[WSIS CS-Plenary] World Bank sees digital divide narrowing, 25 Feb

[Gaston Zongo]

Thanks. But can the core report-document  be shared? 
Gaston Zongo
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Rik Panganiban 
  To: plenary at wsis-cs.org 
  Sent: Friday, February 25, 2005 12:13 PM
  Subject: [WSIS CS-Plenary] World Bank sees digital divide narrowing, 25 Feb


  Dear friends,

  Here is an interesting article on the World Bank views on the WSIS.

  Rik Panganiban

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  ABC News
  http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200502/s1310673.htm

  Last Update: Friday, February 25, 2005. 9:21am (AEDT)

  World Bank sees digital divide narrowing

  The World Bank has called into question a costly UN campaign to bring hi-tech communications to the developing world, saying the "digital divide" between rich and poor nations is narrowing fast.

  The World Bank says in a report that telecommunications services to poor countries are growing at an explosive rate.

  "People in the developing world are getting more access at an incredible rate - far faster than they got access to new technologies in the past," the report said.

  It says half the world's population now enjoys access to a fixed-line telephone and 77 per cent to a mobile network - surpassing a World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) goal that calls for 50 per cent access by 2015.

  The report says there were 59 million fixed-line or mobile phones in Africa in 2002 - contradicting Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade's claim last year that there were more telephones in Manhattan than in all of Africa.

  "Unless New Yorkers and their commuter friends have 12 phones each, Africa now has many more telephones than Manhattan," the World Bank report said.

  The UN hopes that widening access within the developing world to technology such as mobile phones and the Internet will help eradicate poverty and build stable democracies.

  Poorer countries, particularly from Africa, are expected to repeat calls in Geneva for a "Digital Solidarity Fund" to help finance the infrastructure they say is needed to close the perceived technology gap.

  To help fuel fierce demand for communications in countries which lack fixed-line alternatives, US mobile phone equipment maker Motorola Corp announced this month it planned to provide an ultra low-cost mobile phone for less than $US40.

  It will be aimed at emerging markets.

  About 1,700 international experts are gathering in Switzerland to prepare for the United Nation's World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).
  ===============================================
  RIK PANGANIBAN Communications Coordinator
  Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CONGO) 
  web: http://www.ngocongo.org
  email: rik.panganiban at ngocongo.org
  mobile: (+1) 917-710-5524 
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