of ICT development 3. Perspectives Country Mobile Government Independent Population Competition Ownership Regulator Cook Islands 19 808 FSM 110 728 Fiji 849 218 Kiribati 98 045 Marshal Islands 61 026 Nauru 10 210 Palau 20 398 Papua New Guinea 6 732 159 Samoa 178 846 Solomon Islands 523 170 Tonga 103 967 Tuvalu 9 929 Vanuatu 239 788 Fixed lines 40 Cook Islands Fiji 35 FSM 30 Kiribati Nauru 25 Palau 20 Papua New Guinea RMI 15 Samoa 10 Solomon Islands Fixed telephone lines per 100 inhabitants lines telephone Fixed Tonga 5 Tuvalu Vanuatu 0 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Mobile phones 90 Cook Islands Fiji 80 FSM 70 Kiribati 60 Palau Papua New Guinea 50 RMI 40 Samoa 30 Solomon Islands Tonga 20 Mobile phone subscirbers per 100 inhabitants Tuvalu 10 Vanuatu 0 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Broadband Internet connections 8 Cook Islands Fiji 7 FSM 6 Palau Samoa 5 Solomon Islands 4 Tonga Tuvalu 3 Vanuatu 2 Broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 1 0 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Affordability Cook Islands Fiji FSM Kiribati RMI Nauru Fixed Palau Mobile Dial-up Papua New Guinea Broadband Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga Vanuatu 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% Percentage of monthly income required to purchase service 1. SPC role for promoting ICT in the Pacific 2. Snapshot of ICT development 3. Perspectives ICT in other sectors • Health – Some trials of m-health and connecting rural clinics • Education – Forming working group to study, many pilots but no real integrated effort • Emergency Services – Looking at connecting more remote sites • Provincial Government – Becoming important for them Regional Capacity Building • ITU project – Studies and workshops on 7 topics- Policy, Interconnection, Security, Licensing, Universal Access, Numbering, Spectrum – Papers available • SPC Project with APCICT and EU – Academy of ICT Essentials – Korea – 10 modules, including ICT for Development, e-Govt, Trends for Leaders, Disaster Management, Security, Climate Change etc. New Developments • Perspectives – Mobile coverage getting over 80% in 8 countries – m-data and m-Payment taking off – Government drive for rural and remote connection • Supports – World Bank working with Kiribati, FSM and Marshals to reform the ICT sectors – Pacific Regional Regulatory Resource Center being set up in Fiji – Pacific Computer Emergency Response Team being set up in Fiji.