Asia Pacific Region

Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) Fifth Meeting of the TDAG Working Group dealing with Private Sector Issues (WGPS) Geneva, 16-17 April 2007 Document WGPS07-1/6(Rev.1)-E 12 April 2007 Original: English only The Head of the Regional Office and the Chairman of the Regional Working Group on Private Sector Issues REPORT RELATED TO PRIVATE SECTOR ISSUES ASIA & PACIFIC REGION I 1 Asia Pacific Regional Report on Public and Private Partnerships Overview of Sector Members and Partnerships in Asia & Pacific There are a total of 51 ITU-D Sector Members1. Various partnership activities have been promoted and implemented and will be continued as below in the Asia and Pacific Region. 2 Asia-Pacific Regional Actions through Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in 2006-2007 ITU Regional/Area Offices for Asia-Pacific implement Asia-Pacific actions through close partnership with numerous partners including private sector in 2006 and 2007: Table 1 – Highlight of Asia and Pacific Regional Actions through PPP (2006-2007) No Actions (2006) Beneficiary All sectors in ASP All sectors in ASP CLMV Partners/Sponsors Telcos (Japan, Korea) - Exchanged Letters NTT (Japan) - Signed MoU 1 IsAP8147 – ITU-D and ITU-R on WP 8F Meeting 25 January – 1 February 2006, Thailand 2 IsAP8461 – ITU-D and ITU-T Workshop on NGN and its Emerging Issues for Asia and Pacific: 15-16 May 2006, Viet Nam 3 IsAP8401 – 13th Subregional Meeting for Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Viet Nam: 3 October 2006, Myanmar ____________________ 1 Refer to Annex 1. P:\PPM\MEETINGS\2007\WGPS_16-17APRIL07\DOCUMENTS\ENGLISH DOCUMENTS\DOC6_ASP-EN_REV1.DOC (230803) 14.04.07 14.04.07 -2WGPS07-1/6(Rev.1)-E 4 IsAP8073 – Regional Seminar for Training the Trainers on SMS4DC for the ASP: 18-22 April 2006, Lao PDR 5 IsAP 8312 – Asia Media Summit (co-organized with AIBD): May 2006, Malaysia 6 Regional Workshop on Knowledge Management: 28 August – 1 September 2006, Philippines 7 IsAP8322 – ITU/MII Seminar on Internet Development and Online Environment 8 ITU/ESCAP Regional Workshop on Disaster Communications: 12-15 December 2006, Thailand 9 Fund-in-Trust: Enabling policy, regulatory, legal and operational environment in the Asia and Pacific Region (inc. IsAP 8321) 10 Fund-in-Trust: 9RAS/05/019 – Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of Telecommunication Infrastructure and contribution to the establishment of an Early Warning System in Earthquake/Tsunami-hit countries Lao, PDR ASP ASP China All sectors in ASP ASP & the Pacific inter alia Indonesia, Bangladesh, Maldives, Sri Lanka & ASP Telecos (Lao, PDR) AIBD Telecos (Philippines) MII (China) - Funds-In-Trust DCITA, R&S, ESCAP, Ericsson DCITA (Australia) - Signed MoU DCIAT (Australia) & R&S (Germany) - Signed MoU & Project No Actions (2007) Beneficiary All sectors in ASP Partners/Sponsors APT, NTC (Thailand) DCIAT (Australia) PITA, PIFS, APT COAI (India), Telcos (ASP) DCITA (Australia) MPT (Viet Nam) MII (China) - Fund-in-Trust MIC + telcos, Japan - MoU to be signed IDA, Singapore - Signed Letter of Intent 1 DAP8993 – Asia-Pacific Forum on NGN Planning: 16-17 March 2007, Thailand 2 DAP No.9029 – ITU/APT/PITA Workshop on Principles ASP & the of Cyber Legislation: 28-30 March 2007, NZ Pacific inter alia 3 DAP8909 – Regional Working Group & Public/Private Partnership Forum (PPPF-2007) Asia & Pacific Region: 2-4 April 2007, India 4 DAP 9031 – Ensuring Cybersecurity through Standards Solution: 8-10 May 2007, Viet Nam 5 DAP 8937 – Seminar on Telecom/ICT policy and Regulation: July-August 2007, China 6 DAP8992 – Enhancing knowledge and Application of ITU-T Recommendations for ASP: June 2007, Japan 7 DAP 9271 – Executive Programme on Enabling Frameworks for ICT Development: June 2007, Singapore Public/Private Sector in ASP ASP China ASP ASP P:\PPM\MEETINGS\2007\WGPS_16-17APRIL07\DOCUMENTS\ENGLISH