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Statement by Hon. E.
Sinatambou,
Minister of Information Technology and Telecommunications of
Mauritius
17
November 2005
Mr. Chairperson
Your Excellencies, Heads of States and of
Governments
Colleague Ministers
Mr. Secretary-General International
Telecommunication Union
Heads of Delegations
Distinguished Guests
Ladies & Gentlemen
I first wish to thank the Chair for the
opportunity given to Mauritius to address this august
assembly in the context of the Second Phase of the World
Summit on the Information Society.
Let me at the very outset, congratulate
and thank His Excellency President Ben Ali, the Government
and people of Tunisia for the excellent organisation
deployed and the kind hospitality extended to all of us,
during the hosting of this Summit. It goes without saying
that the tremendous efforts of the International
Telecommunication Union operating under the aegis of the
United Nations in implementing the first and second phases
of the Summit will go down memory lane as landmark events in
our endeavour to create a globally inclusive Information
Society.
Mauritius holds the view that the
designation of a neutral and widely acceptable body is of
paramount importance in resolving issues arising out of
Internet Governance. In the final consensual model, we are
convinced of the determining roles at different levels that
Governments, the private sector, civil society and
international bodies will have to play in addressing the
wide range of multifaceted and multilayered issues involved
within the Internet Governance paradigm.
We acknowledge the fact that the main
challenges ahead will depend largely on ICT enforcement
measures to be deployed by individual countries. With the
phenomenal growth of the Internet and the continuing
digitalisation of society, we need to gear our efforts
towards enhancing our e-readiness for the Networked World.
In this respect, and in line with the Declaration of
Principles and WSIS Plan of Action, Mauritius has
implemented the following major projects with a view to
bridging the digital divide:
Bringing forward the date of
liberalisation of the telecom sector which has become a
reality since 2003;
Reviewing the existing ICT
legislation to allow for the interplay of competition
policy along with sector specific legislations;
Implementation of the Mauritian
Internet Exchange Point (MIXP);
Provision of free broadband Internet
access to all secondary schools and public libraries in
Mauritius;
Institution of the Universal Service
Fund to support ICT projects to promote access to ICTs,
in areas of market failure.
At the regional level, Mauritius also
promotes the development of regional ICT infrastructure,
including Broadband capacity to backbones and
interconnection of existing Network Access Points with root
servers, mirror servers, and traffic exchange points. We do
advocate the creation of sustainable schemes and models for
ICT penetration as well as ICT assessment frameworks in the
different countries of our region.
Mauritius does recognise the utmost
importance of the security, continuity and stability of the
Internet and at the same time we firmly believe in the
setting up of an international participatory Internet
Governance model whereby both policy and technical issues
are dealt with in full transparency for the benefit of one
and all.
Today, we are duty bound, as the global
networked community, to ensure that the modus operandi that
comes out of this Summit paves the way towards the emergence
of an equitable Information Society.
In conclusion, Mr. Chairperson, I would
like to reiterate the urgent need of clearly and adequately
mapping out the responsibilities of Governments, the private
sector, civil society and international bodies in Internet
Governance. The expected end result is an Accessible,
Affordable and Secure Internet for All which is central to
economic growth and quality of life.
Thank you.
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