WS #155 Digital Leap- Enhancing Connectivity in the Offline World

Summary

This discussion focused on addressing connectivity challenges in developing regions, particularly in South Asia and Africa. Experts highlighted the significant digital divide, with billions still offline globally. Key challenges identified included infrastructure gaps, affordability issues, and lack of digital literacy. Participants emphasized the need for innovative technologies and policies to expand access, especially in rural and underserved areas.

The discussion explored various strategies to improve connectivity. These included prioritizing bandwidth, promoting passive infrastructure sharing, leveraging satellite technologies, and adopting flexible licensing regimes. Experts stressed the importance of public-private partnerships and regional cooperation in driving progress. The role of universal service funds in subsidizing connectivity for underserved areas was highlighted, though concerns about their effective utilization were raised.

Capacity building emerged as a crucial factor, with speakers emphasizing the need to develop local technical skills and digital literacy. The potential of community networks and open technologies like Open RAN to reduce costs and foster innovation was discussed. Regulatory challenges were addressed, with calls for more adaptive frameworks to encourage new entrants and business models.

The discussion concluded by emphasizing the shared responsibility of stakeholders in promoting adaptive policies, targeted investments, and collaborative efforts to achieve universal internet access. Participants agreed on the need for continued dialogue and action to bridge the digital divide and ensure inclusive connectivity.

Keypoints

Major discussion points:

– The current state of connectivity and challenges in developing regions, particularly South Asia

– Policy frameworks and regulatory measures needed to enhance connectivity

– Innovative technologies and partnerships that can help address connectivity challenges

– The role of capacity building and digital literacy in bridging the digital divide

– The importance of collaboration between governments, private sector, and civil society

Overall purpose/goal:

The purpose of this discussion was to explore challenges affecting connectivity in the developing world and identify actionable strategies to improve internet access and digital inclusion, particularly in underserved areas.

Tone:

The tone of the discussion was largely informative and collaborative. Speakers shared insights and experiences from their respective regions and areas of expertise in a constructive manner. There was a sense of urgency about addressing connectivity challenges, but the overall tone remained optimistic about potential solutions through policy reforms, technological innovation, and multi-stakeholder partnerships. The tone became slightly more critical when discussing regulatory barriers or lack of progress in certain areas, but remained solution-oriented throughout.

Speakers

– Omar Ansari: Digital Leap South Asia Project Lead at APNIC Foundation, Moderator

– Mahesh Uppal: Director of Comfors Private Limited, Digital leader and consultant to regulatory authorities in India

– Jimson Olufuye: Chair of the Africa ICT Alliance advisory council, Principal Consultant at Contemporary Consulting Limited

– Mohamed Shareef: Former Minister of Communications in Maldives, now in private sector

– Maria Beebe: Consultant IDG, Asia Open RAN Academy

– Syed Mohammad Shariar Jawed: Senior ICT Specialist, Economic Infrastructure at the Islamic Development Bank

– Shernon Osepa: Telecom and Internet Operations and Policy Strategist, Strategic advisor with the Caribbean Telecommunication Union

Additional speakers:

– Mirvez Khan: Works with a leading telecom company in Afghanistan

– Elisa: From Vietnam but based in Germany

– Nanjing Youth Development Center student

– Ajmal Amiri: Raised question about cyber awareness

Expanded Summary of Connectivity Discussion

Introduction

This discussion focused on addressing connectivity challenges in developing regions, particularly in South Asia and Africa. Experts from various backgrounds, including regulatory consultants, government officials, and development specialists, convened to explore strategies for improving internet access and digital inclusion in underserved areas. The dialogue highlighted the significant digital divide that persists globally, with billions still offline, and emphasised the urgent need for innovative solutions to bridge this gap.

The session began with an introduction to the Digital Leap South Asia Project, which aims to address key policy questions related to digital transformation in the region. These questions include how to leverage digital technologies for economic growth, improve digital infrastructure, and enhance digital skills and literacy.

Current State of Connectivity and Challenges

Omar Ansari provided specific connectivity statistics for South Asian countries, highlighting the disparities in internet penetration across the region. The discussion emphasized the importance of looking beyond headline statistics to understand the true state of connectivity, as official figures often overestimate actual internet penetration due to multiple accounts per user.

Jimson Olufuye, representing the Africa ICT Alliance, highlighted the economic significance of improved connectivity, noting that a 10% increase in internet penetration could yield up to an 8.2% increase in GDP per capita. This statistic provided a compelling economic rationale for investing in digital infrastructure and access.

Speakers identified several key challenges hindering connectivity in developing regions:

1. Infrastructure gaps, particularly in rural and geographically isolated areas

2. Affordability issues, especially concerning smartphones

3. Lack of digital literacy and technical skills

4. Insufficient institutional capacity and feasibility studies for connectivity projects

5. High government fees and aging subsea cable infrastructure in regions like the Caribbean

Mirvez Khan, an audience member, highlighted specific challenges in Afghanistan, including limited internet access, high costs, and the need for improved infrastructure and digital literacy programs.

Mohamed Shareef, former Minister of Communications in Maldives, emphasised the unique challenges faced by island nations, where prioritising bandwidth is crucial for connecting dispersed populations.

Policy Frameworks and Regulatory Measures

The discussion highlighted the need for adaptive policy frameworks and regulatory measures to enhance connectivity. Key points included:

1. Focus on disaggregated connectivity solutions and meaningful connectivity

2. Multi-stakeholder engagement and collaborative frameworks

3. Liberal and collaborative regulatory environment

4. Integration of capacity building into national ICT policies

5. Country-driven understanding and tailored solutions

6. Regional coordination, especially in areas like the Caribbean

Innovative Technologies and Partnerships

The discussion explored various technological solutions and partnership models to improve connectivity:

1. TV white spaces and IPv6 for enhancing connectivity in underserved areas

2. Open RAN technology for interoperability and cost reduction

3. Public-private partnerships, as exemplified in Maldives

4. Satellite technologies for reaching remote areas

5. Community networks for extending connectivity to underserved communities

6. Energy-efficient technologies for sustainable connectivity solutions

Syed Mohammad Shariar Jawed from the Islamic Development Bank discussed the digital village project in Pakistan, which aims to bring connectivity and digital services to rural areas. Maria Beebe highlighted the Free Internet Wi-Fi Connectivity in Public Places program in the Philippines as an example of expanding access.

Capacity Building and Digital Literacy

Maria Beebe provided a detailed list of critical skill gaps contributing to the digital divide, including digital literacy, technical skills, and infrastructure management. The Asia Open RAN Academy was mentioned as an initiative to address capacity building in the region.

Collaboration and Regional Cooperation

The discussion underscored the importance of collaboration between governments, the private sector, and civil society. Syed Mohammad Shariar Jawed emphasized the Islamic Development Bank’s digital inclusion strategic partnership program. Shernon Osepa highlighted regional cooperation in the Caribbean, focusing on disaster resilience for telecom infrastructure and addressing data sovereignty challenges.

Unresolved Issues and Future Directions

Several issues remained unresolved or required further attention:

1. Effectively addressing smartphone affordability

2. Balancing government regulation with innovation in the telecom sector

3. Connecting geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas

4. Improving the utilisation of Universal Service Funds, as discussed by Jimson

5. Enhancing cyber awareness and security in developing regions, a concern raised by an audience member and addressed by multiple speakers

Conclusion

The discussion provided a comprehensive overview of connectivity challenges in developing regions and explored a range of potential solutions. Key takeaways include the need to address infrastructure, affordability, and digital literacy challenges simultaneously; the importance of flexible policies and public-private partnerships; and the potential of innovative technologies and financing models to provide scalable solutions for digital inclusion. The session underscored the critical role of connectivity in driving economic development and social inclusion, emphasizing the urgency of concerted efforts to ensure universal and meaningful internet access in the digital age.

Omar Ansari: Okay, we can see your channel now. All right. Thank you very much. Good morning. Sabah al-khayr, ladies and gents. My name is Omar Ansari, and I work for the APNIC Foundation as its Digital Leap South Asia Project Lead. According to ITU, approximately 2.6 billion people worldwide are offline. Most of these individuals reside in the developing world, with South Asia accounting for about 57% of the world’s offline population. Thereby, in six of the South Asian economies, around 50% of the population lacks Internet access. Afghanistan, 82%, Pakistan, 54%, Bangladesh, 55%, Sri Lanka, 43%, India, 47%, and Nepal, 48%. Other regions with significant online population include Nigeria, Indonesia, and China. Asia alone harbors around 1.9 billion offline population, making it the most offline regions globally. Some of our participants seem that you can hear us. Okay, now go ahead. APNIC Foundation’s Digital Leap South Asia Project organizes this session to explore the challenges affecting connectivity in the developing world. developing world and explore actionable strategies. The session aims to address three policy questions. One, how can policymakers adopt regulatory frameworks to promote innovation and investment? Two, what strategies can be implemented to address the digital divide and ensure equitable access to the internet connectivity? Three, how can regional cooperation initiatives be strengthened to foster collaboration among countries in addressing shared challenges in accelerating efforts towards universal internet access? This is a panel discussion, and I’m joined by leaders and experts from across the globe. Mahesh Upal, Director of Comfors Private Limited. Jameson Olufeye, Principal Consultant at Contemporary Consulting Limited. Mohammad Sharif, Director of Government and International Relations at Auxia Enterprise. Syed Mohammad Shariar Jawed, Senior ICD Specialist, Economic Infrastructure at the Islamic Development Bank. Dr. Maria Bibi, Consultant IDG, Asia Open RAN Academy. She’s online. And Sharnon Osipa, Telecom and Internet Operations and Policy Strategist, who’s also online. The panel discussion would be 60 minutes, and it will be organized in three segments. Segment number one, we’ll discuss the current state of connectivity and challenges. Segment number two, we’ll discuss policy framework. and regulatory measures, and segment number three will discuss innovative technologies and partnerships. The discussion will be followed by a Q&A session, which will be approximately 30 minutes, and we’re interested in taking questions from the audiences. So please make it as interactive and participatory as you can. So let’s start with segment number one, which is about the current state of connectivity and challenges. So I’ll come to my distinguished speakers. Mahesh, let’s start with you. In the context of South Asia, particularly India, what are the key infrastructure or policy challenges hindering broader internet connectivity, and how they can be addressed?

