The sixth annual African Computing and Telecommunications Summit (ACT 2004) is building on its strategic relationship with the global association of satellite telecommunications industries, summit organisers said in a statement.
This year’s summit, with the theme Developing Partnerships to Mainstream Africa’s ICT Industry, will be held in September at CyberCity: Mauritius, the information and communications technology (ICT) development hub for Africa.
Satellite-based communications provide the only effective breakthrough from the bottleneck that is the underdevelopment of telecommunications services throughout much of Africa. Underdevelopment has been attributed to factors such as low disposable incomes; lack of competition; and the fragmentation of Africa into many national markets that are devoid of economies of scale.
Access to information through low-cost telecommunications connectivity is imperative for the economic and social development of Africa. That said, the non-profit and non-partisan satellite industry association has organised a Telecommunications Operators Forum (TOF), a programme of briefing and discussion sessions for the African telecommunication carriers community.
The sessions will address key issues regarding the world of connectivity solutions from satellite-based technology and will offer examples of “best practice” in the creation of strategies for satellite terminal deployment, network roll-out and sustainable application development.
The Catalysing Access to Internet in Africa project — a three-year programme of the British government’s Department for International Development — reflects the strong ground swell of opinion that the United Nations’s Millennium Development Goals will only be achieved by using ICT, ACT 2004 organisers said in a statement.
This is also the emphasis placed on ICT in the recent World Summit on the Information Society and in the targets of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development.
Opportunities for many new telecommunications entrepreneurs across Africa continue to advance with the increased availability of lower-price satellite bandwidth all across the continent.
The TOF will bring together senior decision-making representatives from posts and telecommunications ministries and related entities (PTTs) from across the continent, with particular emphasis on telecommunications carriers from the PTTs group of the Southern African nations.
Also attending will be senior executives from Africa’s sub-regional organisations of telecommunications regulators, including the Telecommunications Regulators Association of Southern Africa; the West African Telecommunications Regulators Association; and the East Africa Regulatory Post and Telecommunication Organisation. — I-Net Bridge