DOCUMENTS\DOC6_ASP-EN_REV1.DOC (230803) 14.04.07 14.04.07 -3WGPS07-1/6(Rev.1)-E 8 DAP 9535 – Women's E-Biz Training: July 2007, Korea 9 DAP 8938 – Regional policy and regulatory training for Asia-Pacific: September 2007, Australia 10 DAP 8940 – 14th Subregional Meeting for CLMV and Planning Workshop on Establishing New Regulators: October 2007, Laos 11 DAP 9023 – Workshop on ICT Applications for Rural Communication Development: November 2007 12 DAP 9090 – ICT indicator for Asia and the Pacific, November 2007, Thailand 13 Fund-in-Trust: Asia-Pacific Regional Initiatives2 1 & 4 14 Asia-Pacific Centre of Excellence (CoE)3 in the new phase ASP ASP Cambodia, Lao, Myanmar, & Viet Nam ASP ASP ASP ASP APWIN, ESCAP DCITA (Australia) - Fund-in-Trust Telcos (CLMV) [ASEAN, WB, ADB] ESCAP, APT, [UNTAD] DCITA (Australia) Iran, Malaysia, S.Korea, Pakistan, Thailand 3 Asia-Pacific Regional Initiatives through Public/Private Sector Partnership (PPP) Most of Asia & Pacific Regional Initiatives are to be implemented on the basis of partnership with various parties from UN Agencies, Administrations, funding agencies to private sector, most of which have expressed interests, agreed, or signed the MoU. Table 2 – Asia & Pacific Regional Initiatives through PPP (2007-2010) ASP Regional Initiatives 1 Telecommunication/ICT policy and regulatory cooperation 2 Rural communications – Infrastructure development 3 NGN planning 4 The unique telecommunication/ICT needs of Pacific islands and small island developing states (SIDS) 5 Strengthening the collaboration between ITU-T and ITU-D Sectors Potential Partners + Contributors APT, ADB, ESCAP, PITA, DCITA/Australia, TRAI/India, IDA/Singapore, OFTA/HK, ASEAN APT, ADB, PITA, ASEAN, World Bank, Private Industries APT, ASEAN, Private Industries APT, ADB, PITA, DCITA/Australia, PIFS, EC Private Industries MIC/Japan, Private Industries ____________________ 2 These will be liaised with DAP-2007. MoU is to be signed in January 2007. 3 These will be liaised with DAP-2007. MoU s are to be signed in 2007. P:\PPM\MEETINGS\2007\WGPS_16-17APRIL07\DOCUMENTS\ENGLISH DOCUMENTS\DOC6_ASP-EN_REV1.DOC (230803) 14.04.07 14.04.07 -4WGPS07-1/6(Rev.1)-E 4 1) Suggestions for Promoting PPP Encourage more the private sector to involve in Regional Initiatives, particularly infrastructure development (e.g. ASP RI 2 – rural communications) and development/applications/ implications of new technologies (e.g. ASP RI 3 – NGN planning); Invite and optimize expertise and resources of private sector in the relevant ITU ASP Regional Initiatives and Actions through joint projects and partnerships; and Implement more private sectors oriented and related issues such as customer churn, customer/service segmentation, risk management, mergers and acquisition etc. in the fast changing telecommunication/ICT sectors, especially in ITU's studies, surveys, projects or meetings/seminars/workshops. 2) 3) P:\PPM\MEETINGS\2007\WGPS_16-17APRIL07\DOCUMENTS\ENGLISH DOCUMENTS\DOC6_ASP-EN_REV1.DOC (230803) 14.04.07 14.04.07 -5WGPS07-1/6(Rev.1)-E Annex 1 Updated list of Sector Members in Asia-Pacific (as of 31 December 2006) No Company No Company 1. WIRELESS – Afghan Wireless Communication Co. – 27. NOMURA – Nomura Research Institute Ltd. 2. Telecom Development Company Afghanistan Ltd. 3. APNIC – Asia Pacific Network Information Centre 4. BT – Bhutan Telecom 5. CHINANETWORK 6. CHINATELECOM 7. HUAWEI – Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd - China. 