Speaker 1: Yeah, thanks, Omar. And ladies and gentlemen, it’s a great pleasure to speak to you. We all know that today, internet, of course, is central to more or less every aspect of our social as well as economic lives. So it’s critical that we understand what the challenges themselves are in terms of internet access. And I think for that, we also need to have a more nuanced look at some of the numbers that we are talking about. And while I’ll try and use India as an example, but I suspect the issues are common to most countries, especially in South Asia, but also probably amongst the developing world. Thank you, Omar. Thank you. I’m going to talk about three particular aspects. One is the number of users that we are talking about, the nature of usage, and the kind of methods in which people are accessing internet and what the challenges might be. Now, India, for instance, officially claims to have roughly about 1.2 billion phone connections and roughly 950 million internet users. However, I think like all of us know that most of this usage is wireless and wireless users in particular tend to have multiple accounts. So when you actually look at the unique number of users of telephone connections or indeed internet connections, you find that that number probably is roughly about 65 odd percent of this larger number. And so the number of unique users is about that. And even there, what we also notice is roughly about 60% of the phone lines and the internet connections are urban, where roughly 30 odd, 35% of the people live or 30% of the people and roughly about 50% of the connections are rural. And they’re actually more than 70 odd percent of the people live. So again, you have a sense of how the distribution of access is. Further, you also see that the, now you come to the type of usage. For instance, you will also notice that roughly 300 million Indian users out of the 1.2 billion relies still on 2G technologies, 2G phones. So, you can also begin to understand that the quality of internet access on a 2G phone is barely functional. So, beyond WhatsApp, etc., sorry, beyond simple SMSs, there is very little data that you can use in a 2G connection. And much the same thing, a similar message can also be drawn from the kind of usage people have. So, for example, whether it is WhatsApp, Facebook, YouTube, etc., we have roughly about half a billion, close to 500 million users. So when you try and imagine a typical internet user who does not use any of these services, you will find that number probably is a very, very negligible small number. So the limited point I’m making is that we haven’t really captured the actual quality or if indeed the intensity of the lack of connectivity in South Asia. So that is something that I point out and we’ll come to that. And I’ll just mention, this is largely because regulators across South Asia have been focused on aggregate numbers rather than unique users. And we’ll discuss that further. I hope that…

Omar Ansari: That was a very good start. You’ve touched upon the number of users, the issues that you raised in nature of usage. And what are the methods of the usage in India and the broader developing world? Jameson, you have a lot of experience of working in Nigeria and the wider African region. Most of it is developing. How do you see the lack of connectivity? affecting the socio-economic development in those regions.

Speaker 2: Thank you very much, Romar. And greetings, everyone. My name again is James Ndolufuye. I’m the chair of the Africa ICT Alliance. That’s the advisory council of the Africa ICT Alliance. It’s an alliance of ICT associations, companies, and professionals across Africa, 43 countries in Africa, so to speak. So it’s not only Nigeria, but the spectrum, as you said, covers Africa and also globally. Well, the topic is very, very important. It’s really crucial. And when we talk about connectivity, without connectivity, you are not in the digital world. And not just connectivity, just as mice talk about meaningful connectivity. It’s very important. Meaningful connectivity so that you can really have something productive to do with it. So in developing world, at least let us have connectivity. Nigeria, for example, we had 75% internet penetration. And that even got reduced last two months to about 61%, because there was a requirement for NIN, National Identity Card Number, National Identity Number to be ported to the phone number. So those that are not ported, they were cut off. So that is to agree with you, that around 61% is the actual people. Okay. But these are in the cities, okay, basically. So to reach the interior, we need to use, because the interior is a challenge, getting to the connectivity to the interior. There is this fund called Universal Service Provision Fund. It has not been used very well. Even at the session, that was the last session I attended. where a panel didn’t even know that there is a universal service provision fund by ITU. So we need to talk more about that and our regulators are using that fund. So stakeholders within their countries, they need to engage the regulators and find out how it is being used to subsidize reach into the underserved areas. And lastly, I did a report on behalf of UNECA, United Nation Economic Commission of Africa. And that report showed that a 10% increase in internet penetration yield up to 8.2% increase in GDP per capita. So that is an incentive to government to take this thing very seriously. Thank you very much.

Omar Ansari: And that was very good. And in a point that was new as well, like the relation of internet connectivity to GDP increase. That’s very interesting. Sharif, you worked as Minister of Communications. You were in the government and now in the private sector in Maldives. How are the islands economies addressing the challenges, especially Maldives and other geographically unique economies? And how do you see, what are your advice and good practices that could be utilized?

Speaker 3: Thank you. Well, let me start by thanking Ethnic Foundation for inviting us to share our perspective as well. As Omar pointed out, I am from the island context. A small island developing states, we call ourselves SIDS. But in reality, we are large ocean country. If you take Maldives, for example, the country is as big. is some European countries, but the land mass is only less than one percent. So our challenge is how do you connect hundreds and hundreds of islands, small islands, across hundreds and hundreds of kilometers of ocean? And I will give you the answer because I only have two minutes. So the answer is prioritizing connectivity, prioritizing bandwidth, right? As developing countries, we have many needs, but we have few resources. And often we say, okay, we’ve got poverty, we’ve got health issues, we’ve got education, we’ve got no money for connectivity, infrastructure. But I think today we’ve got to, if we want to actually tackle poverty, if you want better health, if you want better education, we’ve got to invest in infra. In Maldives, we’ve gone from a geostationary internet gateway back in 2004, pre-tsunami, to today we have five submarine cables landing in the Maldives. And we have a Starlink LEO-based satellite communication. Because over the, especially between 2020 and 2023, we prioritized just having bandwidth. Thank you.

Omar Ansari: The bandwidth prioritization, that’s one key important issue. And I think many of the countries in our region, in South Asia particularly, when I was in Afghanistan, the bandwidth was not addressing the needs of the country. So one of the solutions could be to battle with import in the flow. And that will really affect the cost and the quality of services, and more people will connect. Thank you very much, Sharif. Let’s take some views from our online participants. Maria, from the capacity-building perspective in the developing world, what critical skill gaps do you see that’s affecting the digital divide, and what could be done to address this?

Maria Beebe: Hi, everyone. Can you hear me? Thank you, Omar. I’m just going to dive right into the critical skill gaps contributing to the digital divide. First is basic digital literacy, which is the lack of foundational digital skills, such as using computers, smartphones, or navigating the Internet, which limits ability to access information, services, and opportunities online. Another one is advanced technical skills, such as programming, cybersecurity, data analytics, and AI, which hinders local innovation and participation in the global digital economy. A third is telecommunications and network infrastructure. Some of you have already discussed that, but skills in network design, management, and maintenance, for example, open run, 5G deployment, they need to be developed in developing regions to speed up digital infrastructure expansion. Fourth, we normally don’t think about this entrepreneurial and business skills, knowledge to leverage digital technologies for entrepreneurship, local businesses, and economic growth. And some of you already talked a little bit about the policy and regulatory considerations. There is a need for technical knowledge to develop and implement effective digital policies, because policies that are not effective hinder equitable access and innovation. And there’s language barriers, limited proficiency in global languages, can restrict access to online content, training and collaboration opportunities. A couple more, teacher training in digital education. Educators often lack the skills to integrate digital tools into their teaching and learning, and they perpetuate a cycle of low digital literacy. Finally, of course, cultural and gender barriers, where women and marginalized groups have less access to digital skills, training, perpetuating existing inequities. I think half of my question is to like strategies to bridge skill gaps. I think I shall leave that for the question and answer. Thank you.

Omar Ansari: Thank you, Maria.

Maria Beebe: We lost you, Omar.

