Appendix B: Recent Practices and Concepts for Telecommunications Infrastructure Development for Small Markets¹⁰

These are opportune times for Pacific island States. Technical, public service, and partnership precedents have been set in a wide range of activities related to improving telecommunications infrastructure, and benefits therefrom. A selection of such precedents is summarized below.

B1. The Internet as a Source of Revenue – As Well as Capacity-Building

Most people think of the Internet as a medium of entertainment, information, governance, and business. Users pursue news (beyond what the local media might provide), entertainment, recreation, hobbies/avocations, education, other information, communication (including email, chat, blogging, Myspace, voice over IP telephony, videoconferencing for work or non-work purposes). Businesses serve information, e-commerce, pre- and after-sales service, and even product updates (e.g. bug fixes and enhancements to software, data files such as new airline schedules or virus detection rules). Educational institutions pursue distance learning. Medical institutions pursue tele-medicine and public health awareness. Governments attempt to reduce one’s need to visit the office for information or a form (by providing these on their Websites), or provide complete passport application procedures on the Web, for example.

On the other side are organizations providing infrastructural services, installing and managing undersea telecommunications cables and satellite communications networks, Internet service providers, domain name registration licensing (and resellers of domain name licensing). While few of these services have financially benefited developing countries, the situation could change. For example, several countries with popular top-level domain names (like Tuvalu’s .tv, Niue’s .nu, and Tonga’s .to) outsourced the licensing of their domain names – often with little accountability, transparency, governance, or revenue to the State guaranteed by such outsourcing. Niue (see below) is one such country, which has benefited by having its domain name licensor underwrite gratis non-commercial WiFi Internet for all residents and visitors to Niue – but apparently gets no detailed accounting of revenues or expenses in managing the service, nor of the types of uses of Website owners using their national domain name. Tuvalu reportedly has management representation on its domain name licensor, and receives several million dollars annually in royalties. How should such serviced be run, consistent with 21^st century concepts of governance? Can the status quo be changed to such a 21^st century service model, if the two are not in harmony? Look at the case history of the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority, and the references cited in that case history, for some ideas.

Most countries have organizations which register Internet domains as a licensing service to facilitate (and in some manners regulate) the development of Websites. In most countries, such registration is for individuals, organizations, or corporations acting within their territories. Exceptions are the domain names of .com, .org, .net and the like – which were originally thought of as USA - implicit domain names parsed for commercial, organizational, network and other uses but which are also commonly considered as “global” as opposed to “national” domains. Another set of exceptions is a small number of States for which domain names are commercially licensed, often by outsourced commercial licensing authorities.

In the Pacific, such States include the Federated States of Micronesia (.fm) Niue (.nu), Samoa (.ws), Tokelau (.tk), Tonga (.to), and Tuvalu (.tv), which have domain names of interest to some peoples, in some languages. Table B-1 lists registration fees and general rules for Pacific island States. Table B-1 lists the numbers of active Websites associated with domain names of Pacific island States, and also notes how popular a domain is.

Table B-1. Domain Licensing Fees and General Rules, Pacific Island States¹¹

Country	Domain	Domain Registration Fees (US$) / 2years	Local Presence Required?	Other Requirements
American Samoa	.as	$250	no	none
Cook Islands	.ck	$300	no	none
Fiji	.fj	$300	no	none
French Polynesia	.fp	n/a	n/a	n/a
Guam	.gu	$200	yes	Must have Admin-C in Guam. Must provide trademark if relevant to proposed domain name.
Hong Kong, China	.hk	$400	no	For .hk a company registration is needed (any country). For .com.hk a HK company registration or trademark must be provided.
Indonesia	.id	$350	yes	Must have company registration, and/or trademark, from Indonesia.
Japan	.jp	$340	yes	For .jp a local presence is required. For .co.jp a Japanese company registration is required.
Kiribati	.ki	$300	no	none
Marshall Islands	.mh	n/a	n/a	n/a
Micronesia	.fm	$350	no	Costs vary by domain name, costs set by the registry.
Northern Mariana Islands	.mp	$350	yes	Must have DNS carried by Marianas registry.
Nauru	.nr	$200	no	none
New Caledonia	.nc	$325	yes	Must have company registered in New Caledonia.
New Zealand	.nz	$200	no	none
Palau	.pw	n/a	n/a	n/a
Papua New Guinea	.pg	n/a	n/a	n/a
Philippines	.ph	$200	no	none
Samoa	.ws	$100	no	none
Solomon Islands	.sb	$420	no	none
Timor Leste	.tl	$250	no	none
Tonga	.to	$220	no	none
Tuvalu	.tv	$100	no	none
Vanuatu	.vu	$240	no	none

