SPEECH TO THE SECOND WORLD TELECOMMUNICATION DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE (WTDC98)
BY SIR DONALD MAITLAND
FORMER CHAIRMAN OF THE INTERNATIONAL INDEPENDENT COMMISSION FOR WORLDWIDE TELECOMMUNICATION DEVELOPMENT

Introduction

It was with special pleasure that I received the Secretary General’s invitation to take part in this important Conference, not least, because it provided an opportunity to enjoy the hospitality for which Malta is famous. The name of Valletta will be added to the prestigious list of cities which have played a role in the development of World Telecommunications.

The Secretary General suggested that my personal appreciation of the performance of the ITU in responding to "The Missing Link" and my vision of the future of Telecommunications would assist the work of this Conference. I will do my best to respond to that challenge. I have been helped by the opportunity I had last week in the charming environment of Gozo to learn something about the preoccupations and aspirations of the many graduates of the Telecommunications Executive Management Institute of Canada who assembled there to exchange views and experiences. Over the years this Institute has made an outstanding contribution to raising standards of Management in this vital sector.

Chairman,

In May 1983 the Administrative Council of the ITU charged the Independent Commission with the task of recommending ways of stimulating the expansion of telecommunications across the world. May colleagues and I interpreted the term ‘telecommunications’ in that mandate to mean public telephone systems, because we felt that improving and expanding these would bring the greatest benefit to the greatest number of people throughout the world. The gross imbalance in the world-wide distribution of telephones appalled us. That was not our only concern. We knew even then that technical innovation would provide inhabitants of the industrialized world with the benefits of the emerging information society before the end of the century.

That was more than thirteen years ago. The situation we face on the threshold of a new century presents us with equally daunting challenges. While the defeat of communism in1989 liberated millions in central and eastern Europe after forty years of tyranny, it also released nationalist ambitions and revived ancient rivalries. We still see the tragic consequences in former Yugoslavia. The collapse of communism in Europe also destabilized the states which composed the former Soviet Union. The reunification of Germany re-created a dominant economy in the heart of Europe, but did not remove the tensions between the two halves which persist to this day.

On the world scene we hoped that the end of the cold war would enable the United Nations Security Council at long last to act as was originally intended when the Charter was approved in 1946. But, through lack of coherent thought, lack of political resolve and lack of funds, the United Nations has failed to respond effectively to man-made disasters in parts of Africa and South East Asia. In many regions economic recession has taken its toll. Today 15% of the world’s population suffer chronic malnutrition. Population growth, especially in the developing world, has reached new levels and is still rising. Excessive consumption of fossil fuels, irresponsible use of chemicals and the destruction of forests threaten the environment. In many countries citizens are systematically denied their fundamental rights. International terrorism - the Third World War by another name - organized crime and traffic in drugs place public security and the well-being of the young in jeopardy.

The other side of the coin is of more direct concern to this Conference. Decades ago the late, great Koji Kobayashi, who was to play a distinguished role in the Independent Commission, determined to devote his talents and energies to promoting the marriage of the technologies of communications and the computer. The information society and, more recently, the INTERNET have satisfied Koji Kobayashi’s ambition and, at the same time, are making a reality of Marshal McLuhan’s vision of the global village.

The importance of this development cannot be exaggerated. It raises fundamental questions of concern to each one of us - questions about the international division of labour, about the structure of corporations, the future of work, the nature of human society, the individual’s sense of identity, systems of governance and the meaning of sovereignty in an interdependent, interconnected world. This is no secret. But it is a curious fact that, at the political level throughout the world, there has been marked reluctance to address these issues. The outstanding exception is Vice-President Al Gore, who identified himself with the concept of the Global Information Infrastructure as the foundation of the future information society when he addressed the Buenos Aires Conference in 1994.

It is legitimate - indeed essential - thirteen years after the Independent Commission submitted its Report, to ask whether the link is still missing - whether the gap the members of the Commission found unacceptable has been narrowed. The answer must be that, while there has indeed been some narrowing of the gap at least in basic services, disparities persist, not only between industrialised and developing countries - and within regions - between urban and rural areas. And there is an additional problem. The advance of the information society and, more recently, the expansion of the INTERNET, have led to the opening up of a new gap - between ‘information-rich’ and ‘information-poor’ societies. This disturbing trend seems to have been largely unaffected by other developments during the restructuring of the telecommunications sector, such as the separation of operational and regulatory functions, privatization and the liberalization of segments of the market.

Were a new Independent Commission to be established today, its mandate would be significantly more complex, but not less daunting. In its initial survey of the world scene, the new Commission would soon appreciate the main preoccupations of those who labour in this sector.