Speaker 4: Thank you. We’ve done fiber optic backbone programs in West Africa and Sierra Leone and the Gambia. So we do have financed a good number of projects and we’re working closely with other MDBs like African Development Bank, the World Bank, and of course we are now working on developing certain programs in the Arab and African states in partnership with UNDP, with ITU. But what we have really realized is the lack of capacity, the institutional capacity in terms of master plan in order to bridge the dollar-digital divide in the country, and also of course lack of proper feasibility studies of large-scale infrastructure projects that we have realized is the main bottleneck that we believe that is resisting in terms of bridging the digital divide in our member states. So probably I’ll stop here and of course I’ll be happy to share more examples later on.

Omar Ansari: Thank you, Sheryar. So lack of bankable documentation, lack of prioritization, the lack of institutional capacity to do all these is a major challenge that Sheryar touched upon. Do we have Shanon online? Yes. Okay. Yes. You can hear me? Yes, I can. I can. Shanon, thank you very much and sorry for the technical issues. In the Caribbean context, what disparities in the internet access do you observe and how these disparities influence regional development priorities? Yes.

Shernon Osepa: First of all, I would like to thank you, Omar, as well for the invitation. I’m a strategic advisor with the Caribbean Telecommunication Union, so we have been observing several challenges within the Caribbean. First, the Caribbean is very diverse. When we talk about the Caribbean, sometimes people think it’s a country, you know, but we have a lot of islands. and countries in the Caribbean and each one of them are different. If we look, we do have for example two big extremes. If we look for example at the poorest country in this western hemisphere which is Haiti, its internet penetration is approximately 39 percent and when we look at countries within the Caribbean, the Bahamas, Barbados and others which higher GDPs, their internet penetration is above, is more than 80 percent. So we are seeing big disparities in the Caribbean and this is also true when we look at the technologies being used. Mostly in the Caribbean, we are using mobile technologies, 3G and 4G, mostly 4G and nowadays there are some discussions and pilots ongoing with respect to 5G, but we haven’t seen a big let’s say case for 5G as yet. So when we look at the challenges, we look, we have some economic barriers. For example, very high government fees. The Caribbean is also part of the SIDS, small island development states, so they have some very unique challenges. We see high government fees, taxes, dominance of over-the-top providers which especially telecoms operators are saying they are not receiving enough revenue based on all these over-the-top services being provided. When we look at the infrastructure itself, it has some challenges as I did mention. It depends which country you are looking at. Some are very well developed some are less developed and one other very important issue that we’re having that you’re focusing right now in the Caribbean is the what we call the subsea cables as you know all the all the internet traffic is being transported over the subsea cables and what we have in the Caribbean is quite old most of these cables are reaching their end of life period so we need to find ways how to if we would if we would like to continue for the for the for the development to continue to see how we can enhance all these subsea cables so this is very high level maybe later on in the questions and answers I’ll make a more a deep dive but for now this is very high level what what we’re seeing in the Caribbean thank you very much.

Omar Ansari: thank you very much Shannon you’ve also touched upon the correlation of GDP with connectivity earlier Jimson said that the higher the connectivity the higher the GDP so it enhances GDP if more people are connected so it means connectivity should be prioritized so that you know enhance the GDP in terms of the over the top operators in the ARPU when I was in Afghanistan the operators would complain that our ARPU is very low because there were complaints about the price of internet and when I did a little calculation the ARPU of the afghan operators were higher than India and Pakistan so that that was much higher and there were times it was like extremely high when the NATO forces were still in Afghanistan but they kept the price really really unaffordable for the Afghan population, and you see around 80% of the country is still offline. So these are some of the challenges that we need to identify and in address. So with this, we’re done with our first segment, but I’m happy to take one comment or question from the floor before we open the second segment of our conversation. Is there anybody who would like to share an opinion or question? So the gentlemen, we’ll take one, and then in the next segment, we’ll take another one. So perhaps we could take you next. So please keep it brief at one minute so we can, yeah, there will be a Q&A later as well.

Audience: Hello, everyone. This is Ajmal Amiri. I have a suggestion and request. We have a big challenge in cyber awareness. We have a big challenge in cyber awareness. Most of the people who are educated or uneducated, they are using internet without knowing the threat of cyber attacks and how to use internet in a safe manner. So it will be better to have a plan and awareness program for cyber attacks outside of Afghanistan and the same in the other countries. So cyber attacks, how we can secure our infrastructure and how we can protect our populations from the cyber attacks.

Omar Ansari: Who would like to comment on that? Okay, so a quick one from Sharif and then Jimson.

Speaker 3: I think the point that’s been raised is extremely important as we are trying to connect everybody. We have to understand that. What are the dangers for individuals in the cyberspace and we had to put in national programs in place to make everyone as a contributor to a safer digital space nationally and globally. So yes, a cyber awareness should be a national strategy and program. Thank you.

Speaker 2: Yes, indeed, very important question. So I’d like that, because of this importance, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, actually commissioned that report, and that report, I mentioned on internet penetration connection to GDP, also talks about cyber security maturity connection to GDP. A 10% increase in maturity, cyber security maturity will yield around 5.4% increase in GDP per capita. So that is to underscore the fact that government need to take cyber security maturity very seriously to build trust the internet. And lastly on this, we build a framework, a framework for organization for enterprises for countries to assess themselves on that is maturity assessment. So if you want to check it out, you can check it out, it’s still available free you can check your organization maturity is at tcm.africa. So through that link, you can check your gaps, so that you can improve on your cyber maturity measures to bridge gaps. Thank you.

Omar Ansari: So another interesting finding, the relation of, of cyber security maturity with the GDP.

Shernon Osepa: who has shown on what do you like to comment on this yes yes yes very very quick we have seen especially during the covid pandemic in the caribbean when governments started to use more their portals to communicate with the with the community that also the cyber criminals or the criminals let me call like them decided okay this is an opportunity for us as well you know so while we’re trying to address connectivity try to get more people connected we need to be aware that the cyber that criminals also will use this mean to contact let’s say potential victims and it’s it’s very important to look at a few areas when we talk about the cyber talk about cyber security just the domain names you can have ways how to protect them okay we don’t have time to go in depth right now but it’s a very important topic that we need to focus on because criminals also are using these very important tools which is the internet to contact their victims.

Omar Ansari: thank you with this thank you shannon with this i’d like to move to our segment number two which is policy frameworks and regulatory measures the purpose of this segment is to evaluate the current policies for effectiveness regulatory balance between innovation affordability and privacy and the government’s role in driving connectivity and inclusion such as gender i’ll go back to my i’ll go back to mahesh mahesh what specific policy reforms in india or south asia could most effectively enhance connectivity in rule uh in underserved areas

Speaker 1: well picking up from what Shannon, in particular, and Jimson have mentioned, but also from what I was saying, a key regulatory shift in focus that is required is what I would call disaggregation. That is to look at different parts of this, the lack of connectivity puzzle. Now, clearly, there are wireless technologies, terrestrial mobile that we are all familiar with, has been a godsend for most countries, particularly developing countries. They have managed to expand in telephone as well as internet access in a very, very speedy way. However, there are gaps. For example, the same cellular technologies are not particularly suitable in remote areas. They’re extremely expensive to use in those areas. Similarly, there are other technologies which are actually more appropriate. But sadly, I think for most of the regulatory regimes that I’ve studied are focused on the aggregate connectivity. I think they are missing the point that certain very, very important disadvantaged areas and populations are getting caught in the middle. So, for example, we do need focus on technologies like satellites for remote areas. We also need to make sure that other, for instance, most of the telecom sector everywhere in this region is led by telcos. And telcos have their strengths in that they have managed to connect countries, but they also have their own commercial imperatives. So, I think we have to recognise that some of the less attractive commercial usage will need other players. We’ll need other technologies. And that is something which the regulators need to open their eyes to in a way and focus on and to enable that environment. I’ll stop here, but we’ll take it up.

Omar Ansari: Thank you, Mahesh. Technologies are changing, they’re advancing. The regulator needs to be, you know, they should adopt the change. They should be more flexible. That’s, I think, a key message that…

Speaker 1: People are falling between the cracks and they need to be…

Omar Ansari: Right. Right. So, in how they could be protected, these are some of the key issues. Mahesh, thank you very much. Jimson, how has Nigeria or Africa or similar countries in Africa or other places that you’ve been working in have managed to balance between fostering innovation and ensuring affordability in the digital services? Earlier, you spoke about the relation of connectivity with digital services. You talked about the SIM card registration perhaps enhancing connectivity in Africa. What do you say about this?

