Government says Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are currently central to the process of development.
Transport and Communications Deputy Minister Mubika Mubika says it is practically impossible for the world to be what it is in terms of politics, commerce and trade, social networking and personal well being without any means of communication.
Mr. Mubika however says the current statistics on ICT as reported by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) paints a gloomy picture of Africa.
He said the reports raises doubts as to whether the continent will be able to attain the UN Millennium Development Goal (MDG) number eight, target five, which is specific to the ICT sector.
Mr Mubika was speaking when he officiated at the International Telecommunications Regional Development Forum whose theme is “Next Generation Networks and Broadband: Opportunities and Challenges” in Lusaka today.
Speaking earlier, Communications Authority of Zambia (CAZ) Acting Chief Executive Officer Judith Tembo observed that the African Continent has continued to trail far behind the developed world in the telecommunication industry.
Mrs Tembo said although efforts are being made to reduce the digital divide, the continent is constrained by lack of adequate financial and human capacity to deploy new technologies.
She said the Next Generation Networks hold significant promise for the developed world where wireless broadband access includes the use of satellite based technologies.
Mrs. Tembo said Next Generation Networks could dramatically improve access to telecommunications particularly in rural areas.
Telecommunication Development Bureau Director Sami Al-Basheer Al Morshid said Next Generation Networks and broadband services are poised to bring significant benefits to all parts of the world.
In a speech read for him by Head of the Regional Office for Africa Brahima Sanou, Mr Morshid said the provision of broadband to the masses is one of the major challenges that face the global ICT community.
ZANIS
But why?
It is up to us to repaint the picture positive. Yes we can!
We are on track. Zamtel, Coppernet, and ZESCO have fiber optic backbone lines whcih at present are underutilized. If they lease some of that bandwidth to the public, we can see an upshoot of IT based businesses. If that does not happen then we should not be complaining. Other playes must come in the land-line phone business. The infrastructure is already there. The only thing lacking is maintenance and customer service. I don’t get it why Zamtel has not been able to provide affordable DSL connectivity and yet they have the monopoly as at now. Let’s have tax free importation on computers and communication equipment.