A Keynote Speech by Prof. Prasit Prapinmongkolkarn,
Chairperson, National Telecommunication Commission of Thailand
at the meeting on Meaningful Broadband Research Agenda
Room 707, Boromratchakumari Building, Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University
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Licensing is only the first step towards meaningfulness. Now the real work begins.
For many of you gathered here by Chulalongkorn’s Digital Divide Institute from academic, government and the private sector. the challenge is to leverage the new 3.9G technology so that it brings optimal benefit to Thais, particularly to low-income Thais that have not known the benefits of the internet in the past. We know from the reports of the Meaningful Broadband Working Group that broadband can be used for good or bad. So our leaders must act swifty to assure that impacts are positive.
In my speech today I will touch upon various tupes of innovationsthat will allow a meaningful model to broadband policy to emerge in Thailand. These can then contribute to an agenda for Digital Divide Institute as it formulates a model for meaningful broadband to offer to the National Broadband Commission for its consideration.
As this audience knows well, the roadblocks are finally being cleared for 3G licensing. You probably already know that a number of provisions have been included in licensing provisions to encourage and even mandate licensees to “close the Digital Divide” by requiring them to accelerate the build out of cell towers to bring 80% of the entire Thai population within the short time span of just two years after licensing. Furthermore, univeral services innovations are being introduced that will encourage all 45,000 schools to benefit from broadband, and the Tambon administrations will also get a boost in egovernment as well. As we move ahead to Wimax and other licensing and USO innovations, we can imagine new and more meaningful forms of access being introduced by NTC.
How Regulation and Public-Policy Reforms Can Complement Each Other
But regulation can only go so far to bring the full benefits of broadband to the nation, particularly the low income majority. As the various reports of Meaningful Broadband have indicated, the public-sector challenge to align regulatory innovations with innovative taxation arrangements, public-private partnerships, actions by state-owned enterprises, and even outright subsidies from government. In this way, “carrots” (incentives) can be combined with “sticks” (manadated regulation) . In combination the incentives and restrictions can encourage commercial forces to produce broadband-enabled products and services that bring the full benefit of the broadband to the nation while. We believe that in the long run, the ICT can generate a much higher level of investment and profit if they focus their long-term efforts on serving the poor.
It is good that the Thai regulatory agency, NTC is free from political pressure and government influence. But we are not free from joining with government in complementary efforts to serve the national interest. We are very encouraged by the leadership taken by the ICT Ministry and the Ministry of Finance and Prime Minister himself to bring the full power of the Cabinet to bear in the New National Broadband Commission, which is represented here today. We hope that today’s gathering can contribute to its important mission.
But even combining the full power of all parts of government is not enough to achieve Meaningful Broadband. Academia, the private sector and even the media must contribute their ideas and know-how. The model of Meaningful Broadband looks beyond public-policy and regulatory innovation to four other kinds of innovation which must be combined and integrated into the work of Digital Divide Institute as is formulates a broadband model for the nation.
We need to carefully consider four other types of innovation:
1) Technology Design is Key
So far, designers of next-generation software, devices and Last Mile solutions have not provided the answer to how to build demand for broadband among the “middle of the pyramid.” That is the term that Prof Craig uses to describe the two billion users of 2G who do not yet have a good reason to upgrade to 3G. At least 60% of the Thai population fall in this category. In Thailand, the National Statistical Office asked Thai family members who learn less then 12,000 baht per month by they do not use the Internet. The main reason was not that they could not afford go to to internet cafes. The answer was “we have no reason to use the Internet.” Thai technological researchers here today from several universities, including those from NTC’s own TRDI network of research universities, should take up this challenge. We must use formulate model data appliations which are “usable, affordable and empowering” to those who had no use for internet till now. This is how Meaningful Broadband is defined, according to Prof Craig. Rather then try to compete with Singapore and Korea, for products and services that serve the saturated markets of the Top of the Pyramid, we could be a hub for “killer apps” that serve the new growth markets.
2) Management Innovation is Also Important.
Thailand can be a hub for innovation in serving the MOP with broadband. So far the big domestic and foreign-based companies that operate in the Bankok Metropolitan Area including those in the ICT sector, are focused on serving the same wealthy consumers in the same way as they do in other major cities worldwide. Recent rise in SET and Thai GDP are based on their success largely in export markets. But for the benefit of broadband to serve the nation, new strategic alliances must be formed with Thai telecom operators that bring the dynamic force of the Thai economy upcountry. Several vertical markets — from banking to health care could lower their operating costs and increase the meaningfulness of their services in new broadband-enabled alliances. This is largely a challenge for the voluntary leadership of the private sector. The SET, the Thai Chamber, the Thai Banking Association and specific market leaders skilled in IT can lead the way. Our business schools in our best universities must provide management training to help our companies profit by uncovering pent-up human resources in our low income population. We must move towards more sophisticated management models in which the same companies that succeed with affluent customers also learn to succeed with large numbers of low-income consumers and SMEs.
3) Ethical Innovation is also a big factor.
Both regulators and technology designer need a way to measure the meaningfulness of technologies — a big part of the Digital Divide Institute agenda that you will hear about today. This event is organized by those who represent the ethical principles of His Majesty the King. We must bring ethics into the twenty-first century by showing how ethical principles can guide the deployment of broadband ecosystems. We must find how broadband can help each user find his or her own kind of happiness, thereby keeping government censorship to a minimum.
4) Finance is the “end-game” of Meaningful Broadband
By adding together all other innovation — public policy and regulation, technology design, management, ethics — we finally get to the question of the role of government versus the role of the private sector. We need to know what benefits can result from the freeing of market forces, and what benefits must be induced by governments who must protect the public’s interest.
The telecommunications industry for the past 100 years has represented a “social contract” between the interests of business and government. Now this contract must be redrawn in the broadband era.” Of course we must look to best practices from other nations like South Korea and Malaysia who have connected most of their citizens to broadband. But we can look to them for the formula that makes broadband Meaningful. We must produce that formula here in Thailand ourselves — and then export it to the world.
We at NTC look forward to working with the National Broadband Commission and Digital Divide Institute to that end.