Speaker 2: Thank you very much again for that brilliant question. As was understood, at a global level, good frameworks… Look at recently the Global Data Compact, Path for the Future, with five objectives bridging, you know, digital divides, making everybody to have the benefit of digital economy, human rights, talking about data governance, talking about AI management for peace, for progress. At a global level, regional level in Africa, we have a number of frameworks like Malabo Convention. like the African Union, data, and many framework to guide us. But the key challenge is in the countries, inside the countries. And in Nigeria, for example, we have made a lot of progress because I got your points. The government listened to all the stakeholders. So you now have a multi-stakeholder engagement framework. They listen to the private sector, the civil society, the academy, and the technical communities. We all came into the roundtable. The president called where we have issues so that we can resolve amicably. And through that collaboration, we’re able to resolve many techniques. For example, the management of dot-ng. There was crisis over that, but the government, the president, called all the stakeholders, resolve it. So very important, we need that multi-stakeholder engagement at the local level so that we can find solution. As I mentioned earlier, the issue of management of universal service provision fund is a major challenge across Africa. Many collected, and in the session yesterday, she was talking about mismanagement or corruption. And then the way to that is digitalization. When you digitalize processes, you can deliver services to the citizens cheaply and affordably. And of course, when we allow citizens to have a stake, the regulators have a forum whereby they meet with all citizens quarterly. They have a meeting with all citizens. So they call in, and here, they take action. Thank you very much.

Omar Ansari: Thank you, Jameson. So with digitalization, the people will be part of the development process. Citizens will have a say. And this could also address the issues related to. corruption, perhaps. Mahmoud Sharif, what were the successful policy regulatory strategies in Maldives that helped with the connectivity?

Speaker 3: Thank you. I think if we actually draw some lessons from where Maldives has been and where it’s going, for example, having achieved over 85% internet penetration and 50% 5G penetration, I definitely would say overall the regulatory framework or the regulatory regime has to have two key features. One, it’s got to be liberal. Two, it’s got to be collaborative. And this is the challenge. How can you have a regulatory environment where the regulator, the service providers, and the policymaker, minimum these three players, can come together and work on a consensus-based policy environment and develop aligned strategies? So the national policies, the regulators’ strategic guidance and protections of the customers align with how the service providers want to invest in that market. Ultimately, everybody wants to protect the market integrity because if there’s no market, there is no incentive for private sector investment. In a country where hundreds of kilometres of domestic submarine cables now connect hundreds of islands, this has been the key. Plus, how do you bring in international ISPs like Starlink? Again, because we have have a collaborative environment where service providers and the regulator and the government spend a lot of time. And now, the final point, the national IGF, the fourth stakeholder, need to come together. Thank you.

Omar Ansari: Thank you, Sharif. So the need for policymaker, regulator, and operator to work together. And there is a fourth segment that you’ve mentioned is the community, or let’s call it the consumer, which was mentioned before. So they can work together to develop and enhance the policy and regulatory environment. Thank you very much, Sharif. How can governments in developing countries integrate capacity-building initiatives into the regulatory frameworks to drive digital inclusion?

Maria Beebe: You want me to take that, Omar? Yes, please. I guess I’m keeping with the capacity-building theme. So I guess a few suggestions. For example, integrating capacity-building into national ICT policies. For example, developing national digital skills agendas, setting targets, mandating digital skills training programs. At the same time, requiring telecom companies and Internet service providers to support training initiatives as part of their licensing agreements. Another example is to establish digital inclusion funds where a percentage of revenues from telecom operators or… spectrum auctions is allocated to fund digital skills, skill training and inclusion programs. Then there’s another big basket of strategies related to public-private partnerships. For example, collaborations with industry leaders. I’m not sure the word is mandating, but encouraging partnerships with tech companies to develop training programs tailored to local needs, such as open-run deployment or 5G infrastructure management. And that’s part of the work that’s being done by the Asia Open Run Academy in the Philippines. Another maybe possible area for discussion for regulatory discussion is providing tax breaks or other incentives for companies in upskilling local talent in digital technologies. And of course, in some countries, they already have corporate social responsibility, leveraging that to sponsor digital literacy and advanced IT training programs. What I find in the Philippines is a lot of corporate social responsibility. They prefer to do food drops and so on. So like it’s trying to convince people that digital literacy is just as important than food in the stomach, just as important. Another one is regulating for workforce development in emerging technologies. That includes creating training standards for new technologies, like establishing guidelines for capacity building in critical emerging fields like 5G, open run, cybersecurity that was mentioned, and it should be tied to global standards like 3GPP or an alliance. And I’ll give one more example. in terms of certification and licensing requirements, including digital skills certifications as prerequisites for employment in regulated sectors, such as telecommunications or IT.

Omar Ansari: Thank you very much, Maria. Some very insightful discussions. I particularly like the idea of digital inclusion fund. Most of the countries have a universal fund. Perhaps a portion of this universal fund could be allocated to digital inclusion. And tech companies and telcos also investing in capacity building because without digital literacy, perhaps it would be really difficult for people to connect. The first thing is the connectivity and second is how that connectivity could be meaningful and how it can become meaningful is for the people, the users to understand how they can better utilize the internet and technologies. Shannon, what lessons from global best practices in regulatory framework could be applied to promote a market driven connectivity?

Shernon Osepa: Yes, I think, first of all, it’s very important for us not to just to replicate everything that we’re seeing, let’s say, going on globally, because as I did mention, as small island development states, we are different. We have some very unique challenges that maybe those big countries don’t have. For example, we are vulnerable to natural disasters, we have small and close economies, we have lack of capacity, we have higher import and export costs and we have limited resources. But it’s still important that… that we look what is happening globally. But what I’m trying to say is that we cannot just replicate them one-to-one to our local situation because that would not work. What is very important, one of the measures that we are focusing on that is also happening globally is for example, passive infrastructure sharing because then we would like to reduce the cost for telecoms operators. If they can share the towers and mast sites and buildings, this can reduce the cost. We haven’t seen much development happening with respect to active infrastructure sharing. There are some, let’s say discussions ongoing but we haven’t seen them really in the real life happening. One of the also other developments that we are seeing in the Caribbean is what we call data center and cloud services. We do have one, what we call tier four data center in the Caribbean. So that’s the highest level of data center that we can reach. And there is another one being built right now in Trinidad and Tobago as well. So this is one of the developments that we are seeing. One of the other challenges that we are seeing and we are trying to address is data sovereignty. Some countries, if you look at how the infrastructures in the Caribbean are developed, most or all the traffic has to go through the US. So you may have some concerns from government saying, okay, we would like to see an alternative route and not all traffic going through the US. And right now you have through, it’s called the ELA link from Europe, from Portugal to. to Brazil and they’re trying also to get a link to the Caribbean on that. In addition to that, there is also another cable system coming from, let’s say, from Europe going to Martinique and then from there they would like to reach the Caribbean as well. So what we’re trying to do is to look for alternative routes and this is also one of the global, as you did mention, global best practices that we have seen. One other challenge that we’re seeing is collaboration among operators and here is, for example, where my own organization, the Caribbean Telecommunication Union, is focusing a lot on, especially with respect to spectrum sharing and coordination. When we talk about the Caribbean, we do have two ITU regions in the Caribbean. We have the Region 2, which is the Americas, but we also have, based on constitutional developments, for example, Martinique, Guadeloupe, they are part of Europe, they are part of the ITU Region 1. So we need to coordinate, especially when it comes to spectrum, to avoid interferences and these kind of things. So these are basically global developments that we are seeing and we are trying to use those developments that we think can give us an added value in our region, but as I did mention, it’s not just to replicate one-to-one because some of these global developments would not work given that we are small island development states. Thank you.

Omar Ansari: Thank you, Shannon. So the very important issues you’ve raised, two of them were very interesting for me, number one, the passive infrastructure discussion. In Afghanistan, from my experience, Mr. Bunyad is here, who is running an ISP in Afghanistan, 80% of the cost of fiber extension would go to the digging and laying the passive infrastructure. So, if you kind of deduct that, it’s going to be 20% left. And I think many, many investors would be interested to invest that. So, the government needs to support the passive infrastructure first, so that would make it easy and attractive for the investor to work on the active infrastructure. And the second issue you’ve raised was about the collaboration between the operators. Now, this is a very interesting topic. And in some countries, it might be against the regulatory measures or policy for the operators to collaborate with each other. But that’s an interesting discussion, perhaps we can dig deeper into it in our future discussions. So, with that, I’d like to go back to Sheryar. Now, from your perspective, Sheryar, working with different policymakers, with the governments across member states, what policy frameworks or financing strategies have proven most effective for attracting investment in digital infrastructure?

