Saturday, 18 February 2012
Weekend Review
Neil,Shahir Sitiveni and Chantel are currently following this blog to my knowledge and Ian tells me that six others have expressed an interest si I hope you all join and allow me to share over forty years of experience gained working in the Telecomms Industry. Since I have visited over 120 Countries I no doubt have been active in the Region where you reside and have probably had the experience to meet your colleagues. I look forward to receiving more emails as you reflect over the weekend which modules you are going to follow. In the meantime ask yourselves does the Regulator/Commission improve ICT Provision in your Country? Share with others your experiences.have a good weekend.
David
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It's nice to know with whom you're studying; thank you for the introduction, David.
ReplyDeleteI've spent 6 years working with a more international regulatory picture, across multiple regulators, and now focussing on the UK market; the regulator being Ofcom (formerly Oftel).
I've not yet made up my mind as to how I perceive Ofcom — it could certainly be worse, although I am not always convinced that it considers matters with the scrutiny they deserve. Of course, this is not necessarily a failing of Ofcom; Ofcom is government funded, and, if there is insufficient resource to undertake considered examinations, perhaps it needs more funding. Which has to come from somewhere.
The regulatory function in the telecommnications arena in Tonga is carried out by the Ministry of Information and Communication, MIC.The Ministry looks after spectrum allocation, universal service obligations, licensing etc. In the last few years, it has been instrumental in pushing service providers to connect the remotest island in the Kingdom by phone and the Internet. It has worked closely with the ITU in this aspect, a collaboration that has been successful in bringing isolated communities into the mainstream.
ReplyDeleteThe introduction of competition, Tonga Telecom and Digicel, has driven the price of mobile calls and Internet access down.
MIC was the leading agent for the One Laptop Per Child initiative, and is involved in creating partnership for advanced warning systems based on ICT for natural disaster warning and management.
The regulator is under the Minister for Information and Communication. This sometimes, I feel can hamper the independence of the Regulator, where the granting of licenses for a radio or television broadcaster can take an inordinate long time due to political considerations, rather than primarily on the merit of the application.