Information and Communication Industry
CEBU, Philippines - The telecoms industry works best for the economies which it serves if well structured. The desired telecoms industry is well reflected in legislation in most ASEAN economies, but the reality is often different. All operators should be on a level playing field with arms’length licensing from a single NRA, a wholesale market with mandate access pricing, fair interconnect and competition regulation. The protection of incumbent operators and national champions inevitably hurts users and the wider economy which the industry serves. The EU ICT industry encourages foreign investment participation in info-comms and avoiding special anti-foreigner rules, including foreign equity limitations.
Here are a few recommendations:
These positions and recommendations are based on the common interests of that voice of business in ASEAN economies which support open markets and fair competition, support foreign investment and foreign ownership, and service sector liberalization and recognizes ICT as an engine for innovative growth. The vast differences in the state of development and effective use of ICTs across ASEAN are shown in the Networked Readiness Index (see Figure below). But integration forces are reflected in these regional positions and also the aims of the ASEAN ICT Masterplan.
•The telecoms sector needs the right structure; fair and equal treatment, ideally all operators under the same kind of license conditions from a single regulator where foreign investment is encouraged and foreign ownership not limited.
•Modify laws and rules to support the free movement of skilled people and invest more in education and training in ICT areas.
•Modify rules and practices to meet the three dimensions of the national regulator: independent of government direction; independent of any operator; integrity.
•Changes in ITU Regulations to allow for intrusion, censorship etcare not conducive to continuation of the positive contributions of the Internet.
•Data management / data protection legal regimes are needed (in the Philippines we are almost there – the Data Privacy Act is in place; the Cybercrime Prevention Act is ‘hanging’ in the Supreme Court, illustrating the challenge of potential over-reach: balancing the importance of protection from intrusion with maintaining certain freedoms) ; there are benefits having a regional model which also provides a workable regime for cross border flows.
In the Networked Readiness Index (2012) published by WEF & INSEAD (Global IT Report of 142 countries), the ranking is as follows.
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