Speaker 4: Thank you very much. I guess it’s a very important question to address. And just to let you know that the Islamabad Bank has been in operation for over 49 years. And next year, we’ll be celebrating our 50th anniversary. So we have a lot of experience in different countries. And you know, we’ve often heard about the challenges, the local dynamics. So one fit solution is not for all. What we have done is more recently, traditionally, we’ve been financing digital public infrastructure. And more recently, what we have come up with last year, we in Riyadh, we launched our digital inclusion strategy 2024-2027. And as part of this strategy, what we have done is we have come up with a program called digital inclusion, strategic partnership program. And I’ll specifically share a couple of examples that we have done out of this program. But before that, I would like to maybe probably address that, what is the guiding principle of what we are trying to do with our new strategy? So what is the core of our strategy is that we would like to make sure that we provide meaningful connectivity in a safe environment, making sure what we are addressing is availability, accessibility, and affordability. So these are the three key aspects that we target whenever we do. And we want to make sure that we have the right capacity, once the service is available, so that we make the best use of the services or the infrastructure that we have got out of the project intervention that we finance. Now coming back to the examples. So I’ll share a couple of examples like starting with what we are doing with ITU. We are helping developing smart villages in Pakistan. So what we are doing is we are providing meaningful connectivity in smart villages where we are connecting local schools for girls with teachers sitting in the city, teaching subjects which were not available in the villages before. And on top of that, providing internet connectivity to a nearby local health facility, where a doctor sitting in the city is basically doing online consultations with a trained nurse in the local village through this program. So what we are doing is we are now replicating in other villages as well. So this is one example that we are doing in partnership with ITU. In terms of capacity building, what we’ve done with ITU recently. Just I was mentioning three weeks ago, we were in Nigeria. We did a digital regulation training in partnership with ITU. It was a five-day training program for the policymakers and regulators from the African region. So we had like 16 countries represented in those programs. So the government of Saudi Arabia, FCDO from UK, ITU, and Islamic Development Bank basically co-organized this digital regulation capacity building program for African policymakers. Last but not least, one of the examples that we are currently working with UNDP is on harnessing artificial intelligence for inclusive village development. So what is this initiative? What we are doing is with the Ministry of Villages in Indonesia, we are helping them because in any infrastructure planning, they have a local consultation process to gather the requirements, to know the challenges, to know what solutions would best fit in those villages. So we have hand-picked three villages, three provinces. We are in 200 villages and working with UNDP to basically use artificial intelligence to collect the data of the requirements for better infrastructure services in the villages across Indonesia and use this information to do better planning and then ultimately replicated other villages in Indonesia as well. So the essence of what we are trying to do is we provide connectivity, we provide capacity building and also last but not least, what we are focusing on is mainstreaming of technology to support other services like a smart education, e-agriculture services, also in the smart education, telemedicine health services as well on top of facilitating energy transport, urban smart cities, water, all these aspects of different established development sectors. We are promoting use of technology in these just for the sake of bringing in efficiency, transparency and. and overall digitalization process that we have addressed.

Omar Ansari: Thank you very much, Sheheryar. With this, we are concluding our segment two and moving to our third and last segment. But before we do that, there was a question. You had your hand raised at the end of the segment. Do you still have the question, or is it addressed? OK. So please keep it short, and then I’ll just need one of our panel speakers to respond to this so that we have sufficient time for the next one.

Audience: Can you hear me? OK. Is there a Dr. Nazar Niklas Kerama from Tanzania? Can we make an intervention? I just wanted to make an intervention as part of my work to connect the unconnected in Tanzania. And what we have been able to manage in Tanzania is working on the low-hanging fruits in terms of connecting in rural and urban areas. Is it OK? Yeah? Like this? OK, I’m learning to use microphone. OK, so the idea is, while we continue to debate on the policies and the actions that we need to actually take. In our space, we also need to continue to use the available infrastructure to be able to connect schools and communities. For example, in Tanzania, we have been able to connect about 10 schools using the fiber network, and also using the combination of microwave that is available in the villages, by using a simple model of communities coming together to ensure that they pool their resources together in the form of community networks to connect communities as well as the schools. So I think as we continue to debate on the right kind of policies and infrastructure that is needed to connect, we also have to take advantage of the hanging fruits to connect schools especially, because the schools are where we are defining the future of digital Asia, or digital Africa, or digital whatever America, because that is where the kids are and they need to be connected to digital opportunities online. Because we are not just connecting communities and schools for the sake of connecting, but we are connecting them to the resources that can help them even solve the SDG number one to get people out of poverty. Thank you.

Omar Ansari: Thank you very much, and that was a good comment and perhaps a good start to our last segment, which is about innovative technologies and partnerships. Mahesh, let’s start with you again. You are the digital leader. You work with the regulatory authorities in India. You have been consulting. in advising the governments to enhance connectivity. So in your view, what innovative technologies and infrastructure solutions have been most effective in improving internet access in report areas?

Speaker 1: Well, I would, yeah. I would say that, sure. I too am learning to use the mic. So well, you’re in the club. Okay, so I think in a way, the answer to your question, Omar, is that we have seen very limited innovation. I think what we have seen is a huge success of terrestrial mobile services, which the operators, particularly telcos, have innovated in many different ways. For example, the whole question of prepaid and in India, you have something called micro prepaid, where you could actually get a recharge of something like five rupees, which is not even 10 cents, right? And that kind of innovation has really worked quite well. But I think there is another kind of innovation which hasn’t worked. For example, our approach to Wi-Fi hotspots has not worked and our approach to USF has not worked. And the main reason for that is that the telcos themselves are a huge interest in this area. And if their incentives are not aligned, they don’t really work very well with these things. So we have found very little attention to actually getting the right kind of balance between the stakeholders in trying to come up with some agreed approach. And I think the regulators need to work more carefully on that. There’s no shortage of innovative models. For example, one of the things that we in India lack is the freedom to use alternate business models. For example, in Indian scheme of things, you cannot bundle a handset with your service, which actually has been hugely beneficial to a lot of people who have affordability problems. But our regulatory regime, if you like, or our licensing regime has an approach which actually disallows that. So there are many things like that, which actually, same thing, we do not necessarily encourage anybody with a solution for, let’s say, a particular community or a small sub-region. Because our licensing regime requires licenses at a certain scale, at a certain geographic size. And given what we are talking about today, we’re talking about marginalized people, populations, regions, which need to be specifically focused on. I think the licensing regime, which actually evolved at a time when there was exactly one operator and one service in most countries, namely, the government was the main operator and there was only one telephony, which was the only service. So now, given what the whole internet space, the way it has evolved, our regulatory regimes are just struggling to keep up. And I think they have not managed to liberalize the entry into this market sufficiently so that people have the freedom to try new innovative solutions. And regulators also, I think, need to innovate in a big way, which again, is a separate subject. I’ll be happy to discuss it, but it is an issue.

Omar Ansari: Thank you very much. I agree that regulators need to enhance and improve. And the licensing regime is very important. I was speaking with Bunyad the other day about how voice over IP is abandoned. in Afghanistan, it’s nowhere in the law, nowhere in the policy that it’s banned. But in the licenses of ISPs, it’s written that you can offer voice over IP. So that was surprising. So I was in a session with Dunmurai, where he was speaking, I think, remotely. And he was talking about the definition of coverage. And when we say coverage, it’s the population covered. It’s not the land covered. But the future, not only internet for people, but internet of things as well. We’re talking all these technologies that would need connectivity. So it means that we have to work on enhancing some of our enhanced understanding of some of these concepts. I’d like to come to Emson. What do you think? How can technologies such as set-up, it’s not a new thing, be scaled to regions?

Speaker 2: Thank you again for that question. Starlink has demonstrated that you can really use satellite technology profitably and effectively. And that brings us to find out what happened to country-launched satellites. I think we need to ask a lot of questions about that. There are a number of countries that have satellites up there for internet, but we don’t see benefits, so much benefits. So perhaps they may need to bring about competition, open it up, okay? We recommend there should be openness, liberalization, let there be more competition. And with that, there’ll be more innovation. Talking about other technologies, if I may, there is TV white spaces. TV white spaces can help. Even in the widespread island countries, TV white spaces can be utilized. But we have seen that some telcos don’t like that idea because of interest. And then, also, we must not forget about IPv6. Because when we talk about meaningful connectivity, IPv6 will guarantee meaningful connectivity and even security. And that is where regulators, those that are in the room, need to take transition from IPv4 to IPv6 seriously. Because there are a lot of features, there are a lot of benefits in terms of faster connectivity speed, bandwidth, that we can derive from that. And lastly, services. We need to, government need to demand services through digitalization. And then, outsourcing, that will help a lot. Outsourcing to other SMEs. Because I’m in private sector, and I’ve been a beneficiary, my company have been a beneficiary to outsourcing of government activity. So they need to outsource, but now with the private sector, the more, so that we can get deeper into meaningful, providing meaningful connectivity for everyone. Thank you very much.

Omar Ansari: Thank you, Jameson. We’ll ask our other speakers. But let’s make it, keep it short. Because we also, I think, how much time do we have? 20 minutes left, total, in total. OK. So if we can keep it at one or one and a half minutes, so that we can have some time for our audiences to speak, Shahryar, you spoke about the partnerships for the world. What are good examples that could help address the challenges we have been discussing?

Speaker 4: I think, thank you very much for this. I’ve probably shared some of the examples that we are already working with some of the regional organizations, UN agencies, multilateral development banks, in order to address. But I think the core of what we have seen as best practice is the country itself, which needs to understand what they want and where they are and how they would like, where would they like to proceed, like from A to B, if they understand and only then external partners could help and assist. If the understanding is not there, if the capacity is not there, then it becomes a huge challenge when external partners come in to facilitate and help the government bridge the digital divide with the essence of leaving no one behind. What we need to understand is if we can collectively work and complement each other’s strengths that if a partner like UNDP comes with the technical expertise and a financial institution like the Islamic Development Bank comes in to provide the finances needed to address a given challenge, that’s how we complement with the technical and financial resources because both are extremely important in order to address any challenge in this current phase. I think we are now seeing the role of digital cooperation organization in Saudi Arabia coming in to encourage collaboration with different partners, donors, institutions, banks, UN agencies and regional organizations that come up together to address a given challenge. Of course, we are also part of that ecosystem and happy to contribute as a multilateral development organization.

