GSM Asia Pacific

It is an honor to be invited and to be here with you to celebrate the 21st birthday of GSM. I am very privileged to be speaking after Anoja. She is a wonderful, passionate and knowledgeable chairperson of GSMA Asia Pacific.

I am pleased to be here especially to celebrate the 21st birthday of GSM. On this day alone, GSM will have generated 3 billion dollars. Today we have a very strong mobile industry. 10% increase in mobile penetration corresponds to 1.3% increase in GDP. This shows us the power of mobile communication. I am proud to be leading the ITU at a time when connectivity is such a cornerstone of development. We will not achieve the MDGs in health, economy and other sectors without information technology.

Since 1865 with telegraph and Morse Code, when the ITU was created, we have always adapted to technological advances. Technology continues to evolve. The regulatory environment has to catch up with the advances and break-throughs in telecommunications. This year in March the last symposium of regulators met with the theme of sharing of infrastructure. This, roaming charges, interconnection, voice over IP, these are all issues being addressed by regulators at the same time. Very small countries can prove to be very innovative in this field.

Today we see convergence, with voice becoming an accessory to broadband. We have put together a good framework for future generations as the world has become wireless. Investments will continue in the mobile environment. In a recent Connect Africa the mobile industry has pledged over $50 billion.

I would like here to mention the importance of international cooperation. ITU is the oldest member of the United Nations family. It continues to be relevant because connecting people is key to global development. We have pledged to connect the world by 2015. In fact, the challenge on us is to connect the world by 2012. All the other sectors rely on communication to reach their MDGs. GSM has shown that following open standards, communication and an open market has been successful. In fact, I’m always pleased to be at mobile conferences. It’s the only time, when you enter the room, you’re not asked to switch off your mobile phone.

The principles of ITU - open standards - are the same as GSM. The challenge for us is not just briding the gap in mobile telephony, but to make sure that another gap is not introduced in broadband. I want to take this opportunity now to thank our host country for the big initiatives being taken here. I was very pleased to see the competition in this country. I was impressed to see Ms. Anoja thanking her competition. The GSM group has shown how competition can work, competing while cooperating. This is wonderful. I would lastly like to thank Priyanka for inviting me and the very sound work he’s been doing in the regulatory environment. A strong regulatory environment is important, and sound backing from political leaders is vital. And I know, for sure, that here you have a digital President.