28. ITUASSO – The ITU Association of Japan 29. TOKAI – Tokai University 30. KT – Korea Telecom 31. Korea Agency for Digital Opportunity & Promotion 32. NIDA – National Internet Development Agency 33. ABU – Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union 8. TDSAT – Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate 34. AIBD – Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Tribunal – India Development 9. PACIFIC – Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat 10. BSNL – Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. - India 11. COAI – Cellular Operators Association of India 12. ITU-APT Foundation of India 13. MTNL – Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. – India 14. RELIANCE – Reliance Infocomm Ltd. - India 15. ZTE – ZTE Corporation - China 16. TRAI – Telecom Regulatory Authority of India India 17. INDOSAT - PT. INDOSAT Tbk. – Indonesia 18. TELKOM – PT. Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk 19. TCI – Telecommunication Company of Iran 20. FUJITSU – Fujitsu Limited - Japan 21. HITACHI – Hitachi Ltd. - Japan 22. KDDI – KDDI Corporation – Japan 23. NEC – NEC Corporation – Japan 24. NICT – National Institute of Information and Communications Technology – Japan 26. NTT WEST – Nippon Telegraph and Telephone West 35. CAPERANGE Cape Range Wireless Malaysia Sdn. 36. Maxis Communications Bhd. – Malaysia 37. TELEKOMMALAYSIA – Telekom Malaysia Berhad 38. MOBICOM MobiCom Corporation – Mongolia 39. Callmate Telips Telecom Ltd. – Pakistan 40. National Telecommunication Corporation – Pakistan 41. PMCL – Pakistan Mobile Communications Ltd. 42. PTCL – Pakistan Telecommunication Co., Ltd. 43. Paktel Limited – Pakistan 44. PhilCom – Philippine Global Communications, Inc. 45. SCI – Smart Communications, Inc. – Philippines 46. MTN – MTN Networks (Pvt) Ltd. – Sri Lanka 47. SRITELECOM – Sri Lanka Telecom Ltd. 48. AIS - Advance Info Service Pub. Co., Ltd. – Thailand 49. APT - Asia-Pacific Telecommunity 50. DTAC - Total Access Communication PLC. – Thailand 25. NTT EAST – Nippon Telegraph and Telephone East 51. TRUE – True Corporation Public Co., Ltd. – Thailand P:\PPM\MEETINGS\2007\WGPS_16-17APRIL07\DOCUMENTS\ENGLISH DOCUMENTS\DOC6_ASP-EN_REV1.DOC (230803) 14.04.07 14.04.07 -6WGPS07-1/6(Rev.1)-E II 1 Report of the Chairman of the ITU Regional Working Group Organization of Regional Working Group Meetings on Private Sector Issues Since inception, the RWG has met four times: in 2003 at Geneva, 2004 in New Delhi, 2005 in Bangkok, and in April 2007 in New Delhi. The Group discusses issues that are of key interest to its Sector Members. The issues taken up by the group till date include: • Spectrum Allocation & Pricing • Interconnection • Cost of Duties & Levies • Broadband • Infrastructure Sharing • Low-cost access solutions • NGN, technologies, planning and migration • EMF radiations • Disaster management The format of working that has been adopted by the Group encourages strong participation, focused discussions and consensus recommendations. 2 Fourth Meeting of Asia Pacific RWP: New Delhi, 3-5 April 2007 Due to several reasons and circumstances, an RWG meeting could not be scheduled in 2006. The fourth meeting of the RWG was then proposed to be held from 3-5 April 2007, in New Delhi, India. I Current Indian Telecom Scenario I.A. 20 18 16 14 Telecom Penetration in India Total – 18.3% Mobile – 14.6 % Teledensity (%) 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 1997 1 9 98 1999 2 00 0 2001 2002 2003 2004 M ar-0 6 F e b -0 7 Fixed – 3.7 % After a rather delayed start, mobile sector is now witnessing an explosive growth P:\PPM\MEETINGS\2007\WGPS_16-17APRIL07\DOCUMENTS\ENGLISH DOCUMENTS\DOC6_ASP-EN_REV1.DOC (230803) 14.04.07 14.04.07 -7WGPS07-1/6(Rev.1)-E I.B. Mobile tariffs have fallen > 95% in 7 years!! Subscriber Base (in mn) Lowering of ADC from 10% to 1.5% of the revenue Effective charge (in Rs. Per min) 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 1998 1999 2000 2001 1.2 1.88 6 14 14 NTP'99 Lowering of ADC from 30% to 10% of the revenue 120 100 96.63 80 CPP Introduced 3rd & 4th Cellular Operator 60 51.53 33.31 40 20 13 1.6 0.44 0.4 2004 2005 0.4 2006 0 3.58 3.58 2 6.5 2002 Introduction of CDMA 0.88 2003 Indian mobile tariffs are the lowest in the world – – India joined the 100 million mobile