Omar Ansari: Thank you very much. Sharif, what are some good examples of public-private partnerships that contributed to enhancing connectivity?

Speaker 3: Well, let me just take one example, a controversial example from the Maldives. I would take the example of our incumbent, one of the biggest, well, we’ve got two big telecom companies. as ISPs in the Maldives. We’ve got four ISPs, but our oldest telecom service provider started as a partnership between Cable and Wireless UK and the government of Maldives, right? And over the years, it’s transformed itself into a public limited company. Now the government has a smaller share, the public have shares, and Batelco, Bahrain Telecom, has the majority shares, right? We’ve gone from connecting the islands to becoming a co-owner of CMAV6, one of the most advanced submarine cable systems that has been currently laid. So it’s a small country of a few hundred thousand people becoming a co-owner of one of the most advanced cable systems, ensuring connectivity to Maldives. This is, I think, a perfect example of how government, the citizens, the public, as well as international partners can work together to take the country to a new level. Thank you. With that, I would like to take leave because I have another session starting in the plenary. So with your permission, thank you.

Omar Ansari: Thank you very much. Amit. Thank you. Okay, thank you for being with us. With this, I will go to Maria. You talked about the, oh, thank you very much. You talked about Open RAN in similar projects. How do you see, like, what are the technology trends that could help with enhancing connectivity as well as the affordability across the developing world?

Maria Beebe: Thank you for that. I guess I’ll start with Open RAN. What is Open RAN? and RAN is the Radio Access Network. So what Open RAN does is it decouples hardware and software in telecom networks. It enables interoperability between components from different vendors, thus reducing costs and fosters innovation. Sadly, all of the examples right now are mostly in developing countries, like the US, some countries in Europe, Indonesia to some extent. There are benefits for developing economies for going Open RAN, and that enables local vendors to participate in the telecom supply chain, which would boost local economies, supports scalability for rural and underserved regions, and encourages regional talent development in telecoms and software engineering. A related example would be, excuse me, community networks and shared spectrum. Community networks, community-owned networks, they enable small-scale, low-cost deployments in rural areas. It does require sharing of spectrum, and it requires something like the citizens’ broadband radio service to optimize spectrum usage. That CBRS is not yet practiced in the Philippines, another sad story, but something for consideration for policy and regulatory consideration. It is, CBRS is quite used in the US, in addition to doing innovation zones. So community networks and shared spectrum, they empower local communities. is to deploy and manage their own networks, which of course requires then capacity building. It does reduce dependency on large telecom operators, which are, I mean, they are there for their return on investments. And then shared spectrum lowers entry barriers for small scale providers, enhancing affordability. And however, getting the spectrum allocation to benefit community networks is kind of a big challenge and a big headache. I think I want to maybe two more examples. AI, somebody’s already mentioned it for network optimization. And then let’s not forget energy efficient technologies like solar powered base stations, low power internet of things devices. And energy efficient network components to reduce costs and environmental impact. So I guess the challenge for us is like how we can leverage this trends, this technology trends and align them with policy, infrastructure development and capacity building efforts. Thank you.

Omar Ansari: Thank you, Maria. Sheldon, in your view, how regional collaboration initiatives could be strengthened to improve connectivity across the Caribbean in other regions that are still offline?

Shernon Osepa: Yes, I’ll focus of course on the Caribbean and given the time constraint, I will just focus on two areas. So we see, for example, leveraging regional organizations that we have in the Caribbean, for example, Caribbean. CARICOM is one of the, you can compare it a bit with European Union, more or less the same idea behind it. So it’s called CARICOM. And we also have the Caribbean Telecommunications Union at which I am affiliated with. And in addition to those, you have also another organization called CANTO. CANTO stands for Caribbean Association of National Telecommunications Operators. So these three organizations, when it comes to telecoms developments, they are key. Because each one of them, they have specific roles to play, but together they can enhance, let’s say collaboration in the wider Caribbean. So these three organizations have been working together, but in one way or the other, still we need to enhance that collaboration. One other topic is what I would call disaster resilience. As you know, the Caribbean is vulnerable to natural disasters. So here is also where we have been working with international and other global organizations that can help us to address and to raise awareness on the need to build a resilient internet and telecommunications infrastructures. If you look when disasters strike in the Caribbean, and when we look back at, let’s say, our telecoms infrastructures, most of the times we have been identifying some key challenges. If you look, for example, at the towers that have been used or antennas, sometimes if you can expect a hurricane category number five and you see what they have been using, it’s like calling, asking for trouble, you know? So we need to continue to raise awareness in that regard and to help all these telecoms operators. and others and also working with government to ensure that we have resilient let’s say telecoms and internet infrastructure in place. So these are two areas in addition to others that we have been collaborating in the region to ensure that we have meaningful and resilient telecoms and internet services provisioning.

Omar Ansari: Thank you Sheldon. So with this I’d like to open the floor for questions from the audiences. You’ve been here listening to us. Now I’d like to you know involve you in the discussion. So please feel free to raise your hands if you have questions or comments but keep them short, inconcise so that we can take as many. So the three hands raised. The lady in the back and okay please go ahead. Introduce yourself, name, affiliation and then your question.

Audience: Okay thank you very much. I am Mirvez Khan. I’m working with a leading telecom company in Afghanistan and also part of the technical community of Afghanistan. My question is for Mr. Sheryar. As you shared your insights about your projects in different parts of the world, considering the challenges Afghanistan is facing as a landlocked and least connected country, does ADB has any future plan or program to support the connectivity of Afghanistan? Thank you. So let’s take all the questions and then we can. Yes. Hi my name is Elisa from Vietnam but based in Germany and I’d like to ask a question to several speakers and I’d love you to elaborate on your country’s situations. Maria, you talk about the situation? I can’t hear you. It’s working, but just keep it closer. You talk about digital inclusion fund and you talk about various infrastructure challenges facing the Filipinos. However, in the context of the Philippines there are only a few internet companies and the geography of the Philippines makes it very difficult to receive internet, a lot of islands. So, what can the civil society actors can do to counter these challenges? I have one question to the speaker from Pakistan. In the context of Pakistan, the government plays an active role in slowing down the internet. So, these top-down challenges, how can the civil society actors counter these top-down crackdowns on the internet? I also have a question to the moderator from Afghanistan. Can you tell us about how the conflict in Afghanistan impacts the internet and how can you describe the internet resilience in your country?

Omar Ansari: Thank you very much.

Audience: Thank you for this really, really interesting and a very comprehensive discussion because it covers a major part of the world where connectivity is an important part. My question is to Sheheryar. You talked about a village, the digital village that you’re working on. Usually, there also is another digital village probably ITU is working on in Pakistan. Are you targeting areas of true access gap when you’re selecting areas for these digital villages because our experience has been that they just try to do it in an area near Islamabad or where their connectivity issues are not really a big issue because the private sector doesn’t really go into areas of true access gap? So can we have development partners work on those areas? And then, if yes, what kind of challenges do you think you’d encounter? Thank you so much for this insightful conversation. I’m a student from Nanjing Youth Development Center, and I would really like to learn more about how the government of each of your countries adjust policies on digitalization to account for those marginalized groups to make sure that innovation can cover everyone.

Omar Ansari: Okay, any more questions? I think that’s okay.

Audience: Yeah, thank you very much. Am I audible here? I like the discussion. I really enjoyed the example of the school connectivity, the examples of connectivity in India, how much people are connected, the digital inclusion fund Maria mentioned. So all are like very interconnected. And one of the interconnected challenges is the affordability. So I have read that sometimes these kinds of solutions are temporary, for example, the RFDD project, which is funded to the activities are finished. So what happens? So like I have read in Afghanistan, we have the same issue of the affordability. Sometimes in some areas, there are internet connectivity there. The service providers are providing the services, but people are not able to, I mean, they are not affording it. So do you have any comments or any suggestions like Mahesh knows about the revolution, the geo route in India? So is there any other solutions where governments or any international organization can help support to provide such a permanent solution to the connect? Thank you very much.

Omar Ansari: All right. Thank you very much. I think all of you have questions, but I had a few of them were addressed to you. So if you can go first, and then we can, you know, ask others.

