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Pacific Island States |
Overview This
chapter covers the 14 independent and self-governing island countries of the Pacific:
Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue,
Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands,
Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. These countries span the equator and the international
dateline across 30 million square kilometres of ocean and have a total population
of fewer than 8 million. Generalisations about Pacific island countries are therefore not useful. Understanding each country’s unique situation is the key to ICT sector analysis, planning and policy development across the region. The national ICT infrastructure is developing rapidly, but in most cases it lags behind many other parts of the world. Although e-mail has been available for about ten years to a few institutional users through such services as PEACESAT and the University of the South Pacific’s (USP) WAN, true Internet access has become available only recently, beginning first in 1995 in Fiji and most recently in 2000 in Tuvalu. Telephone penetration generally is good in urban areas but very poor in rural areas. Although urban teledensities, ranging from about 20 to 60 percent of the population, are low by global standards, when household sizes and social patterns are taken into consideration nearly all urban residents have access to telecommunications services. Rural teledensities, however, range from one-half to one- tenth of those in urban areas. Mobile phones are increasingly common, but in most countries do not yet approach the level of usage seen elsewhere. However, the introduction of prepaid mobile phone services has led to an explosion in mobile customers in some countries, and in Fiji mobile subscribers exceeded fixed-line subscribers in 2002. Four countries have digital mobile phone services, the remainder offer only analogue and one country does not offer any mobile services. Only users in Tonga have a choice of telecommunications carriers, while all other countries are served by monopoly providers for both domestic and international services. Approximately 25 percent of Pacific islanders have regular access to ICTs, primarily through their workplaces, a few secondary and tertiary educational institutions, and a few public centres and Internet cafés. The number of Internet subscribers ranges from about 1 in 5 in Niue (where access is free) to 1 in 1,000 in the Solomon Islands. Users in only three countries (Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Tonga) have a choice of ISPs while users in all other countries are served by monopoly ISPs. For residential Internet access, only Tonga offers broadband services to users, while all other countries rely on dial-up services via the publicly switched telephone system. For business and institutional users, most carriers offer Internet services and virtual private networks via leased lines of varying bandwidths. For international services, only Fiji and Papua New Guinea have submarine cable links to metropolitan countries. All other Pacific island countries rely exclusively on satellites. Difficult rural topography and small populations dispersed on outer islands mean that few people outside of the national capitals can make a telephone call, let alone access the Internet. Nearly all Internet users are located in the capital cities and a handful of secondary urban areas. There are exceptions -- for example, the Cook Islands has telephone access to all its outer islands -- but for the most part modern ICTs are an urban phenomenon. Furthermore,
owing to vast distances, small markets and the lack of economies of scale, improvements
are slow and extremely expensive. Whereas users on main islands can be reached
via conventional means, those on outer islands and in remote rural areas typically
rely on high-frequency radio and, in a very few cases, on satellite links to their
capitals. Fiji and FSM are introducing wireless access to rural areas to expand
coverage of rural areas on the main islands, but in other countries wireless applications
are uncommon. Institutional use of the Internet is slowly catching up with the rest of the world, exemplified by official agency websites offering reports and information, a growing online presence for banks and tour operators, limited online retail activity, and distance education offered through USP. Nevertheless, it is not uncommon for government departments to lack access to even basic e-mail and to continue to rely exclusively on fax and telephone services. There is only anecdotal evidence of the patterns of ICT usage among Pacific islanders. In the larger and better-off countries, Internet access and e-mail are considered essential for professional use, primarily for correspondence but increasingly for collaborative work and access to global information. One survey in the Solomon Islands showed that about half of the regular users of a public Internet café used e-mail to keep in touch with friends and family abroad, about one-quarter were students looking for educational information, and one- quarter were business and professional users maintaining contacts and working collaboratively. There
is growing awareness of the need to ensure men and women, girls and boys, are
included in the development and use of ICTs to prevent social and economic exclusion
and to facilitate universal access for every Pacific islander. The Solomon Islands
survey showed that about one-third of the users of the public Internet café
were women and about one-quarter were youths of school age. USP statistics (Williams,
2001) indicate a much lower participation of girls in some science subjects. Female
participation in computer science and mathematics is 37 percent. (including internal
and external students). External female students have a higher participation rate
of 46 percent indicating female preference for distance education and their likely
access and use of ICTs to undertake their study. Pacific
island countries, in their drive to embrace modern ICTs, face a significant number
of constraints. It is evident that the high cost of access and equipment is a
major barrier to increased use of ICTs. Other barriers include limited international
bandwidth, outdated regulatory frameworks, unreliable power supplies, and limited
human and institutional capacity for sector development. These constraints are
common across the region. ICTs hold one of the most important keys to creating a better future for the Pacific islanders. In a context of small islands dispersed over vast ocean distances, facing limited natural resources and high transportation costs, better information and more efficient and affordable access are essential to connect island communities to the rest of the world. Content There are five main categories of indigenous content produced within the Pacific region that are available online. Most common are news sites, including daily newspapers, broadcasting companies and online magazines, such as Fiji Live. Also common are portal sites and directories, which attempt to be the one-stop shop for information on a country, such as the general Planet Tonga and the more business-oriented Papua New Guinea Business Directory and Tourism Guide. There are many government sites, typically containing directories and official documents. There is a growing online presence of electronic retailers and electronic transactions of traditional activities. Finally, there are regional sites, often but not always run by intergovernmental organisations such as the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, that contain a wide range of information including documentation of development projects in many sectors and links to regional resources and contacts. Many of the news, portal and directory sites are targeted at, and supported by, the large Pacific island diasporas. For example, there are large groups from all the islands in New Zealand, Los Angeles and Honolulu who keep in touch with events back home through the daily news. E-mail is also rapidly gaining popularity among all age and social groups, providing an important source of business for the growing number of telecentres. A listing of sites by country and for the region is provided below. This is only a representative sample, as a visit to any of the portals or directories will quickly demonstrate. Important local sources of content The most prominent or comprehensive website in each of three categories (where available) -- official government site, portal or directory, and news -- is described. Unless noted otherwise, all sites listed are in English as all Pacific island countries use it either as an official language or as the common language of business and administration. Cook Islands Government
of the Cook Islands <http://www.ck/govt.htm>
Tuatua-tika:
News Briefs from the Cook Islands <http://www.ck/tuatua.htm> Cook
Islands Herald <http://www.ciherald.co.ck>
Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) FSM
Government <http://www.fsmgov.org> Fiji Fiji
Government Online <http://www.fiji.gov.fj>
Fiji
Live <http://www.fijilive.com> Kiribati Kiribati
Newstar Online <http://www.users.bigpond.com/kiribati_newstar> Niue Government
of Niue <http://www.gov.nu> Niue
Tourism <http://www.niueisland.com>
Niue
News <http://www.niuenews.nu> |
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