club in mid 2006 • crossed 150 million in December 2006 Globally highest mobile monthly additions of 7-8 million • expected to reach 8-9 million in 2007 Mobile is the prime engine for telecom growth in India. I.C. India also witnessing robust growth in overall telecom revenues Indian Telecom Services S. No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Service Categories Fixed Cellular NLD ILD Internet Access VSATs Radio Trunking Revenues (in US$million) 2004-05 7,160 4,992 1,365 839 349 81 7 14,791 2005-06 7,386 7,860 1,975 1,581 355 97 8 19,261 1USD=Rs. 45.6 Total Services Revenue Source: Voice & Data, July 2005 * COAI Estimates Overall Telecom Revenues growing @~30%, with Cellular Revenues growing @ ~60% P:\PPM\MEETINGS\2007\WGPS_16-17APRIL07\DOCUMENTS\ENGLISH DOCUMENTS\DOC6_ASP-EN_REV1.DOC (230803) 14.04.07 14.04.07 -8WGPS07-1/6(Rev.1)-E I.D. Telecom subs will cross 250 million by 2007 and 500 million by 2010 500 500 450 400 Subs (millions) 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 Dec-06A 190 250 Dec-07P Dec-10P Mobile will be the key predominant in this telecom growth II II.A • • • 1 ITU RWG Forum for Asia Pac Region: 3-5 April, 2007, New Delhi, India Meeting of the RWG in India Meeting of the ITU Forum of the RWG for the Asia and Pacific Region held from 3-5 April 2007 in New Delhi, India Theme of the Forum: "Promoting Low Cost Access to the Unconnected" Issues discussed: Enhancing Low Cost Access • Low-Cost Access • Shared Infrastructure Key Challenges in Growth of Seamless Services • EMF Radiations and Health Aspects • Disaster Management Wireless Broadband and NGN – Planning, Technology and Migration. Meeting of the RWG in India Structure of the Meeting • 3 April 2007: Inaugural Session • 4 April 2007: Expert Presentations by esteemed speakers • 5 April 2007: Working Groups discussed and came out with recommendations. These were finalized by the Plenary and then presented to the Forum Chairman. 2 3 II.B – P:\PPM\MEETINGS\2007\WGPS_16-17APRIL07\DOCUMENTS\ENGLISH DOCUMENTS\DOC6_ASP-EN_REV1.DOC (230803) 14.04.07 14.04.07 -9WGPS07-1/6(Rev.1)-E II.C • Meeting of the RWG in India Participation by over 225 delegates from 14 countries viz Australia, Bhutan, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Switzerland, Thailand, UAE, UK, USA. Excellent Participation Healthy Discussions Focused Outcomes Key Recommendations of the Forum Key Recommendations on Low-Cost Access Adoption of globally harmonized standards will help operators achieve inter-operability, economies of scale, etc. Disassociating USO regime from the access regime should be considered over time. Governments/ Regulators must consider ways and means of utilizing the unspent funds in the USO account. In addition to passive, active infrastructure should also be shared to the extent that it is technically possible. Independent infrastructure providers should be encouraged. There should be efforts to leverage existing infrastructure available with utilities. Right of way regime may be liberalized. Lacunae in other infrastructure like power may be addressed by looking at alternative power sources like solar, bio-fuels, etc. Regulation should encourage new ways of service provisioning such as MVNO models, managed services, etc. Taxation regime should not stymie growth. Different technologies can be used for promoting broadband in rural areas. Content development, local language applications essential for proper utilization of broadband connectivity. Wireless is necessary and often the only practical way to reach out to rural areas in a cost effective and expeditious manner. An anchor user can play a key role in aggregating demand by creating a point of presence in the rural areas, from where local entrepreneurs can extend service Shared access – to voice/data extremely relevant and desirable for rural communities. Service providers should be incentivised