Speaker 4: Sure, I’ll try to address some of the questions that were addressed to me the baby. First of all, just wanted to clarify that I am, although I’m originally from Pakistan but I’m representing the Islam Development Bank here. So, of course, I will not be commenting on the government perspective of Pakistan, the probably starting with the question that was raised. So, the Islam Development Bank works mainly with the government. And we operate in a model that we try to assist the government needs. So as long as the government of Afghanistan officially writes through the official channel to the Islamic Development Bank, then we are here to address, because what we need to make sure that we are targeting a problem, which is understood and owned and prioritized by the government. So as long as these three aspects are there. We don’t come up with our own set of agenda to address any, if we believe that you should be doing, you know, in Afghanistan we should be doing that in Pakistan we should know. The idea is that the government reaches out to us, sharing a problem and needing a solution for a sustainable development. Right. And then we assess based on our technical due diligence and our financial due diligence legal due diligence and then we try to assess the country. This is one aspect. So we are actually in Afghanistan we are currently working with UN agencies, because they are actively engaged there and you know the challenges that we have in terms of accessing places to access projects sites and everything. So we are working with a UN implementation partner, like other fragile countries that we operate in that are in conflict zones and war situations. So there are certain number of countries unfortunately in today’s world that we do not directly work, but we work through agencies like UN. UN agencies. This is so probably I’ve addressed the question. I think, you know, as we understand that even this forum is about governance, right? So I think every country has their own set of rules and regulations to govern the internet. And probably whatever actions any government, including government of Pakistan would take is to in order to make sure that, you know, there are no social unrest there, you know, people are following the rules and regulations set by the government, set by the parliament of, you know, of that particular country, in order to make sure that if they, you know, to avoid any casualties, any social unrest, so whatever they need to do in order to, you know, address a bigger nation, like Pakistan, they will take all those measures. So I think I’ll probably have addressed, you know, at least that aspect. And coming back to the question that was raised about the smart village. So you’re absolutely spot on. The program is by ITU. So we are we are not directly involved. The program is basically prioritized by the government of Pakistan, which is the Ministry of IT and telecom working with the ITU. They’ve already implemented one, you know, phase. The second phase, we assess based on an eligibility criteria that, okay, what are the set of initial assumptions that should be there, because we have very limited resources. So we can with we can do only limited things with a limited technical and financial resources, which are, you know, where are certain assumptions are there that okay, if they have a paved road, they have connectivity, in terms of transportation, if you’re not able to reach to that place, how are we able to provide those services. So I think these are certain eligibility criteria that we based on that we shortlist certain villages, and the government writes to us. So it’s not we are not selecting such the government writes to us that we would like your assistance in order to address these challenges in these gaps, whether would you like to assist or not. So thank you very much. There was

Omar Ansari: I think our time is up, but we’ll close it in a few minutes. There was one question for Maria related to the islands being disconnected and distributed and what role the civil society can play. And the second question, the last one, was I think you addressed most of the question. And her question was about how the policy can help to connect the marginalized communities. So that would be a question for perhaps Mahesh could address that. And Shannon can share his opinion. Maria, then I will come back to Mahesh then.

Maria Beebe: OK, let me keep it brief. I think we’re finished with the time. Yes, let me give it a try. So in the Philippines, there is a government program called Free Internet Wi-Fi Connectivity in Public Places. Then some of the program also goes to connectivity concerns for state universities and colleges. So that’s sort of one way of getting connectivity down to the communities. So there’s that. There’s the Asia Open RAN Academy. It is an NGO. And the point of the academy is actually to, it’s an alliance. It’s to bring together government, academics, and industry pulling together in terms of this Open RAN solutions. A big problem for the Open RAN, of course, as I mentioned earlier, is the radio spectrum allocation. By definition, when you say RAN, it means access to radio, radio spectrum. And yes. There are 7,000 islands in the Philippines, so it’s difficult to connect all those islands. So we’re talking also about us in the smart village, the idea of smart islands. And of course, the connectivity is very uneven, where you have things like smart homes in places like Metro Manila. And then of course, in the geographically isolated disadvantaged areas, there is no connectivity. One thing that we’re trying to, the Asia Open RAN Academy is trying to do is also to encourage private enterprise networks. So away from the big telcos that kind of take forever to turn them around in terms of the technology. So if you have a province, for example, where they do mining, so you can start thinking about smart mining and how you can have connectivity for the miners who are mining, and then at the same time, share that connectivity with the rest of the community. Another example, of course, is smart hospitals. And the smart hospital is trying to ride on the internet, Wi-Fi connectivity in public places. So trying to get the various actors kind of to work together instead of separately, because they have separate targets, separate deliverables, separate funding, is an excellent challenge. And I would like to continue this conversation with a lot of you in terms of like, how can we do this together? In the Philippines, yes, but Indo-Pacific and in places where there are islands and geographically isolated. development areas.

Omar Ansari: Thank you, Maria. Thank you very much. So just to finalize before they kick us out, one minute, Mahesh, how can policy address the marginalized groups, the issues related to them?

Speaker 1: Yeah, I think two things, I’d make two simple points. One is, of course, that as far as service provision is concerned, the private sector has done a fairly reasonable job. I think prices across the South Asian region, I’m not sure about all, but have fallen quite considerably. India certainly brags about being one of the cheapest markets, both for data as well as voice. However, there are two areas where policymakers and regulators need to work. One is actually access, which is the regions and populations that are currently not reached and where the private operators do not have the commercial incentive to deal with it. And that is where the USF type of funds come into and they need a great amount of creativity. And amongst the creative bits that they require is also attention, in my view, to smartphones. Because while the service is cheap, the physical device is not. And the price of smartphones is actually increasing quite significantly while the price of services, you mentioned, Gayur, the case of Jio or Reliance Jio, which actually crashed the prices and which everybody else has had to follow up. And so the price of services has one way or the other fallen, but the price of smartphones has not. And also the cost of connecting those who are not connected hasn’t fallen. And for that, governments as well as regulators would need to work very creatively with… with tools such as the USF and various others to deal with it.

Omar Ansari: Thank you very much, Mahesh. Just to quickly answer your question, the colleague from Vietnam. I am from Afghanistan, but it’s been a few years I’m not living there. So I don’t have a full understanding of what’s happening now. But from my participation at Afghanistan IGF and other similar local events that are still happening online, it was said one of the experts said that people were concerned with the fall of the government in Taliban takeover that internet will be shut down in Afghanistan. But due to the fact that Afghanistan internet is uniquely designed, it was hard to be shut down. So it doesn’t have one switch from where you can shut it down. It’s so distributed and so unique that it makes it difficult for anybody to shut it down. So later on, the colleagues from Afghanistan, you could perhaps discuss more with them to learn more about the realities on the ground. So just to conclude this session, I think that the session is starting. So key takeaways or the highlights, bridging the connectivity gap, addressing infrastructure, affordability, and digital literacy challenges is critical for connecting the offline population. That’s one. Number two, policy and collaboration matters. Effective policies, regional cooperation, and public-private partnerships drive meaningful progress towards universal internet access. Number three, technology innovation drive inclusion. Technologies like AI, satellite, wireless, innovative financing models provide scalable solutions for digital inclusion. Now, what needs to be done in order to achieve these? promote adoptive policies and investment. So this is a shared responsibility of all of us to work on. So we need to encourage the governments and stakeholders to prioritize flexible policies and targeting investment that foster innovation, affordability, and inclusion, as Shariar said, in underrepresented regions. And also, we all need to invite public partnerships and regional cooperation to resources, share experiences, and implement scalable connectivity solutions. Finally, let’s keep this discussion. This should not be, it’s a start of a discussion, but it should not be the end of the discussion. So in the future, more post-session collaboration from you, share your insights with us on policy issues, the recommendations, and opportunities that could contribute to the connectivity issues across the region. Thank you very much, Mahesh, Shariar, Sharnan, Maria, and also James and Sharif, and everybody for participating with us. I wish you a wonderful GF. Thank you. Thank you, Omar, and thank you all. Take a picture if you’d like to join us, of all the participants. Thank you.

Agreement Points

Need for improved connectivity in developing regions

Mahesh Uppal

Jimson Olufuye

Mohamed Shareef

Maria Beebe

Syed Mohammad Shariar Jawed

Shernon Osepa

Nuanced look at connectivity statistics needed – aggregate numbers don’t tell full story

10% increase in internet penetration yields up to 8.2% increase in GDP per capita

Prioritizing bandwidth is key for island nations to connect dispersed populations

Critical skill gaps in areas like digital literacy, technical skills, and infrastructure management

Lack of institutional capacity and feasibility studies hinder connectivity projects

High government fees and aging subsea cable infrastructure are challenges in Caribbean

All speakers agreed on the urgent need to improve connectivity in developing regions, highlighting various challenges and potential benefits.

Importance of policy and regulatory reforms

Mahesh Uppal

Jimson Olufuye

Mohamed Shareef

Maria Beebe

Regulators need to focus on disaggregated connectivity solutions, not just aggregate numbers

Multi-stakeholder engagement framework helps resolve connectivity challenges

Liberal and collaborative regulatory environment enables connectivity progress

Integrating capacity building into national ICT policies and regulations is important

Speakers emphasized the need for policy and regulatory reforms to address connectivity challenges and promote digital inclusion.

Similar Viewpoints

Both speakers argue for more liberal and flexible regulatory approaches to address evolving connectivity needs.

Mahesh Uppal

Mohamed Shareef

Regulatory regimes struggle to keep up with internet evolution and need to liberalize

Liberal and collaborative regulatory environment enables connectivity progress

Both speakers highlight the potential of innovative technologies to improve connectivity and reduce costs in developing regions.