The members of the Commission would become familiar with the debate over the rival merits of universal access and universal service. They would examine different approaches to the liberalization of telecommunications systems/and assess the importance of competition in this process. This would lead them to compare methods of regulation.

The perennial problem of funding the expansion and improvement of networks in the poorer developing countries would occupy much of their time and thought.

They would wish to assess the performance to date of the Development Sector and to consider whether, and if so how, this might be enhanced. This would lead the Commission into the especially important area of partnerships between industrialized and developing countries.

The Commission would be compelled early in its work to form a view on the impact of the WTO Agreement on Telecommunication Services which has recently come into force.

THE WAY AHEAD

These and other issues would occupy the time and thoughts of the members of any new Commission, and the international telecommunications community would hope that in the end they would point the way forward. However, there is no need for a new Commission. Over the next several days the knowledge, experience and wisdom assembled at this Conference will be applied to these issues and, when your work is done, the way ahead will be clear.

Your starting point might be the Declaration issued at the conclusion of the Buenos Aires Conference in March 1994. This reminded Members of the ITU that telecommunications is an essential component of political, economic, social and cultural development. However, the evolving information society will either hasten the closing of the gap between developing and industrialized countries, or inadvertently widen it. This is the great challenge of today and you may well consider that it would be right for the ITU to ensure that the malign as well as the benign implications of the information society are understood by the Member States you represent at the highest political level.

As regards the contribution the ITU itself can make to confronting this challenge, you may conclude that the best course is to apply the long-standing military principle of reinforcing success. Since its establishment in 1992 the Development Sector has done sterling work. It is well understood that the circumstances of each developing country are unique. This means that progress can only be made case by case. For this reason you may take the view that the scope of partnerships, or alliances as they are sometimes called might be widened and that they should embrace not only financial cooperation, but also the sharing of knowledge and experience and the transfer of expertise. You may also conclude that these partnerships will not be productive if they are short term; the experts concerned need adequate time to learn and understand the specifics of the markets so that they may offer appropriate guidance to officials and operators in the host country. The fact that the resources available to the Development Sector are limited suggests that further encouragement should be given to the private sector to play an increasingly important role in this field. Discussion of this aspect of relationships with developing countries may lead you to stress the importance of the training of managers and other senior staff and to point to the substantial benefits which have been shown to flow from this.

Then there is the whole range of funding issues. One such issue which calls for close attention is the impact of the process of liberalization on accounting rates systems. In some cases this could inadvertently prejudice revenue flows and, in consequence, the prospects for investment in developing countries. In this context you may consider that the ITU’s admirable programme could be strengthened by new emphasis on regulatory and commercial strategies to improve revenue and teledensity, particularly by providing targeted advice to specific countries.

There is also the question of universal access which, now that the United Nations has enunciated a right to communicate, is no longer seen as a technical issue for the ITU alone, but one of high political importance. Until now it has been assumed that the shift from state-owned to privately-owned telecommunications systems would lead to more rapid development of the network as well as lower prices. In many cases this has proved to be true, but there have been notable exceptions where privatisation has not been followed by the introduction of competition. In any case, you will wish to examine this issue in the light of the recent WTO Agreement on Telecommunication Services. I am confident that this Agreement will soon prove its worth. Renato Ruggiero, the Director-General, was right when he said that, since it will make access to knowledge easier, the Agreement ‘gives nations, large and small, rich and poor, better opportunities to prepare for the 21st century’. That surely is a good enough reason for developing countries to subscribe to it. But there is another reason. By openly undertaking the obligations the Agreement contains, in whatever way and at whatever moment is most opportune, developing countries can, at a stroke, enhance their attractiveness to potential investors with an assurance of regulatory certainty.

Some here today may recall the comment in this Introduction to "The Missing Link" on the disparity in the distribution of telecommunications services across the world: "Neither in the name of common humanity nor on grounds of common interest is such a disparity acceptable".

Mr. Chairman, the striking technological advances of the past decade have made the elimination of this disparity a practical possibility. The funds can be secured; after all, compared with the construction of roads, railways and airports, the expansion and improvement of telecommunications is cheap. The technology is proven and versatile. The expertise and skills are readily available. There is a wealth of relevant experience to draw on. What is at stake - what is within our group - is beyond price.

As we leave behind this wonderful and dreadful century, universal access to one of the most valuable products of human ingenuity could at last link members of the human race across the globe. All that stands in the way is reluctance to appreciate the significance of either the challenge, or the opportunity, and above all, lack of political will.

I for one hope that the ITU, in its wisdom, will feel able in the course of this year, to adopt the measures which are needed to clear the way ahead.