2005/2006
2003/2004

2005/2006
2003/2004

2005/2006
2003/2004

Privilege, business or service?
By Norbert Klein in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 2005.

The high-flying ideas of the UN World Summit for the Information Society - where the representatives of the governments of the world declared their common desire and commitment to build a people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented Information Society, where everyone can create, access, utilize and share information and knowledge - has not influenced the day-to-day struggle in Cambodia about the nature and purpose of communication infrastructure and access, and who is to carry which share of the cost of services.

Different players with different interests are preventing the development of a clear future. The Ministry of Post and Telecommunication, " regulator, owner of hardware infrastructure, operator of wired phone services and of an ISP, " is obviously handling its combination of services as a kind of income earning project.

The debate became public in March when the President of the National Assembly complained about the low-quality of services and service charges which are higher than those in neighbouring countries. At the same time, the Minister of Economy and Finance warned that several ministries and private communication companies were owing to the state a total of about US$30 million for services rendered by the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications and which have not been paid for. Some observers in the media are forecasting that these debts may be eventually written off resulting in losses to the state coffers.

World Bank studies had warned since several years ago that the wide gap between actual costs and fees charged will lead to efforts to circumvent regulations, especially illegal international gateways offering VoIP services for international calls. Many Internet cafes used to offer international voice calls for less than one tenth of the price charged by the established phone companies. This eventually led to police crack-downs, including the confiscation of equipment and temporary detention of operators.

Instead of de-criminalizing the operators of these affordable services for the population, the government has maintained its general ban on VoIP calls. It has licensed one company to create an "official" VoIP gateway. However, this company is reported to be responsible for US$1.7 million of the above US$30 million debt.

The sudden announcement by the Thai Shinawatra phone company, which has been operating in Cambodia since 1993, that they have started to sell special "IP phones" - telephones which can make normal phone calls and also channel their voice calls cheaply through the Internet - set off a revolution. The IP Phone costs US$45, and for an additional monthly fee of US$30 provides users with uninterrupted access to the Internet. An inquiry with the authorities, if this means that subscribers may now use VoIP, did not produce a clear response. Without a clear and reliable legal framework it is difficult to imagine that telecommunications will transform from being an income earning project to that of a service to society.
 

Parts of the chapters
for the following economies may be downloaded here:

2003/2004 edition
2005/2006 edition
.af Afghanistan
.au Australia
.bd Bangladesh
.bt Bhutan
.bn Brunei
.cn China
.hk Hong Kong
.id Indonesia
.in India
.ir Iran
.jp Japan
.kh Cambodia
.kr South Korea
.la Laos
.lk Sri Lanka
.mm Myanmar
.mn Mongolia
.mo Macau
.mv Maldives
.my Malaysia
.np Nepal
.nz New Zealand
.ph Philippines
.pk Pakistan
.sg Singapore
.th Thailand
.tp/.tl Timor-Leste
.tw Taiwan
.vn Vietnam
Pacific Islands
ASEAN
APEC