Jimson Olufuye

Maria Beebe

Technologies like TV white spaces and IPv6 can enhance connectivity

Open RAN enables interoperability and reduces costs for developing countries

Unexpected Consensus

Importance of public-private partnerships

Mohamed Shareef

Syed Mohammad Shariar Jawed

Public-private partnerships transformed Maldives telecom sector

Partnerships between technical and financial institutions complement strengths

Despite representing different sectors (government and development bank), both speakers strongly emphasized the crucial role of public-private partnerships in improving connectivity.

Overall Assessment

Summary

The speakers generally agreed on the need for improved connectivity in developing regions, the importance of policy and regulatory reforms, and the potential of innovative technologies and partnerships.

Consensus level

There was a high level of consensus among the speakers on the main challenges and potential solutions for improving connectivity in developing regions. This consensus suggests a shared understanding of the issues, which could facilitate coordinated efforts to address connectivity challenges across different countries and organizations.

Different Viewpoints

Approach to regulatory frameworks

Mahesh Uppal

Jimson Olufuye

Mohamed Shareef

Regulators need to focus on disaggregated connectivity solutions, not just aggregate numbers

Multi-stakeholder engagement framework helps resolve connectivity challenges

Liberal and collaborative regulatory environment enables connectivity progress

While all speakers agree on the need for improved regulatory frameworks, they propose different approaches. Mahesh Uppal emphasizes disaggregated solutions, Jimson Olufuye advocates for multi-stakeholder engagement, and Mohamed Shareef promotes a liberal and collaborative environment.

Unexpected Differences

Focus on economic impact vs. skill development

Jimson Olufuye

Maria Beebe

10% increase in internet penetration yields up to 8.2% increase in GDP per capita

Critical skill gaps in areas like digital literacy, technical skills, and infrastructure management

While both speakers discuss factors affecting connectivity, Jimson Olufuye unexpectedly focuses on the economic impact of internet penetration, while Maria Beebe emphasizes the importance of addressing skill gaps. This difference in focus could lead to different policy priorities.

Overall Assessment

summary

The main areas of disagreement revolve around regulatory approaches, technological solutions, and priorities for addressing connectivity challenges.

difference_level

The level of disagreement among speakers is moderate. While there is general consensus on the importance of improving connectivity, speakers offer diverse perspectives on how to achieve this goal. These differences in approach could lead to varied policy recommendations and implementation strategies, potentially impacting the effectiveness of efforts to bridge the digital divide in developing regions.

Partial Agreements

All speakers agree on the need for technological innovation to improve connectivity, but they propose different specific solutions. Mahesh Uppal suggests liberalizing regulatory regimes, Jimson Olufuye advocates for TV white spaces and IPv6, while Maria Beebe promotes Open RAN technology.

Mahesh Uppal

Jimson Olufuye

Maria Beebe

Regulatory regimes struggle to keep up with internet evolution and need to liberalize

Technologies like TV white spaces and IPv6 can enhance connectivity

Open RAN enables interoperability and reduces costs for developing countries

Similar Viewpoints

Both speakers argue for more liberal and flexible regulatory approaches to address evolving connectivity needs.

Mahesh Uppal

Mohamed Shareef

Regulatory regimes struggle to keep up with internet evolution and need to liberalize

Liberal and collaborative regulatory environment enables connectivity progress

Both speakers highlight the potential of innovative technologies to improve connectivity and reduce costs in developing regions.

Jimson Olufuye

Maria Beebe

Technologies like TV white spaces and IPv6 can enhance connectivity

Open RAN enables interoperability and reduces costs for developing countries

Key Takeaways

Bridging the connectivity gap requires addressing infrastructure, affordability, and digital literacy challenges

Effective policies, regional cooperation, and public-private partnerships are crucial for driving progress towards universal internet access

Innovative technologies like AI, satellite, wireless, and new financing models can provide scalable solutions for digital inclusion

Regulators need to focus on disaggregated connectivity solutions rather than just aggregate numbers

Integrating capacity building into national ICT policies and regulations is important for developing digital skills

Country-driven understanding of connectivity needs is key for effective partnerships and solutions

Resolutions and Action Items

Encourage governments and stakeholders to prioritize flexible policies and targeted investment in underrepresented regions

Promote public-private partnerships and regional cooperation to share resources and experiences

Implement scalable connectivity solutions tailored to local needs

Continue post-session collaboration to share insights on policy issues, recommendations, and opportunities

Unresolved Issues

How to effectively address affordability issues, especially for smartphones

Balancing government regulation and innovation in the telecom sector

Addressing challenges of connecting geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas

How to improve utilization of Universal Service Funds

Strategies for enhancing cyber awareness and security in developing regions

Suggested Compromises

Collaborative approach between regulators, service providers, and policymakers to develop aligned strategies

Balancing commercial incentives for private operators with government initiatives to connect underserved areas

Using a mix of technologies (e.g. terrestrial, satellite, community networks) to address diverse connectivity needs

India, for instance, officially claims to have roughly about 1.2 billion phone connections and roughly 950 million internet users. However, I think like all of us know that most of this usage is wireless and wireless users in particular tend to have multiple accounts. So when you actually look at the unique number of users of telephone connections or indeed internet connections, you find that that number probably is roughly about 65 odd percent of this larger number.

speaker

Mahesh Uppal

reason

This comment challenges official statistics and provides a more nuanced view of actual internet penetration, highlighting the complexity of measuring connectivity.

impact

It shifted the discussion towards a more critical examination of connectivity statistics and the need to look beyond aggregate numbers to understand the true state of internet access.

A 10% increase in internet penetration yield up to 8.2% increase in GDP per capita.

speaker

Jameson Olufeye

reason

This statistic provides a concrete economic incentive for improving internet connectivity, linking it directly to economic development.

impact

It emphasized the economic importance of connectivity, potentially influencing how policymakers and stakeholders view investments in internet infrastructure.

We prioritized just having bandwidth.

speaker

Mohamed Shareef

reason

This simple statement encapsulates a key strategy for improving connectivity in challenging geographical contexts.

impact

It introduced the idea of prioritizing basic infrastructure over more complex solutions, potentially influencing how other regions approach connectivity challenges.

There is a need for technical knowledge to develop and implement effective digital policies, because policies that are not effective hinder equitable access and innovation.

speaker

Maria Beebe

reason

This comment highlights the importance of technical expertise in policymaking, a often overlooked aspect of digital development.

impact

It shifted the conversation towards the need for capacity building not just for users, but also for policymakers and regulators.

What we have done is more recently, traditionally, we’ve been financing digital public infrastructure. And more recently, what we have come up with last year, we in Riyadh, we launched our digital inclusion strategy 2024-2027.

speaker

Syed Mohammad Shariar Jawed

reason

This comment introduces a shift in approach from a major development bank, moving from infrastructure to a more holistic digital inclusion strategy.

impact

It broadened the discussion from purely technical solutions to a more comprehensive approach to digital development.

Overall Assessment

These key comments shaped the discussion by challenging simplistic views of connectivity, emphasizing the economic importance of internet access, highlighting the need for prioritization in infrastructure development, stressing the importance of technical knowledge in policymaking, and introducing more comprehensive approaches to digital inclusion. They collectively moved the conversation from a focus on basic connectivity metrics to a more nuanced understanding of the challenges and potential solutions in bridging the digital divide.

How can the Universal Service Provision Fund be better utilized to subsidize connectivity in underserved areas?

speaker

Jameson Olufeye

explanation

The fund is not being used effectively in many countries, and stakeholders need to engage regulators on its use to improve connectivity.

How can regulators innovate to liberalize market entry and allow for new innovative solutions in connectivity?

speaker

Mahesh Uppal

explanation

Current regulatory regimes are struggling to keep up with technological changes and may be hindering innovation in addressing connectivity gaps.

What strategies can be implemented to address the affordability of smartphones, given their increasing prices?

speaker

Mahesh Uppal

explanation

While service prices have decreased, smartphone prices are increasing, creating a barrier to connectivity for marginalized groups.

How can policy frameworks be adjusted to account for marginalized groups in digitalization efforts?

speaker

Audience member (student from Nanjing Youth Development Center)

explanation

Ensuring innovation covers everyone, including marginalized groups, is crucial for inclusive digital development.

What sustainable solutions can be developed to address long-term affordability issues in connectivity?

speaker

Audience member (unnamed)

explanation

Many current solutions are temporary, and there’s a need for permanent solutions to make connectivity affordable for all.

How can civil society actors counter top-down challenges to internet access, such as government-imposed slowdowns?

speaker

Audience member (Elisa from Vietnam)

explanation

Understanding how to address government-imposed restrictions on internet access is crucial for ensuring connectivity.

How can regional cooperation initiatives be strengthened to improve connectivity across the Caribbean and other regions that are still offline?

speaker

Omar Ansari (directed to Shernon Osepa)

explanation

Regional collaboration is crucial for addressing connectivity challenges, especially in geographically dispersed areas like the Caribbean.

How can we leverage emerging technology trends and align them with policy, infrastructure development, and capacity building efforts?

speaker

Maria Beebe

explanation

Aligning new technologies with policy and development efforts is crucial for improving connectivity in developing regions.