Note the implication, in comparison with registration charges for .com, .org, .net and some other domains, that registering with Pacific island State domains is not cost-competitive. Considering the diversity of sites offering .com, .org and others, it is unlikely that Pacific island State domains are also not service-competitive – at least offering additional services for the higher license charges imposed. Thus, anyone registering through these domains may do so for the name alone, or for other intangible reasons.

Table B-2. Website Development and Popularity, Pacific Island States¹²

Economy	Web Index	Websites In Ranking.Com	Web Rank	Web Rank Index	Links3	Links Index
American Samoa	39	73	664	62	139	17
Cook Islands	12	3	3044	18	2	6
Fiji	20	24	2182	30	15	10
French Polynesia	7	13	3256	15	0	0
Guam	9	3	3597	11	3	7
Hawaii (USA)13	100	80,924	0	100	159732	100
Kiribati	9	4	3016	18	0	0
Marshall Islands	0	0	4500	0	0	0
Micronesia	58	265	94	86	1457	31
N. Mariana Is.	5	2	3582	11	0	0
Nauru	20	8	3004	18	403	22
New Caledonia	13	13	2969	19	5	7
New Zealand	64	3617	21	93	2125	34
Niue	56	1932	41	90	360	22
Norfolk Island	11	7	3205	16	2	6
Palau	4	6	3853	7	0	0
Papua New Guinea	15	9	3146	16	42	13
Samoa	60	2080	21	93	734	26
Solomon Islands	2	1	4101	5	0	0
Timor Leste	9	12	3042	18	0	0
Tokelau	56	3129	60	88	524	24
Tonga	61	579	42	90	1576	32
Tuvalu	56	2992	14	94	140	17
Vanuatu	42	33	1100	51	1976	33
Wallis & Futuna	0	0	4500	0	0	0

In general, the popularity of Pacific island States’ domains depends largely on the commercial or non-commercial nature (or impression) of those domains. Whereas some public service Websites, such as www.pdc.org (Hawaii), www.sopac.fj, www.pifsec.org are well known in the Pacific, the level of investment in international governance services is relatively low in the Pacific. Indeed, if one views the more popular Websites for a particular State, one often sees obviously highly commercial Websites associated with States with high (e.g. over 50) Web Rank Index values in Table B-2.

Case History: Tuvalu – successes through managing a marketable domain name: .tv

The Southern Cross submarine telecommunications cable reportedly passes through Tuvalu waters, but Tuvalu has no cable connectivity of its own. The country relies on a 7.5 metre dish installed in 1990 for the main island of Funafuti connected to the Intelsat satellite at 174 degrees east longitude, and 4.6 metre dishes for each of eight outer islands – installed in 1994 and connected to the Intelsat satellite orbiting at 177 west longitude. With a small population and area, and a vulnerable environment, population and an economy dependent on overseas assistance, the government was on a constant search for developing its own revenue streams.

In order to make money, Tuvalu had permitted its telephone system and its 688 national phone code for “900” pay phone sex companies, a policy that was highly troubling to many of its people¹⁴. However, with the rise in popularity of the Internet, and the coincidence that Tuvalu’s .tv domain name could be popular, the government began exploring how to raise revenues through domain name licensing.

