Universal Service in the Americas

OEA/Ser.L/XVII.6.2 25 February 2000 Original : Spanish International Telecommunication Spanish-American Association of Research Union (ITU) Centers and Telecommunications Companies UUNNIIVVEERRSSAALL SSEERRVVIICCEE IINN TTHHEE AAMMEERRIICCAASS Inter-American Telecommunication Commission Organization of American States CITEL February 2000 I Secretary General César Gaviria Trujillo Assistant Secretary General Christopher R. Thomas The Book “Universal Service in the Americas” was prepared by the Working Group on Basic and Universal Telecommunications Services of the Permanent Consultative Committee I of CITEL with the collaboration of the ITU and AHCIET. Coordination: Héctor Mario Carril (Chairman of the Working Group on Basic and Universal Telecommunications Services of PCC. I of CITEL) Drafting: Graciela Mealla (ITU Expert) Collaboration: Carmen Angarita (CITEL Expert) Harry Noblé (CITEL Expert) Assistants: María Eugenia Carrizo Ariel Fernando Rodriguez Edition: CITEL Permanent Consultative Committee I: Public Telecommunication Services Working Group on Basic and Universal Telecommunications Services Format: CITEL Printing: ITU ISBN 0-8270-4103-9 II Preface Claudia de Francisco Minister of Communications of Colombia and Chair of PCCI The Permanent Consultative Committee of the Inter-American Commission of Telecommunications is highly pleased to present to the member countries of the Organization of American States this first edition of the book Universal Service in the Americas. This book focuses on, and analyzes, the strategies and programs developed by the member countries to ensure universal coverage of telecommunication services among all population groups of the continent. Under the leadership of the Secretary General of the OAS, Dr. César Gaviria Trujillo, we wanted to prepare this manual especially as a reference for the year 2000 Telecom Summit of Rio de Janeiro. All the social policies and concrete plans developed by the nations of the Americas for the purpose of effectively expanding telecommunications service coverage, giving priority to delivery of this public service to isolated regions and to the most vulnerable population groups, have been compiled herein. With the liberalization of international markets and the global promotion of competition, regulatory and planning authorities must accept the fundamental responsibility of guaranteeing to all inhabitants of the Americas access to the benefits provided by the infrastructure of the information and knowledge society. The present book is tangible testimony of the different efforts made by governments to achieve short- and medium-term results in focusing on and guaranteeing the essential human right of communication. This will undoubtedly become a reference manual that will contribute to enrich and complement the strategies that are being applied in each one of our countries. As Chair of the PCC.I it gives me great pleasure to contribute to the continent’s reflection on the telecommunications sector with this document on plans that have already been laid out and programs that are being implemented. To the authorities and administrations it will serve us as a guide to take up the complex challenges yet to come in the 21st century. This report has conducted thanks to the work and dedication of member countries participating in PCC.I’s research, led in this specific case by the Administration of Argentina with the support of ITU and AHCIET. We would like to extend to them our gratitude and special appreciation. Claudia de Francisco Minister of Communications of Colombia and Chair of PCCI III Preface Héctor Mario Carril Chair of the Working Group on Basic and Universal Telecommunications Services, CITEL/OAS The observation was made during the last CITEL Assembly that we can never bring knowledge to our peoples if we fail in our attempt to provide them with adequate, ever-improving communications. Thus, at the end of the century and the millenium, it has become absolutely imperative to focus the efforts of our industry on achieving much more profound social impact. At a stage in the development of telecommunications in which we are moving towards market deregulation, states must, as the Senior Telecommunications Officials of the Americas recommended in the Plan of Action for the Americas, "... promote the establishment of mechanisms for increasing telephone service density and coverage in rural areas and for low-income groups." In such a framework of transformation towards deregulation, we must determine in our countries how to make telecommunications services accessible to all our populations, in each and every part of our continent. We must achieve universal access to information, overcome computer illiteracy, and provide mass access to the Internet. The objective of publishing the Book on Universal Service in the Americas is to provide the information available on legislation and regulations on universal access/service in the countries of the Americas. It seeks to become a resource for enhanced policy formulation and drafting of legislation and regulations in this area in the framework of the mandate of the Summits of the Americas. I would like to thank CITEL for having entrusted me with the responsibility of carrying out this project; the ITU, AHCIET, and the Administrations of the region for the valuable collaboration they provided; ITU expert, Mrs. Graciela Mealla, for her coordination of the project; and CITEL experts, Mrs. Carmen Cecilia Angarita and Mr. Harry Noblé, for their contributions on the Andean Community and the Caribbean respectively. The scope of social policy objectives implied by universal access/service programs fully justifies the publication of this book as an instrument to be used by every country, in keeping with its own policies and its social, economic, and legal context. We hope that this Book may contribute to determining social policy objectives so that we may enter the new century - the century of communications and information technology - without exclusion of any type, and reach out to all peoples of the Americas. Héctor Mario Carril Chair, Working Group on Basic and Universal Telecommunications Services, CITEL/OAS IV Preface Hamadoun I. Touré Director, Telecommunication Development Bureau of International Telecommunication Union It is with great pleasure that we present to you the final version of Universal Service in the Americas. This report is the product of on-going collaboration between the Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the Inter-American Telecommunications Commission (CITEL) of the Organization of American States (OAS), and the Spanish-American Association of Research Centers and Telecommunications Companies (AHCIET). Communications is an increasingly critical component of economic growth. It is the engine of the evolving global information infrastructure. At the first World Telecommunication Development Conference of the ITU (WTDC-94, Buenos Aires), the idea of a global information infrastructure was launched. This was followed by notions of information superhighways and information societies. By the second World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-98, Valletta), growth in the Internet and mobile communications had far surpassed industry predictions. Privatization, competition and the establishment of independent regulatory bodies was starting to become the norm in many ITU member states. But large differences in accessibility to telecommunication services around the world and within individual nations had not improved and in some cases were exacerbated. This was highlighted by the fourth edition of the World Telecommunication Development Report (WTDR-98) on the theme of universal access. The report showed, inter alia, that information societies would never be achieved unless universal access/service was attained. As we now begin the 21st century, vast pockets of humankind without access to basic telecommunication services continue to exist. Like water, food, and shelter, access to communications must also be a human right. We must work together to make this a reality for the Americas region. Effective policies must be put in place to achieve universal access/service such as: determining concrete and practical definitions of universal access depending on each countries level of economic and telecommunication development. Definitions may range from per household to community access (using community telecenters); establishing network targets for privatized operators, or new operators; maintaining or realizing affordability; creating effective funding mechanisms, and optimizing the use of appropriate technologies. This report looks at universal access/service from the perspectives of the ITU, CITEL and the WTO. It looks, in depth, at the legislation and policies employed by many of the countries in the Americas region. Universal Service in the Americas is intended to serve as a reference tool to assist countries of the Americas region in forming the best policies and practices with the goal of making universal service/access available to all of the regions inhabitants. V We would like to thank all of the individuals who contributed to the report, in particular, Ms. Graciela Mealla, the coordinator of the report, and Mr. Héctor Carril, Chairman of the Working Group on Basic and Universal Telecommunications Services of the Permanent Consultative Committee I (PCC.I) of CITEL. Several versions of this report have been distributed to the Administrations

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