Teletimes April 2011.pdf

SAMENA’s Broadband Summit
key note address
Dr. Mohammad Ali Al-Wahaibi, Unders secretary for
Communications, Government of Oman
would like to welcome all
I the participants and guests
to Muscat for the SAMENA
Broadband Summit 2011. We
are very privileged to host
this important Summit that
gathers Industry Experts on
Broadband.
As you are aware, Broadband
networks are increasingly
recognized as fundamental
prerequisite for economic
and social development. They
serve as a communication
and transaction platform for
the entire economy and can
improve productivity across all
sectors.
it is, therefore, a key driver
of economic growth and
national competitiveness, and
it can contribute to social and
cultural development.
For many countries building
Next Generation Broadband
Networks constitute the
single largest Infrastructure
investment. Countries that
don’t join the race risk the
chance of being left behind
in future economic and social
prosperity.
However, due to the size
and scale of the Investment
of building next-generation
broadband networks, telecom
companies face a dilemma;
first the level of uncertainty
that relates to direct profitable
return is not straightforward,
second the new network
remains a field of competition,
third the regulation is not
clear, and fourth the demand is
uncertain.
Thus, due to the national
economic benefits of NBN,
government intervention is
required to expedite its rollout.
However, before a
government embarks
in Building the
Next- Generation
Broadband Network
it should balance
between many
conflicting
requirements.
The First issue
is the type of
Government
Intervention:
Should the
government
play the role of
an Observer, a
Facilitator, or a Driver?
However, before a
government decides on the
type of intervention it should
review the country specific
characteristics such as market
structure, economic indicators,
and geographic spread of the
population.
The Second issue relates to
Demand:
Is there an actual demand for
Next generation Broadband? Is
this demand certain?
Can we build the NBN and
assume that customers will
queue for it? A sort of “build it
and they will come!”
What levers that government
can apply to stimulate Demand
for NBN?
The third issue relates to
Regulation:
What is the best Regulatory
Regime for NBN? What
costing methodologies should
be adopted? What about
frequency allocation?
Are
the old
regulatory
tools such as local loop and
interconnect regimes STILL
suitable for the NBN.
Should a Regulator protect the
investment of operators on
the first-generation BB? And
how would the Regulator chart
a successful transition to the
NBN regime.
The Fourth Issue is
Competition:
Can the existing level of
competition be achieved? Or
would the new NBN reduce
competition?
Would the new competition be
in services and applications?
If the new competition is in
Services, would the new regime
dis-incentives operators from
Investing in Infrastructure? Do
operators need to review their
layers of traditional service
delivery?
The fifth issue relates to
Technology:
Does the new NBN have to
be based on fiber only?
Can mobile play a role as
well? What technology
should be used at the
access level to foster
innovation?
And finally what is the
social impact of the
NBN? Would the new
NBN Bridge the digital
divide between rural
areas and the cities?
What government policy
is needed to stimulate
delivery of intended benefits
to the underserved?
Your excellencies, ladies and
gentlemen,,,,
I have provided more questions
than answers for the purpose
of stimulating debate on the
issues surrounding NBN rollout
on this Summit. Furthermore
I strongly believe that there is
no perfect answer or a perfect
recipe for rollout of NBN that
a country can copy and apply
successfully. The debate around
NBN rollout is ongoing around
the world, and while there
are many success stories from
government5 around the world,
a country should find its own
formula based on its market
structure, social settings,
economic indicators, and the
intensity and the geographic
spread of its population.
Keeping that in mind, I am
pleased to announce that
Oman has embarked on its
own discovery exercise for the
objective of finding the best
formula of leapfrogging in
the race of Next-Generation
National Broadband Network. T
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15Apr - 14May 2011