In 1998, the Government of Tuvalu conducted an auction to award the outsourcing of domain name licensing for the .tv domain. A Canadian entrepreneur, with backing from the California venture capital firm Idealab, placed the winning bid. As a result of this arrangement, the California company dotTV was formed, with Tuvalu having a 20% share and a seat on the board of the company. dotTV began licensing domain names¹⁵. India’s satellite broadcaster, ZeeTV, and TVB in Hong Kong registered .tv domain names. China.tv and free.tv were auctioned off for $100,000 to a Chinese company¹⁵. A 1999 Website¹⁶ lists the charges of dotTV as being an initial application fee of $1000, and an annual renewal of $500.

Payments to the Government of Tuvalu were made at $1 quarterly, to be capped at $50 million over a ten year period¹⁷. The first five such payments were made, plus a one-off lump sum payment of $12.5 million. Such revenues reportedly enabled the government to invest in physical infrastructure such as a school, roads and telecommunications, to pay United Nations membership fees, and to discontinue the troubling use of its phone code for phone sex services¹⁴. Tuvalu negotiated to forego its $1 million royalty payments in 2000-2001, instead receiving $3 million in shares in dotTV. However, dotTV could not eventually make the contracted-for payments to the Government of Tuvalu, perhaps partly out of unforeseen drops in revenues of some parts of the Internet economy around the late 1990s and early 2000s. dotTV sold out to VeriSign, Inc.¹⁸, with Tuvalu receiving $10 million as its share of the proceeds from that sale. The new contract vith VreiSign provides Tuvalu with $2.2/annum plus 5% of all revenue exceeding $20 million in sales per year. The arrangement is for 15 years¹⁹. The current site (www.tv), has premium names available for up to $1,000,000 (on 17 October 2006).

Thus domain name licensing has become a major factor in the income and developmental budget of Tuvalu.

Indeed, if it so prioritized, Tuvalu might be able to connect itself to the Southern Cross cable – through a splice where the cable passes nearby (if technically feasible), or through a loop cable to Fiji, approximately 1000 km away. Re-deploying first-generation cable such as is being done with PacRimWest to Papua New Guinea, might be worth queuing onto a list of projects possibly using domain name licensing funds for the .tv name – and/or as part of a possible group effort of neighbouring countries, also redeploying such cable.

B2. A partnership model: The South Atlantic Telecommunications Cable #3
West African Submarine Cable/South Africa Far East Cable (SAT3/WASC/SAFE)

Forecasting demand for bandwidth has always been an inexact process. However, it has generally been shown that, with supportive policy frameworks and normal circumstances, usage grows remarkably quickly. In 1994, Teleglobe inaugurated a cable between Canada and Europe with 5 Gigabit/second capacity, which doubled trans-Atlantic capacity. At the time, approximately 3% of the cable’s use was allocated for digital transmission, and Teleglobe’s managers estimated that it would take 17 years to fill the cable. However, the Internet tsunami surprised everyone, and the cable was full (with digital data) in less than 3 years²⁰.

Once initial reluctance is overcome, success often breeds more success. For example, companies continue adding cable between North America and Europe, continuing the pattern reported by Teleglobe in the preceeding paragraph. Likewise, cables are set to Hawaii and Guam on their way between the Asian and North American mainland, despite the current high capacities for serving the peoples of those States – while overlooking other States that could have considerable growth if they merely had spurs from trans-pacific cables serving them.

People often bemoaned the situation for African countries, which were often considered to have unfavourable levels of Human Development Index, and also be off the beaten track for fibre optic undersea cabling. However, the South Atlantic Telecommunications Cable #3/West African Submarine Cable/South Africa Far East cable (SAT3/WASC/SAFE²¹), which began service in 2003, connects countries such as the Canary Islands, Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Angola, Reunion and Mauritius, while taking the long way between Lisbon, South Africa, India and Malaysia.

