Building more infrastructures and creating awareness are needed to increase mobile and mobile broadband penetration in the Asia-Pacific region to get socio-economic benefits, said telecom experts at the ITU (International Telecommunication Union) Connect Asia Pacific Summit in Bangkok.
According to the World Bank, a 10 per cent increase in mobile broadband penetration can drive a 1.4 per cent increase in GDP for low- to middle-income countries, they said.
"Mobile is a transformative technology that has had a significant economic and social impact not only in Asia, but on a global basis," said Irene Ng, Head of GSMA Asia.
She said mobile provides access to healthcare where there are no doctors, access to education where there are no teachers and access to financial services where there are no banks.
"The GSMA is pleased to be working hand in hand with ITU to accelerate the widespread adoption of mobile broadband in Asia and the Pacific, and in turn, to enable new opportunities for economic growth, technological innovation and social development," Ms Ng added.
Eun-Ju Kim, Director, ITU Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, said: "With approximately two billion mobile broadband subscriptions, mobile technology and services continue to be the key driver of the information society."
"ITU is very pleased to further strengthen its cooperation with the GSMA in order to extend the availability of mobile broadband services and realise the vision of Asia Pacific 2020: Smartly Digital," Ms Kim said.
Two international events - a daylong 'ITU Connect Asia-Pacific' and four- day-long 'Telecom World 2013' - are taking place at the same venue. Telecom experts from regulators and operators from across the world are attending the events. Telecom World 2013 will begin today (Tuesday).
In next sessions, several key issues will be discussed of which "Building Cyber Security Capabilities in the Developing World: Needs, Challenges, and the Role of Public-Private Partnerships" and "Funding and Pricing of Next Generation Broadband Networks" are worth mentioning.
According to the programme manual, building adequate cyber security frameworks and response mechanisms in developing countries has become increasingly difficult and an urgent issue in which the international community as well as other cyber security actors can play a key role.
Besides, the telecom leaders are thinking of developing nationwide fibre network through public-private partnership (PPP).
© 2024 - All Rights with The Financial Express
