World Telecommunication Day 1999 |
The ongoing global expansion of a high-tech telecommunications infrastructure, coupled with the increased availability of advanced information technology services, is having an impact on almost every emerging economy. The projects range from ''intelligent'' cities in Malaysia and on-line telephone directories in El Salvador to national data networks in Ghana and cellular telephony in a country as poor as Rwanda.
Governments everywhere - including China, which made multimedia technology a priority in 1994 - have put telecommunications and information technology at the forefront of their development programs. Multinational manufacturers are scurrying to meet demand. Siemens, for example, last year announced an investment of $35 million to increase equity in its telecommunications joint venture company in Egypt.
The result for many nations is not just improved telecommunications capabilities but also - as deregulation and privatization became worldwide trends - increased foreign investment, a boom in private sector development, more employment opportunities and better education and training facilities.
The accelerated telecommunications development program in Ghana, for example, has led to increased investment and competition to expand the quantity of telephone lines and improve the quality of telecommunications services. The National Communications Authority was created to regulate a sector that now includes two national operators, five cellular mobile operators, three paging companies, seven data-service providers and three Internet service providers. Last March, an African Telecommunications Think Tank was founded in Accra to encourage better networking between African countries.
The improvement in service began when 30 percent of Ghana Telecom, the former monopoly, was sold to a consortium of strategic investors led by Telekom Malaysia in late 1996. The industry was further liberalized in 1997 when Western Telesystems Ghana Ltd. became the second national operator.
''You can see the improvement in telecommunications and the impact of competition every day,'' says Anne Ofeibea Grant, marketing manager for Westel. ''We have built a digital wireless network from scratch in just over two years and expect to have 20 percent of the market in five years.''
The competitive environment has also enabled foreign companies - from Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecom International to Virginia's United Communications International - to enter the market.
''Deregulation has enabled us to come to Ghana and create a private corporate data network using satellite and microwave technology,'' says Terry Prickett, president of NetAfrica, which is investing $30 million in Ghana. ''There is an extraordinary opportunity here for data services, because it has not been adequately provided by traditional telecommunication companies, neither before nor after privatization.''
Privatization is also occurring in Saudi Arabia, where the growth of telecommunications has lagged since a burst of investment two decades ago. The Saudi Telecommunications Company (STC) was created in 1998 and is pursuing a privatization program overseen by a number of international consulting firms. The government is establishing regulatory bodies and gradually opening telecommunications market sectors to private companies.
''It was decided that a government entity was not the correct approach to telecommunications,'' says Khalid Al Molhem, STC's chief financial officer, ''because this business operates better with private commercial, technical and investment skills. We are now following a world trend that has been successful in other countries.''
Joel Stratte-McClure