TMCnet News
Digitisation 'key to growth' [Gulf Daily News (Bahrain)](Gulf Daily News (Bahrain) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) MANAMA: Digitisation is expected to have a cumulative economic impact by 2020 on the gross domestic product (GDP) of the South Asia, Middle East and North Africa (Samena) region amounting to $1.25 trillion, an industry expert has said. "The level of digitisation in the Samena region needs to be accelerated further," Samena Telecommunications Council chief executive Bocar A Ba said. Mr Bocar made the comments as he was taking part in the Telecommunications Regulatory Conference 2014, held at Four Seasons Hotel, Doha, Qatar, under the theme, "Next Generation Fixed Broadband Networks and Services: Challenges and Opportunities". The event was hosted by the Communications Regulatory Authority of Qatar. "Fixed broadband is a viable mechanism to guarantee reliable integrated digital communications and connectivity for digitised households and businesses and it can also serve as the foundation for an integrated advanced, converged broadband experience," he said. During a speech, Mr Bocar emphasised the cross-sectors benefits of broadband across various segments including government, education, energy, transportation, healthcare and financial services. "The Samena Council is working closely with regulators and the telecom industry across the region to promote the development and adoption of national and sector-specific digitisation policies. "These will create new growth opportunities for telecom operators and information and communications technology industry stakeholders through more sophisticated broadband infrastructure while accelerating socio-economic development in the region," he said. Shedding light upon the regulatory approaches that can help drive digitisation achieve optimal results, Mr Bocar offered solutions such as introducing and developing national broadband plan, promoting market liberalisation, taxes optimisation, considering open access approaches to infrastructure, equal licensing schemes, updating and utilising universal service funds and reviewing and updating regulatory service obligations. The council is the region's sole industry association, driven primarily to represent telecommunications operators and service providers. (c) 2014 Al Hilal Publishing & Marketing Group Provided by Syndigate.info, an Albawaba.com company |