The owners of the cable are a consortium of telecommunications providers in the countries served by the cable. Each is a stakeholder in the successful use of bandwidth offered by the cable – and in its unique model of providing spurs from a main cable around Africa, connecting economies as small as Benin, Mauritius and Reunion.

In Mauritius, for example, the government’s ICT Authority says about this cable, owned by the participatatory ownership by 36 nations: “This results in much of the revenue being ploughed back into the continent [Africa]. . . In Mauritius . . . ADSL was introduced in the country [providing many services] at a low flat rate tariff. Mauritius is pursuing a “Cyber Island” strategy with companies seeking to outsource certain activities such as data entry/processing, call centres, fund administration, disaster scenario data backup and recovery centres²².”

Pricing for served countries is a subject of complaints on several discussion forums. Writers note that inland countries are offered claimed unnecessarily high prices for cable access/use, making satellite connectivity economically preferable. On the other hand, a recent wave of competitive offerings of broadband Internet by mobile phone operators in South Africa is apparently applying downward pressure to prices there – and suggesting that service/price competition may be arriving to some African economies. This is not unlike other economies, where incumbents may attempt to maintain high prices even with lower costs – but that competition eventually breaks such attempts, and eventually leads to better services and prices.

B3. The Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL) International Cooperation/Support Strengthens the Situation of Small States

The countries of Dominica, Grenada, Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, have between them less than half a million residents. They were served exclusively by Cable and Wireless for much of their history, and had somewhat similar challenges to Pacific island States²³.

“By the middle of the 1990s, it had been agreed by all creditable and reputable international institutions – such as the World Bank, the World Trade Organization, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) – that monopolistic provision of services was inimical to economic progress, and that countries should liberalize their telecommunications sectors in order to appropriately face the challenges of globalisation and trade liberalisation.²⁴

“In this context, one wishes to note the policy position of the Government of Saint Lucia which determined that it wished to put an end to the exclusive license of the incumbent, Cable and Wireless, and thereby provide an opportunity for joint negotiations with other OECS States and help advance the process of liberalisation of the sector in the sub-region. At that time, the Governments had already determined that possible benefits form liberalisation would include:

• Increased foreign investment

• Increased employment opportunities

• Growth in local enterprises, especially the services sector

• Increased penetration of telecommunications goods and services region-wide

• Creation of a strong information and communications industry

• Greater business volumes in the financial services sector, especially offshore banking and overall economic, social and cultural benefits.²²

“The Governments also sought to ensure that the demand for existing telecommunications services would be met to support economic growth and diversification, provide a suitable environment for tourism and other critical economic sectors, and also satisfy the educational and social needs of the community. Essentially, the Governments agreed that they would endeavour to further develop the telecommunications infrastructure and services by providing a liberalized and competitive environment with open entry to stimulate the introduction of a higher range of services using state of the art technology.²²

“In pursuing this development path, the laws, licenses, and agreements in existence were deemed outdated and injurious to the economic development of the Member States. The agreements were characterised by exclusivity clauses, meaning that Cable and Wireless alone was authorized to provide all telecommunications services. There was a lack of obligation to provide universal service, the licenses were all-inclusive and in effect prevented new providers from taking advantage of advancements in technology through unforeseen at the time of signing the agreements. The agreements provided for a guaranteed rate of return of 15 per cent on all investments, yet prices of services were not cost-based. There was no regulatory mechanism. The governments needed an appropriate response that would enable them to advance along this new path of creating a liberalized sector, and therefore had to establish a suitable legislative and regulatory frame-work to give effect to the new policy decision.²² . . .

“In 1997 the Heads of Government of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States mandated the OECS Central Secretariat to pursue the liberalisation of the telecommunications sector, having sought and obtained funding for a project²⁵. Once funding had been received a Project Management Unit was established. The Governments then agreed that a coherent and unified policy position was required by the participating States, and that this could best be achieved through a harmonized approach, such harmonization to take place at the national and regional levels, thereby ensuring participation of all interest groups and service providers.”²⁶

The Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL) was formed in the year 2000 to serve several small eastern West Indies islands with market liberalization and benefits of competition. It provides policy advice and makes recommendations on a broad range of telecommunications matters, and helps to manage the telecommunications sector to provide a more universal service for its members²⁷.

