Falklands : DR Chris Doyle’s Statement About Telecommunications in the Falklands:
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 30.01.2010 (Current Article)
The sector is widely recognised as being an important neighbour for economic development and in the Falklands it also plays a pivotal role in enabling social cohesion.
DR Chris Doyle’s Statement About Telecommunications in the Falklands:
As delivered by Stacey Bragger at the Telecommunications Phone-in on Wednesday, 27 January 2010
Unfortunately I cannot contribute to your phone-in programme on Telecommunications as I will be travelling to Oman. I expect the guests on the panel will provide listeners with a lively and informative discussion.
My opinions have been clearly presented in my report and note that the cover of the Penguin News cites a number of these views. I am confident that the Government of the Falkland Islands will develop a coherent long-term policy overseeing telecommunications building on the recommendations in my report.
The sector is widely recognised as being an important neighbour for economic development and in the Falklands it also plays a pivotal role in enabling social cohesion. Future prosperity on the Islands will require modern communications infrastructure with much more reliable and better internet connectivity than is available at present. This will be essential for serving business - most importantly new offshore businesses and tourist businesses, government, education and health services as well as meeting the social requirements of the population at large.
The Government together with the provider of telecommunications services should work together on establishing a clear, long-term vision as achievable and affordable. Most countries around the world have produced quality statements with regard to the internet, for example setting targets for minimum download speeds, etc. And some countries have embarked on a very ambitious programme to extend and develop communications networks. For example, Australia has announced a huge initiative aimed at ensuring every household would be able to access the internet with a minimum download speed of 12 Mega-bits per second, which is being funded both by Government and the private sector.
I expect my report will help government to develop a long-term strategy for the Falklands. At present it will be far too expensive for the Falklands to imitate policies to imitate policies in countries like Australia but this should not be used as an excuse not to do anything. There is a need to deliver a better quality of service to consumers and this is feasible within the very near term. I trust the panellists will be discussing this particular issue in some detail.
Cable & Wireless recently increased the amount of bandwidth used on the satellite link between the Islands and the UK which is good news and this may have lead to some improvements in service quality. The Company is also installing a new soft switch which, I understand should also help improve service. But we need to understand the cost implications of expanding satellite capacity much more than we do at present.
It is only a matter of time before there will be a need to expand capacity further and therefore government needs to have reliable information about cost implications especially if it is going to consider any further investment in the sector beyond what it has already contributed e.g. in Camp. I hope that the programme is successful and pass on my regards to the panellists and listeners.
Again, I am sorry I cannot participate.
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