Telecoms sector must be further liberalised: Azizul

Dhaka, Dec 10 (bdprem.com)— Disaster-prone countries in South Asia can foster cooperation in the telecommunications sector to tackle the impacts of natural calamities, speakers said Monday. Your Ad Here They said a strong regional partnership was necessary to make the services cheaper to increase subscribers' base in the region, home to one-fifth of the world's population. The statements came at the opening of the Ninth South Asian Telecommunication Regulators' Council—2007 in Dhaka. The telecoms regulators of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation countries took part in the four-day meeting to discuss how they could boost cooperation in the burgeoning sector. Iran, which enjoys the status of an observer of Saarc, also joined the meeting. Finance adviser AB Mirza Azizul Islam told the delegates that the region could benefit enormously if the regulators focused on how they could exploit the sector to save lives and property when disasters such as tsunami, floods or earthquakes strike. Azizul, who also oversees the telecommunications ministry, said improved telecommunications facilities in Bangladesh helped save lives when tropical Cyclone Sidr struck the south on Nov 15. "The South Asian countries can work more closely in tackling the impacts of such disasters," he said. Only one percent of people had access to telephony facilities a decade ago but now about 20 percent of the population enjoys the access thanks to the rapid growth of the mobile sector. A fair competition among the private sector operators backed by liberalised government policies boosted the sector's growth, the adviser said. He asked the regional regulators to take steps so that tariffs for roaming services in the region could come down. He said the region saw explosive growth in recent years and the regulators must adopt more liberalised policies to help maintain the momentum. Amarendra Narayan, secretary general of the Asia Pacific Telecommunity, an organisation for communication and information technology in the Asia Pacific region, said Asia is a big market since it is the home to 62 percent of the world's total population. He said not only South Asia but Asia could benefit from better telecommunications to deal with natural disasters. He said Bangladesh could be a good example for many.