rather than obligated to enhance coverage in rural areas. Interconnection is a crucial element for enhancing rural access. Use of an asymmetric interconnect regime can have regulatory, administrative and practical implications, any efforts to introduce this must be preceded by a thorough analysis. Cost of entry is one of the biggest barriers for the rural consumer. Operators need to breach this barrier by introducing innovative bundling schemes to enhance rural access. Further, the taxation regime should not constrain bundling of handsets. While cost of handset is important, it is also necessary to consider total cost of ownership. III III.A 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 P:\PPM\MEETINGS\2007\WGPS_16-17APRIL07\DOCUMENTS\ENGLISH DOCUMENTS\DOC6_ASP-EN_REV1.DOC (230803) 14.04.07 14.04.07 - 10 WGPS07-1/6(Rev.1)-E III.B • 1 2 3 4 5 6 • 1 2 Key Recommendations on Key Challenges in Growth of Seamless Services Health Effects Extensive international research till date has shown no conclusive evidence of any adverse health consequences as a result of EMF exposures upto the limits specified in ITU Recommendation K.52. A cooperative approach lead by national authorities, with support of international bodies (such as ITU, WHO), national health organizations, industry and representatives of public in educating stakeholder groups, including consumers. ITU also should take an active role in this process. In line with ITU Recommendation K.52 and the WHO International EMF project: i) Countries should adopt the ICNIRP limits for handsets, base stations and other RF sources. ii) Countries should adopt ICNIRP based national guidelines for EMF exposures, as written and shall not include additional measures that are inconsistent with ITU and WHO recommendations. iii) Guidelines should reflect generally accepted global and regional approaches of other countries, in particular: – Guidelines should avoid using any kind of "alarmist" language, which could create unwarranted concern/fear amongst consumers and general public. – Authorities in all countries should recommend manufacturers to use generally accepted safety language and SAR disclosure procedures used globally. – Mobile handset manufacturers should declare SAR value for each handset model. EMF exposure guidelines and base station siting policies should be applied in a nondiscriminatory manner to all radio-communications facilities. Guidelines for base station location, construction and operation should be transparent to all stakeholders. Conditions requiring post-installation measurement or routine surveys are of limited value, but may assist in confidence building. Disaster Management Regional cooperation called for at the December 2006 ITU-ESCAP workshop on disaster communications should be implemented to help countries prepare for disasters. All existing radio/telecom networks designed for emergency communications should be well established for immediate implementation/use in response to a disaster, without any additional approvals required. ITU is requested to help the regions to understand the benefits of TAMPERE convention to their disaster response capabilities. Key Recommendations on Wireless Broadband and NGN Planning, Technology and Migration Urgent need for an enabling and conducive environment to promote migration to NGN. A coordination forum for knowledge sharing and capacity building needs to be established to resolve the regional issues and focus on regional needs like bringing awareness, conducting pilot projects, interconnection, interoperability, etc. Policy and regulation should evolve to facilitate large scale NGN deployment to bring the benefits of emerging technologies to consumers. 