SUVA (Pacnews) — Ministers of the 16-member Pacific Islands Forum will meet this week to discuss how communications in the region can be made more accessible and affordable.
The Forum Communications Policy Ministerial meeting at the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat in Suva, Fiji will consider a range of measures aimed at encouraging more flexible policies and revising outdated regulatory frameworks.
“Information technology is a vital tool for development and the Internet, for example, offers tremendous opportunities to improve the delivery of health and education services to island communities,” said the secretary-general of the Forum Secretariat, Noel Levi.
Access to the Internet in the region is, however, still limited to a very small part of the population
“Liberalization of the sector is increasingly likely, through national efforts as well as regional trade processes, but will be held back by weak regulatory frameworks. Progress in this area will require closer cooperation between different groups in the communications, trade, finance and legal sectors, as well as user groups,” Levi said.
At their last meeting in 1999, Forum Communications Ministers endorsed a Communications Action Plan to address issues such as limited and unequal access to information and communications technology outside the cities; high costs of equipment and services, improving Internet access, and reducing prices.
Costs for telecommunications and Internet access in the Pacific Islands are higher than in other regions, partly due to the international accounting regime but also due to restrictive policies and regulations.
Ministers will be asked to decide on mechanisms for regional cooperation and to endorse the proposed Pacific ICT Policy and Strategic Plan. The proposed mechanisms include moves to eventually harmonize national legislation and regulations in the ICT sector.
The Ministerial meeting on Wednesday 17 April will be held during a week of related meetings attended by officials, representatives from industry groups and development partners. These include the Pacific Regional Meeting on ICT, for which key industry groups such as the Asia Pacific Telecommunity and the Pacific Islands Telecommunications Association play a major role.
