[Press-releases] Press Release - Bridging the digital divide - SPC members welcome digital strategy

[Rosita Hoffmann]

Press Release

 

Bridging the digital divide - SPC members welcome digital strategy

 

Friday 9 November 2007, Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) CRGA
37, Apia, Samoa - Member countries and territories of the Secretariat of
the Pacific Community (SPC) have welcomed two major initiatives that are
aimed at bridging the communication divide in the region.

 

Speaking at the 37th meeting of Committee of Representatives of
Governments and Administrations (CRGA 37) in Apia, Samoa, American
Samoa's delegate Toetasi Tuiteleapaga said that, like other countries at
the meeting, American Samoa is very excited about the initiatives.

 

Australia will fund the Pacific rural satellite interconnectivity system
(Pacific RICS) and France has committed to funding the SPIN submarine
cable network. Both projects, which are spearheaded by SPC and the
Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, are aimed at improving access to
communications technology, especially in rural areas.

 

"We see this as an economic development initiative. American Samoa has
been trying to bridge its digital gap, so to say, and SPIN is but one of
the projects American Samoa is working on," said Tuiteleapaga, American
Samoa's Chief Legal Adviser to the Governor.

 

Fiji's delegate to CRGA 37, Foreign Affairs official Veretariki
Lomalagi, said the digital strategy is very important to the people of
the Pacific. Lomalagi said it complements the work of the Fiji
Government in trying to deregulate the telecommunications market. "The
high cost of telecommunications services is something the people in Fiji
are talking about a lot, and the implementation of this project will
surely bring about competition - which would definitely lead to a
reduction in the cost of telecommunication services."

 

The Kiribati High Commissioner to Fiji, Reteta Nikauta-Rimon, said
connectivity is a development issue for her country. "The prospects of
having these solutions for countries like us would certainly promote not
just greater awareness and connectivity between the main centre of
administration and the community, but also bridge the isolation of our
people."

 

Tonga's Deputy Secretary in the Prime Minister's Office and its delegate
to CRGA 37, Falekava Kupu, said the digital strategy will be very useful
for Tonga in the long term. "It will complement existing educational and
teaching aids. For over 40 years we've been using radio as a teaching
aid reaching out to remote islands. I think that this project here will
complement that."

 

SPC's Director-General, Dr Jimmie Rodgers, called on CRGA 37 to consider
engaging in these types of technology. "The fact is, they are there.
Before, they were not there or they were too expensive. Now they are
there, and it is the role of governments to consider rolling them out so
that they can benefit more of their communities."

 

Dr Rodgers acknowledged the assistance provided by Australia and France
for the two projects. 

 

"We would encourage all member countries to think seriously about RICS
and invest in it so that they can actually spread the benefits to the
rest of the community. For the 12 countries in the SPIN project, we'd
encourage you to engage seriously so that the benefits of unlimited
bandwidth lower-cost communications can hit your countries and put you
on the same page as developed countries in communication. We also urge
this CRGA to encourage ministries of education to analyse the OLPC [One
Laptop Per Child] initiative to see how useful that technology might be
for education systems," said Dr Rodgers.

 

"And, most importantly, we urge the regulatory sector to encourage
national telecommunications regulators - which are normally part of
governments rather than the private sector - to look at issuing licences
on VSAT for 'public good' institutions like schools, clinics, police
posts and administrative centres in rural areas, to give them real
potential for accessing this technology." 

 

For more information, contact Rita Narayan, SPC correspondent for CRGA
37 and the 5th Pacific Community Conference, via email: ritan at spc.int
<mailto:ritan at spc.int>  or by phone: +685 7206902. You can also check
the SPC website at www.spc.int.

 

Background information:

 

SPC's governing council is the Conference of the Pacific Community,
which meets every two years. In years when the Conference does not meet,
the Committee of Representatives of Governments and Administrations
(CRGA - a committee of the Conference) is empowered to make decisions.
The Government of Samoa is hosting the 2007 meetings of the SPC
governing body in Apia: the 37th Meeting of CRGA (7-9 November 2007) and
the 5th Conference of the Pacific Community (12-13 November 2007). The
5th Conference is also the 60th Anniversary Conference of SPC, as 2007
marks SPC's 60th year of service to the Pacific region.

 

SPC member countries and territories: American Samoa, Australia, Cook
Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji Islands, France, French
Polynesia, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, New
Zealand, Niue, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea,
Pitcairn Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, United
States of America, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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