When ECTEL was founded, all Member States had agreements for Cable and Wireless to provide all telecommunications infrastructure and services but broadcasting. The bilateral agreements between each State and C&W were slated to expire as early as 2000 for St. Jucia, but as late as 2024 for St. Kitts and Nevis. Soon after the ECTEL treaty was signed, the organization entered into negotiations with Cable and Wireless. In 2001, the termination of monopoly arrangements was agreed to, with new licenses issued to the first competitors in 2002. The first mobile telecommunications competitor started operations in 2003²⁸.

The ending of certain monopolistic practices in telecommunications was accomplished in court, partly on the basis of such practices violating constitutional rights of freedom of expression²⁹. It was determined that denying a person or company the opportunity to provide telecommunications services (e.g. media for citizens to express themselves) was unconstitutional. Under this interpretation, monopolistic concessions were declared unconstitutional, thus void³⁰. The cited article, by Mr. Derrick Redman, General Counsel of ECTEL, is fascinating reading in the context of telecommunications service models.

ECTEL has additionally spearheaded group negotiations to significantly lower international connectivity rates; to cap other rates; and to prescribe a formula (which includes targets for improvements in performance and efficiency) for permitting increases, or adjustments, in other rates/costs. Such agreements are relatively short-term, which permits frequent adjustments based on telecommunications and marketplace developments. This has led to more competitive, economical, and advanced telecommunications in its service area.

Between 2002 and 2005, overall telecommunications revenues increased 30%, mobile telephone penetration increased from 9% to 62%, Internet penetration doubled to 6%, investment in telecommunications in 2004 was 250% of what it was in 2001³¹. Though the single telecoms provider from 2001 trimmed staff by 15% by 2004, total employment in the sector increased slightly due to the arrival of new entrants. Call rates dropped as much as 77% within ECTEL member States, while calls to the USA dropped by roughly 50% from a fixed-line telephone and 70% from a mobile phone. The World Bank estimated net savings and surplus to consumers of about US$20 million from the new rates³².

Note that the Caribbean region is also served by the Caribbean Telecommunications Union, an intergovernmental organization dedicated to facilitating the development of the regional telecommunications sector. Its stated mission is: “To create a fully liberalised telecommunications environment, by promoting competition amongst service providers for the delivery of efficient and affordable telecommunications services to the people of ECTEL Member States, by implementing applicable laws, treaties and agreements through fair, transparent and independent processes³³.”  CTU originally comprised of CARICOM member States, but more recently expanded beyond CARICOM members. There is also a Commision Interamericana de Telecomunicaciones (Interamerical Telecommunications Commission – CITEL), affiliated with the Organization of American States. CITEL, which claims a legacy going back over eighty years, aims to make telecommunications a catalyst for dynamic development of the Americas. The three organizations (ECTEL, CTU and CITEL) each exist, and are supported by their somewhat overlapping memberships. However, it is the youngest of the three, ECTEL, which has acted more pro-actively and corporately – to actively work on policies, advice, and negotiations for its members.

B4. Telecommunications Services: Traditional and New Frontiers

From this modest collection of discussion points, one may develop many more.

Voice

Providing voice connectivity within and between communities is crucial for development, and for “quality of life.” While in some islands penetration of the terrestrial (wired and/or wireless) network is reasonably high, for many it could be improved. In the current era of convergence, increased tele-density cannot be planned only on the basis of Plain Old Telephones (POTs). Connectivity should facilitate broadband connection, and should follow the leading edge of new products and services – perhaps staying a bit back from the “bleeding edge” to reduce investments in technology that does not catch on.

Data/Internet

Providing connectivity for Internet applications is important. Though there are more end-users for voice communications, and mobile phone usage is growing faster than the number of Internet users in many developing countries, data transmission bandwidth is growing faster than voice traffic growth – demonstrating the need to support significant growth in Internet bandsidth for business development, governance, as well as “quality of life.”

