Mandate

The participants of the South Asia Mobile Summit discussed various issues relating to Telecommunication during last year’s event; Information Technology (IT); Internet Protocol (IP); Internet Service Provider (ISP) and Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) and unanimously agreed and adapted the following resolutions as a recommendation to the regulators of the region:
 
i)    That Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Pakistan believe that their services can be rendered on free and independent basis.

ii)    That the ISPs in Pakistan agree none will engage in illegal activities or digress from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) regulations.

iii)    In Pakistan, legal interception should be based on specified security needs and not on ‘blocked’ basis on individual customers.

iv)    That the Summit appreciates the steps taken by Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) for creation of International Internet Gateway (IIG) in Bangladesh which has created ground for competition in providing bandwidth to ISPs.

v)    The high cost of customer acquisition prevailing because of the tax on subscriber acquisition (BDT 800/-) is detrimental in proving a viable business case for Bangladeshi operators. The Summit recommends rationalization of such levies to ensure that operators’ income is financially viable and secure.

vi)    That the summit considers the quantification clause may be eliminated and ISPs can be given the right to choose the preferred service provider.

vii)    That the international content provider may be allowed to peer with local internet exchange point.

viii)    That the regional regulators need to adopt a policy to connect the regional Internet Exchange (IX) so that the people of the region can benefit from it instead of the contents being routed from other places.

a.    Currently a Bangladeshi user is routed to a web-page based in USA/UK whenever he/she clicks on the web. It is suggested that the cache is situated in the locality/region of the user instead of the current practice of contents being routed from another place.

ix)     The Summit recognizes and appreciates the regulatory regime of Bhutan which has furthered development of telecommunication in Bhutan.

x)    That the Summit recommends the Regulatory Authority to be more open to international investment in Information Communication Technology ( ICT) sector.

a.    Allowing 100% and full foreign investment/ownership instead of restricting it to a maximum said figure of 60% is encouraged to attract Foreign Direct Investment.

xi)    That due to exponential growth and proliferation of mobile and internet content there will be efforts to identify the originating cause of action and fix the liability and the responsibility through Telecommunication Regulator.

xii)    That the international investment companies would appreciate if the licensing procedures in Sri Lanka would be based on application and services offered and not on technology.

xiii)    That the Summit appreciates the indulgence and endeavors in Afghanistan (of the regulator and operators) to bring about telecommunication within the reach of the common people at affordable prices ultimately changing livelihood.

xiv)    That the Spirit of the Law is innocent until proven guilty. For ISPs especially, operators/companies are constantly under the pressure that they might be charged for illegally using bandwidth. It is suggested that the monitoring agencies develop a fair and healthy system whereby bandwidth is allocated fairly and monitoring of bandwidth usage as per allocation is rational and justified.