Telecom Holds Key To Infotech Boom

Asia Telecom 97 opens with call for more innvestments

Asia Telecom 97, the quadrennial telecom conference and exhibition focussing on the region, opened here yesterday amidst recognition of and optimism about the crucial role of telecom services in the networked society of the future. Speakers ranging from Singapore premier Goh Chok Tong; Microsoft chairman and CEO, Bill Gates; and the International Telecommunication Union secretary-general Pekka Tarjanne stressed the needs for investments in telecom.

The fourth of its kind - the previous three were also held at Singapore - Asia Telecom 97 is organised by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the Telecom Authority of Singapore (TAS). The six-day event is expected to have over 3,000 participants and some 300 exhibitors.

 

The host country backed its conviction that a knowledge-based service sector would soon outpace the contributions of other services, industry and agriculture to an economy by opening Singapore ONE, a nationwide high capacity network capable of multimedia applications, and committing S $ 2 billion (about $ 1.5 billion) towards improving computer literacy in schools.

In his inaugural address, Prime Minister Goh said: Singapore is a young society. Our survival and prosperity depend on our ability to adapt to the new world of the 21st century and be of service to it. Singaporeans, therefore, have to embrace the new technology of the information age actively, and not just welcome it passively.

Modestly accepting that Singapore has one of the highest information technology literacy rates in the world (50 per cent teledensity, 33 per cent PC penetration and 11 per cent Internet access), Goh felt that it was not good enough for the challenges of tomorrow. So we allocate (S) $ 2 billion to ensure that every child in school will have access to a computer within the next five years. Our computer literacy level will then be as high as that in the United States, he predicted.

Goh inaugurated the pilot project of Singapore ONE, a government-led initiative to put in place a high capacity nationwide telephone system capable of handling multimedia and other network applications. Expected to cost S$150 million in the initial few years, Singapore ONE is projected to run a full range of services spanning business, education, information, entertainment, among other multimedia applications.

ITU secretary-general Tarjanne paid tributes to Singapore for putting in place infrastructure and implementing policies while accelerating towards becoming the first intelligent country in the world. We clearly see that Singapores economic miracle has been based on a recognition that communications and information technology will be the foundation of economic wealth and social progress in the twenty-first century, he said.