Direct-to-Home/Business Services

For providing entertainment and information simultaneously to a large number of widely distributed localities, direct broadcast service is increasingly important. Providing Direct–to-Home/Business connectivity is vital to organizations such as WalMart (which has its own satellite network for connecting every outlet with regional and global management/support). It also can improve community spirit by bringing global events like World Cup football matches, or enrichment tools like education and small business advice/support to e-centres or Internet cafes in every corner of the Pacific. This has traditionally been one-way, but can now be two-way, enabling video conferencing as well.

Satellite broadcasting, Streaming Audio/Video

Satellite radio has been operating for some time. In addition, streaming radio and television over the Internet has become a reality. Such applications of improved telecommunications can consume considerable bandwidth, are largely one-way so equally viable for cable or satellite connectivity, and considerably increase quality of life. Distance education, public health, and disaster management may also be greatly facilitated by such services.

Distance Learning in the Pacific: Satcom Connects Communities as Campuses ⁴⁰

The University of the South Pacific (USP) has a home campus on Fiji, but serves twelve countries in the Pacific Ocean: the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. Over half of USP’s students live outside Fiji. Thus the early 1970s USP officials started to investigate the establishment of a satellite-based distance education called USPNet. Thanks to multi-country donor support and the assistance of private partners, USPNet was begun in 1998, and completed in March 2000.

Twelve Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSAT) receive signals from an uplink in Fiji providing voice, data, and videoconferencing. Through this system, students can remain in other countries, saving time and money. Previously, many USP students found it difficult and expensive to travel and live away from their homes, while it was similarly difficult for the university to adequately staff such a widely dispersed campus community.

In the 1970s, transmission on the USA’s ATS-1 satellite was provided by the government of the USA at no on an experimental basis. Attempts to extend the reach of the satellite network sometimes included high frequency radio, with only partial success. When the ATS-1 satellite reached the end of its life, the project was suspended. In 1995, USP obtained a limited number of leased circuits at reduced charges – but was able to connect four local education USP Centres by these means. Others continued to rely on postal services for dissemination of printed, audio and video instructional materials.

In 1997, in response to a request from USP, the government of Japan arranged for a survey to be conducted on upgrading the suspended prototypes into a viable operational system. After studies and multilateral discussions, Japan, New Zealand and Australia made commitments to jointly fund the development of a new system. The completely new system was completed in March 2000.

USPNet is now a closed satellite communication network used exclusively by USP for distance education. It uses some of the C-band global beam transponder of the Intelsat 702 satellite located at 177 degrees west longitude in a geostationary orbit. There is a hub at the main USP campus in Fiji, mini hubs at campuses in Samoa and Vanuatu, and remote terminals in nine USP Centres, one in each of the other USP member countries. The system ranges over 3500 km east to west, and 2500 km north to south. It crosses both the Equator and the international date line.

The hub in Fiji has a 7.6-metre diameter antenna with 100-watt transmitters, a 64 kbps two-way channel for voice and data transmission to each of the other 11 stations, plus three 128 kbps channels for video conferencing and video lecturing. The mini-hubs have a 50 watt transmitter and three 128 kbps channels for video communications, plus the 64 kbps channel connected to Fiji. The mini-hubs have a 6-metre (Samoa) or a 4.6-metre (Vanuatu) antenna. The remote stations have 4.6-metre antennas with 20-watt transmitter. Each has a 64 kbps channel connected to Fiji and two 128 kbps channels for video communications.

The scheduling of the video channels is managed by a Schedule Management System in Fiji. The hub and mini-hubs can uplink video, whereas the remote stations can only receive video signals. Any stations may receive the uplinked (unidirectional) video lectures, whereas bidirectional videoconferencing is between any two locations only.

