- - all pau![NOTE: First published by the Australian Development Studies Network, ANU (1995, October) in the Development Bulletin, Information Technology & Development, Vol. 35, Pp. 19-22.]
| Pacific Islands, Information Technology & Universal Access: It's Not Just About Wires |
Its been said before, but nonetheless bares repeating; the digital information revolution, which smoldered in academic and industrial test-labs throughout most of the 1980s, has burst upon our collective consciousness in recent years and caught many off-guard. No longer an abstract concept, the "Information Superhighway" is already bringing technological advances to the mainstream of metropolitan countries even as awareness of its importance grows in less developed nations. As a result, many have found the seemingly sudden and all-pervasive explosion of computers and telecommunications technology intimidating and unapproachable. Within the past five years the progressive convergence of broadcasting, telecommunications and computers has ushered in an array of information technologies that have the potential to become the primary shapers of national development and economic growth--if they have not become such already (Cross 1994).
Today's information technologies are globalizing and transforming banking, finance and securities, travel and transportation as well as the more traditional media industries. Tomorrow's technological advances in the global information infrastructure will clearly affect such things as the nature of competitive advantage, economies of scale, the creation of new industries, and the costs of production for the next ten to twenty years. With digital information zipping around the world at the speed of light on glass fibers only slightly thicker than a human hair--or bouncing off satellites orbiting the earth 22,300 miles above us, relaying information from Honolulu to Canberra or Tokyo to Los Angeles in less than a third of a second--the basis of world trade and commerce, the patterns of social interaction and the form of urban and rural development are in the process of being transformed from their very roots (Ogden 1995). Given such transformational changes, it can be persuasively argued that, as land was to an agricultural society and capital to an industrial society, so too is information to the emerging, post-industrial, "information society." As if to underscore this view, it is now the perception of many development professionals and policy pundits in both developed and developing countries alike that a modern, totally digital telecommunications infrastructure is a vital strategic resource for national development (ESCAP 1990). Indeed, in almost every country around world the need to develop a high-speed, digital "information superhighway" is being recognized as the ". . . first great infrastructure project of the twenty-first century" (Biesada 1993: 59).
However, without the knowledge or resources to tap into this information revolution, one runs the risk of joining the burgeoning rank and file of the "information-poor," ill-equipped to compete in the information economy of the future. What makes this particularly pernicious is that those who are the information-poor are typically unaware of it, and so are unable to participate in the massive changes in information-sharing behavior our world is now experiencing. These information-poor are the people who have never heard of the "information superhighway," who will not purchase computers with modems, who have never touched keyboards, who do not know what the Internet is. So far, the growing information revolution has largely been within the domain of highly educated and informed advocates, people who often have--in comparison--tremendous resources at their disposal. These advocates have spoken quite well on behalf of their own needs; some have even attempted to speak to the needs of the information-poor. But the "information-rich," however well-meaning, have largely determined and prioritized the issues of the information revolution according to their own visions and realities. This emerging state of affairs is beginning to reach beyond the divisive ethnic and class struggles taking place within the boundaries of western metropolitan countries and has begun impacting whole nations that do not have the economic, political, or educational resources to participate in the information age. Indeed, "[a]s we accelerate toward a world that will become even more dependent upon information, there are whole segments of society, on both [the] national and international [scale], that may not be able to partake of this information bonanza" (Mirabito 1994: 4). Nowhere, perhaps, is this of more pressing concern than in the far-flung island states of the Pacific.
It is vitally important, at this juncture, for Pacific Island leaders, entrepreneurs, and ordinary citizens to recognize that advances in digital telecommunications and information technologies are at the threshold of irreversibly changing the way we all work, live and think. Such technological innovations will not of themselves make things better or worse. Rather, they will most likely allow us to make changes far more profoundly, dramatically, and--of course--much, much faster. As the end of the twentieth century draws ever closer, governments, businesses and private citizens can no longer afford to be naive about the consequences of technology. Neither can they afford to be ignorant of the powerful changes invoked by technology's application. Appropriate organization at the government and private sector levels for creative and long-term financial and managerial inputs into future strategies for optimizing the application and use of telecommunications technology is desperately needed. At the same time, there is an equally urgent need to put into place forward visioning policies aimed at maximizing the potential benefits of any technology transfer--including telecommunication technologies. Such long-term, "proactive" policies will go a long way toward delimiting any negative fall-out that will inevitably occur.
Within this economic environment, and without much argument it appears, technology became a substantial part of the development equation in the Pacific Islands--as it has indeed become everywhere. Many Pacific Islanders envision the introduction of "high tech" telecommunications and/or other "cutting-edge" technologies as a panacea; spurring economic growth, promoting a higher quality of life, or both. However, existing along side this vision is the somewhat incongruous desire to also avoid further technological dependency (Dator, et al. 1986; Ogden 1993). So a quandary has emerged which, for the most part, has also been quietly ignored. This becomes especially poignant when one considers that technology accounts for just over 50 percent of total imports entering the Pacific Islands region--in the form of direct imports or as aid--and that imported technology represents around 70 percent of total technology transfer, with aid constituting over 30 percent of such transfers (Majoram 1991).