3 III.C 1 2 P:\PPM\MEETINGS\2007\WGPS_16-17APRIL07\DOCUMENTS\ENGLISH DOCUMENTS\DOC6_ASP-EN_REV1.DOC (230803) 14.04.07 14.04.07 - 11 WGPS07-1/6(Rev.1)-E 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Desirable to have a unified national standardization agency that formulates standards within framework of international standards for NGN of ITU. Need for nationally centralized lawful interception and security monitoring for all services offered by NGN should be considered. Provision of emergency communication services in NGN environment must be studied and relevant proposals should be passed to relevant ITU Study Groups. Numbering and portability issues for NGN should be studied further. Time frame for migration to NGN being a commercial issue should be left to the market forces, without intervention by the Licensor/Regulator. Appropriate QoS standards for end-to-end services should be established and monitored by the Regulator/ Licensor. Under co-ordination forum, there should be sub-regional working group under RWG to study NGN planning tools and selection guidelines. The conclusions and results from these should be submitted to relevant ITU Study Groups. Technological neutrality should be maintained in access and core networks keeping in mind ground realities of the rural environment (difficult terrain, lack of reliable power availability, etc). Urgent need for facilitating Infrastructure sharing to make rural communication affordable. Governments in Asia and Pacific Regions should formulate firm plans for rural communication taking into account outcome of WSIS to facilitate early deployment of NGN in rural areas. Authorities should consider giving free RoW for optical fibres and liberalized permission for installing towers. Duties and levies should be rationalized in line with international practices. For faster roll-out and penetration of wireless broadband adequate availability of spectrum should be ensured in a timely manner; spectrum be globally harmonized to provide economies of scale. Low cost standardized, user-friendly devices at customer premises need to be developed. Operational issues should be addressed well in advance with contribution to relevant international standardization bodies. Consumers should be made aware of the security issues and related QoS of NGN networks. Training related to NGN should be carried out under ITU HRD program and Asia and Pacific Centre of Excellence. Contribution to development of handbook on relevant NGN related information should be provided by Sector Members in a time bound manner. Issues and Way Forward In these days of public-private partnership, it seems restrictive to talk of only private sector. – Almost all issue are common to public and private sectors There are no steps forward for implementation of the recommendations from the RWG – There is a need to put in place a process that sees the Recommendations of the Working Group are carried forward to their logical conclusion. It may be appreciated that: – Group comes out with these recommendations after extensive participation from industry experts and much deliberations IV • • P:\PPM\MEETINGS\2007\WGPS_16-17APRIL07\DOCUMENTS\ENGLISH DOCUMENTS\DOC6_ASP-EN_REV1.DOC (230803) 14.04.07 14.04.07 - 12 WGPS07-1/6(Rev.1)-E – These recommendations are only valuable if they are converted into guiding principles to assist the Asia and Pacific Region in boosting their telecom growth Recommendations • RWG Forum should encompass both Public and Private Sector • The Working Group be renamed as the "ITU regional Working Group for Telecom Issues in the Asia and Pacific Region" • Conclusions arising out the discussions at the RWG must be formalized by the ITU in the form of recommendations to maximize their value for members countries • Desirable to have a formalized system to follow up on issues arising out of discussions at the RWG and take them to their logical conclusion • Issues of Funding??? ______________ P:\PPM\MEETINGS\2007\WGPS_16-17APRIL07\DOCUMENTS\ENGLISH DOCUMENTS\DOC6_ASP-EN_REV1.DOC (230803) 14.04.07 14.04.07