USP has been faced with meeting the operational costs including space segment charges, developing effective teaching methods using the system, and developing a long-term budgetary plan for maintenance and possible upgrades to the system. Nevertheless, the system offers significant benefits, if it can be maintained. In addition, theoretically, the system could link with additional facilities with the addition of infrastructural elements. It could also co-develop content with other universities in the region, and elsewhere. For example, native French speakers in French-speaking areas, could develop and deliver content in French language and literature, should such be desirable.

Pacific-wide Video Conferencing – taking the USPNet Vision farther

Video conferencing is an unsung hero for those who have routine access to the technology. Being able to participate in an off-site meeting, without having to travel perhaps for days to reach a physical meeting site, makes participation practical. Where a government has a severe shortage of qualified staff, video conferencing is even more valuable. For postulated regional organizations like a PACTEL, video conferencing is almost essential.

Originally based on proprietary systems using telephone or Ethernet cable, teleconferencing and video conferencing systems are about 10-20 years old. However, in the past five years, gratis or low cost Voice Over IP (VOIP) and IP-based video conferencing have become more common. A recent variation involves two display screens: (1) shows the conference at another site in the video-conference network. Typically, this screen shows the lecturer/speaker at any one moment. This screen may have picture-within-picture so that another venue can be shown – or one can monitor one’s own broadcast signal in the PiP for quality control. Also (2) another screen shows “the Power Point.” Media to be presented are cross-loaded to all nodes of the video conference. These are likely to be Power Point or multimedia presentations. Software allows the speaker/presenter to control the presentations at all remote nodes. Thus, if the speaker advances two slides, or backtracks 4 slides, s/he controls such navigation through the document, which is projected live at each node (rather than transmitted at lower quality over the network). This results in a significant improvement in the video conferencing experience, and takes up essentially no bandwidth at the time of the video conference.

Such systems should be in place in all Pacific island States. Indeed, government would be saved tremendous stress by having at least one video conferencing centre in each State. In addition, commercial and educational (beyond USPNet) sites would also be beneficial. Commercial globalized videoconferencing, linked with tourism, could become a revenue earning industry in some Pacific island States.

Knowledge Workers

As noted in Chapter 2, the educational level sustained in many Pacific island States provides a potentially bright future for them as knowledge societies, sharing their cultural wealth by documenting same, and also by participating in the global knowledge community. As noted in Chapter 1, the 21^st century has brought us new means of global collaboration via telecommunications. Adding details to this point would be a study/report in itself, so is left to others.

Global Telecommuters

Similarly, we have heard about the entrepreneurs who abandoned city living for their dream home in the mountains, rural pastureland, or “tropical island.” Brief mention was made of this phenomenon in Section I. Such global telecommuters often invest heavily in their new paradise home, but are also often highly sensitive to the environment and culture of their adoptive home. Pacific island States may be able to market themselves in this manner, if they chose to do so.

Sustainable Tourism Development

Tourism is often touted as another industry with considerable potential, beyond present-day realities. Is Tokelau unreachable by air, and only by a relatively long sea voyage? Other locals market their “remoteness” as exclusivity – such is the tourism model of Bhutan. Niue has a few flights, so could be “practically remote,” or just slightly more accessible than Tokelau. Sustainable tourism, in which residents rather than globalized package firms become the tourism entrepreneurs, with guest houses and other services aimed at a diversity of socio-economic markets, can be greatly helped by e-tourism development. This is best done by expert residents – perhaps with some form of sub-regional cooperation and e-infrastructure to help develop and present content, and handle bookings.

Disaster Management

Efficient communication is essential for disaster management. For hundreds of islands spread out in the vast area of the ocean, providing efficient communication for risk assessment and other preparations, awareness and early warning, response during and after a disaster is best achieved by well-coordinated delivery of information and communications. This includes a reliable in-place system, plus deployable disaster response communications to supplement existing capabilities and repair any damage (which often happens to telecommunications infrastructure in a disaster). Such a deployable system may now include a deployable satellite terminal, plus equipment for rebuilding mobile telephony, and providing new networking (for phone, Internet, and videoconferencing).