According to conventional wisdom, therefore, it appears that the Pacific Island states and territories are much too small, too poorly endowed with resources, and too isolated from the centers of economic growth for their inhabitants ever to rise above their present condition of dependence on the largess of the wealthier metropolitan nations. Likewise, they seem destined to forever play a perpetual game of technological "catch-up" that they may never win; the technologies they desire being continually "just out of reach," or available only at the cost of indefinitely continued dependency. From these rather dismal prospects, what hope is there for the future?
All is not as bleak as it may appear, however, and in a perverse way, many of the Pacific Island nations are fortunate that they have lagged so far behind the curve when it comes to telecommunication technologies. Rapid technological advances in digital telecommunications coupled with declining costs mean that latecomers can "leap-frog" to a level of services not much different from those that even the relatively rich Rim countries could only have dreamed of even five years ago. Of course, this does nothing to address the issue of growing technological dependency; but, perhaps, the issue is not as critical as first imagined (or maybe even moot?) given the high level of existing global integration and interdependency. As home markets become saturated and competition intensifies, the telecommunication markets in underdeveloped areas are emerging as the next high-growth markets for products and services. To win a stake in these emerging markets, many telecommunication operators and vendors are finding that they need to deliver alternative, innovative solutions very different from the cost structures and assumptions built into the old infrastructures of their home markets. Thus, telecommunication organizations have shown both a flexibility and willingness in addressing "technology transfer" issues by offering "turn-key" technology solutions or "modular implementation" as well as comprehensive personnel training packages to entice developing countries into purchasing their product or service.
Presently--after much effort and concerted political will exercised throughout the 1980s and into the early 1990s--all of the Pacific Island nations have INTELSAT satellite gateways for international telecommunications and many have embarked upon ambitious modernization plans following a restructuring of their own telecommunications organizations. Other island nations have entered into joint-venture agreements for the management of their international and domestic communications. Emerging developments in the digitization of satellite systems with DAMA (Demand Assigned Multiple Access) and TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) along with advances in Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSATs) for receiving satellite signals, are accelerating the expansion of the thin-route systems so characteristic of the Pacific Islands. Advances in digitization and bandwidth compression are making such technologies much less costly and far more efficient. Likewise, thin-route, repeaterless fiber optic technology is also making inroads as cost come down, spanable distances increase, and bandwidth demands rise. Even wireless communications, with promises of high-quality voice and data services anytime, anywhere, are making their debut in the Pacific Islands with expectations of rapidly declining costs (Mobile phone service 1994:5; Fiji's New Line 1994: 58). Whereas telephone densities (number of telephones per 100 population) and subscriber waiting lists in the Pacific Islands have greatly improved since the mid-1980s and are much better than in some developing countries,[1] overall telephone penetration rates remain low "despite detailed telecommunications master plans and extensive aid funding" (Cutler 1994: 2-1). The greatest share of the telephones still remain concentrated in only a few urban areas--widening the access gap--while in most Pacific Island countries the bulk of their populations resident in the rural interior or on isolated outer islands languish without service.
Such disparities in access cannot long exist without exacerbating already volatile urban-rural inequalities or without placing additional burdens on already over strained economies. Efforts have been initiated to rectify these disparities but no substantial results have yet been reported. In the end, perhaps, the cost of opting out of implementing the application of such "new" telecommunication technologies may, in the long run, prove to be higher than the investment cost of their introduction. It has been stated that, before the turn of this century, with appropriate organization and the political well to do so, the Pacific Islands can have efficient and affordable access not only to point-to-point telephone and data communications but to satellite-based national radio and television broadcasting as well as regional multipoint-to-multipoint video conferencing--should they desire such services.
At the national level, there is also a growing gap between the relatively high levels of access in urban centers and the isolated rural areas. According to a South Pacific Forum (SPF) Green Paper on telecommunications in the region (Cutler 1994), to bring rural telephone penetration up to existing urban levels would require a threefold increase in installed services (assuming that urban connectivity remains static). Attempts to reach levels of telephone penetration equal to even half that enjoyed by most developed countries would take most SPF countries many years. For example, Papua New Guinea and Western Samoa would both need approximately 180 years, at present investment levels, just to achieve 20 percent telephone penetration. While some have already exceed this mark through aggressive investments and/or sheer political will (e.g., Cook Islands and Niue), others may fare even worse (Cutler 1994)! Furthermore, as attention turns more toward the provision of broadband services, "Plain Old Telephone Service" (POTS) is loosing its appeal as "Pretty Amazing New Stuff" (PANS) take center stage in the provision of information services and threatens to institutionalize the access gap.
