GOVERNMENT says the Information Communication Technology (ICT) has continued to register growth despite the global economic crisis.
Transport and Communications Deputy Minister, Mubika Mubika, said consumers all over the world have not given up on communication, adding that they were now utilising all modes of communication to find out and debate more about the state of the world economy.
He said it was because of this that the Communication Regulators Association of Southern Africa (CRASA) needs to relook at the regulation of the ICT sector so that a ‘stimulus package’ for the ICT sector in the SADC region be developed through appropriate policy recommendations and operator-consumer initiatives that would make the ICT industry a substitute to commodity based economies.
Mr Mubika added that the service sector had continued to withstand the pressure from falling commodity prices, thus pointing to the need to develop the ICT industry as a significant contributor to the National Domestic Product of member states.
Mr Mubika was speaking in Livingstone when he officially opened the Communications Regulators Association of Southern Africa Annual General Meeting (AGM) at Zambezi Sun Hotel.
He appealed to CRASA to put up measures that would guarantee access to technologies such as the internet. He observed that the internet has strongly shown that it was the medium of choice for information exchange that was changing politics, commerce, social networking and, above all, the geography of the world.
Mr Mubika, however, noted that while penetration to mobile services could be described as satisfactory in most countries, it was clear from statistics from the region that internet penetration was very low.
He said there was need to put measures in place that would dramatically increase internet access in developing countries in order to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on communication.
Mr Mubika also observed that CRASA had the responsibility of interpreting and implementing government policy in member states and at the same time played the key role to shape policies because of its interaction with the consumers and the public at large.
And Mr Mubika urged CRASA to actively engage service providers so that harmony and collaboration could prevail, but noted that clear boundaries must exist so that regulators are not compromised in undertaking their mandate.
The minister said he was happy that the meeting deliberated on technologies that make up internet access a reality because he was aware that the access to devices such as computers was still a myth among rural people.
Mr Mubika observed that CRASA had the responsibility to put up instruments to facilitate initiatives such as the one laptop per child initiative so that ICTs take root in the region.
He also urged CRASA to re-look at the regulation of the ICT sector so that a stimulus package for the ICT sector in the region could be developed through appropriate policy recommendations and operator consumer initiatives that would make the ICT industry a substitute to commodity based economies.
CRASA Chairperson, Domingos Pedro Antonnio, said the role that CRASA continues to play, such as providing a forum where a ”common voice” is carried to most regional and international forums, had proved to be crucial, adding that it was now evident that CRASA represents diverse viewpoints and interests since it allowed its membership to include other stakeholders in the ICT sector.
And Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Communications Authority of Zambia (CAZ), Richard Mwanza, said since inception, CRASA has been carrying activities within the SADC policy framework and had positively responded and developed several regional guidelines as part of the regional development, integration and harmonisation directives.
He said it was for this reason that the recognition of CRASA as an agency of SADC was not a mere demand but a legal formalisation of the linkages that already exists.
ZANIS/ENDS/FM/EB.