Recently initiated efforts to address these issues in both the Pacific Islands as well as around the world have taken a decidedly "engineering approach" to what is essentially a socio-political problem. Network access--both telephone and computer--still has a "gadget" centric focus. The question should not be "if we build it, will they come;" but, "is what's being built a `needful thing'?" Just because someone has a connection doesn't mean they know what to do with it or that it is at all useful to them. Access to the "information superhighway" is not just about wires, optical fibers, satellites, computers and telephones; its about people and how they choose to interact with each other, their government, and the world at-large. Manufactured need will not suffice to motivate "real" people to connect, nor to maintain a long-term information market--and let's face it, the "information superhighway" is not about information; it is about trying to find a new basis for our global economy.
Such issues have only recently been even tentatively broached at the national level in metropolitan countries, while presenting a far more problematic set of public policy issues for developing countries to contend with. Ironically, the terms of the global debate now involve such policy issues as universal access to the next generation of information services, infrastructure roll-out and coverage, and the importance of broadband platforms for national economic development; an agenda very familiar to Pacific Island countries if not the bulk of the underdeveloped world. The benefit of all this "new-found" attention is that there has emerged a global consciousness of these important policy issues. The resultant discussion about alternative approaches to telecommunications development (as witnessed by the ITU conference in Buenos Aires in March 1994) has also raised the hope that new and real prospects for the development of innovative solutions for some of the old problems of the Pacific Islands (as well as other developing countries) can be realized. This is, of course, contingent on whether or not the Pacific Island nations--along with other developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America--can keep world attention focused on the nascent issues of access, network coverage, and economic development.
To keep world attention focused, Pacific Island nations must first overcome some formidable barriers to realizing the benefits of telecommunications technology. First, there is a need to better understand the technology's potential--to be able to envision what the technology can do for them. Second, Pacific Islanders need to be educated and trained in the use of telecommunications technology and its application as well, their leaders need to be made aware of the technology's potential. Third, it is an absolute imperative that the domestic telecommunication infrastructure be expanded with particular focus on extending services to rural interior or outer island villages. Fourth, there is a need to craft appropriate and forward visioning national telecommunication policies in the Pacific Islands in order to take full advantage of these technologies and reap maximum benefit at nominal economic and/or social cost. Finally, and perhaps the most difficult, is the need to find funding for Pacific Island telecommunications education, training and infrastructure. This will be difficult because Pacific Island countries need to make up for under investment in telecommunications at a time when most traditional funding sources are under increasing pressure, and other basic needs such as housing, roads, hospitals, and schools continue unabated.
While some policy decisions could be responsibly made today, future applications and policy making would benefit from significant, continued research and discussion on many of the topics mentioned above. Likewise, since Pacific Islanders place great value on their cultural background and heritage, it is important to remain vigilant in order to ensure that telecommunication technology does not play a corrosive role in Island society but, instead, empowers Pacific Islanders in preserving their culture. Such technologies offer as many opportunities to erode indigenous language, traditions, and history as they do opportunities to preserve and strengthen. As policy makers begin to overhaul existing telecommunications policies to meet the demands of the information age--in both the developed as well as the developing countries--it becomes even more of an imperative that inequalities do not become codified for the next generation.
Cole, R. (Ed.) (1993). Pacific 2010: Challenging the future, (Pacific Policy Paper No. 9). Canberra, Aust.: National Centre for Development Studies, Research School of Pacific Studies, The Australian National University.
Cross, P. (1994, May). ITU statement. United Dations Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, Bridgetown, Barbados, 25 April to 6 May 1994.
Cutler, T. (1994, April). Telecommunications: The Pacific Link. A Green Paper report for the Pacific Forum on the development of the telecommunications sector in the region. Melbourne, Aust.: Cutler & Company. (A draft of this report was also presented at the 1993 conference, Calling the Pacific. South Pacific Forum Secretariat, Suva, Fiji).
Dator, J., Jones, C. & Moir, B. (1986). A study of preferred futures for telecommunications in six Pacific islands societies. Honolulu, HI: PICHTR & SSRI.
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) (1990). Study on telecommunication development in the ESCAP region. New York: United Nations.
Fiji's New Line (1994, May). Islands Business Pacific, 20, (5), 58.
Marjoram, T. (1991, May). Small is beautiful? Technology futures in the small-island Pacific. Futures, (3), 373-391.
Mirabito, M. (1994). The new communication technologies, second edition. Boston, MA: Focal Press.
Mobile phone service opens in Marshall Islands (1994, September). Pacific Report, 7, (16), 5.
Ogden, M. (1995, January). Widening the chasm or closing the gap? Converging information technologies & Pacific island microstates. In D. Wedemeyer & Nickelson, R. (Eds.), PTC'95 Proceedings, Pp. 592-599, Honolulu, HI: Pacific Telecommunications Council (PTC).
Ogden, M. (1993). Development and telecommunications technology in Pacific Island microstates. In J. Savage & D. Wedemeyer (Eds.), PTC'93 Proceedings, Vol II, Pp. 988-997, Honolulu, HI: Pacific Telecommunications Council (PTC).
South Pacific Commission (SPC) (1993). South Pacific economies statistical summary number 13. Noumea, New Caledonia: SPC.
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