ITU Gift of IT Equipment & Government Should Provide Free Internet ^Featured

Nuku’alofa − Yesterday, the Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Mr. Houlin Zhao presented five satellite systems and IT equipment to Tonga yesterday. It will be great to have our Government of Tonga provide free Internet access also.

The Minister of Internal Affairs, Hon. Fe’ao Vakatā, received two sets of the satellite on behalf of the Niua’s from Mr. Zhao. And the Government propaganda apparatus was quick to claim credit for it as, “To address the lack of telecommunication connectivity in the outer islands.”

This is fine and dandy if they can hookup to the Internet, which is quite costly especially in the other islands. Mr. Zhao’s photo opportunity with Hon. Vakatā is just that: a “photo op” to show Government is doing something of value for the poor outer islands. But will they get to take full advantage of the computer equipment as expected? My guess is No.

“The equipment presented also included laptops, PCs, headphones, wireless routers, printers, wireless adapters and webcams,” the propaganda machinery of Government acknowledged. But this is all going to collect dust in the outer islands’ high schools without sustained Internet access. Without free Internet so the schools can effectively use these equipment, the current high costs of the World Wide Web will discourage people from taking full advantage of the ‘Net’s full capabilities.

PRIVATIZING TONGA CABLE LIMITED A GOOD START

Recently, we learned of Government’s plan to sell 20% of its controlling shares to Digicel Tonga Limited, a private company. This is wonderful news. But Government’s 60%, and Tonga Communications Commission (TCC) owning 20% − a government-owned company − still doe justice.

First, this branch of the communications field in Tonga is a semi-monopoly business belonging to Government. Digicel and TCC are the only competitors allowed by government. While Digicel is a private company, TCC is backed by Government’s Superman power to finance its operations. Thus Digicel faces unfair competition from TCC, which is a fully-funded public operation. They should provide free services anyways if they claim to be funded by the public.

Interestingly enough, albeit TCC’s privatization claims as a Government “private enterprise,” TCC is still a bureaucratic operation: a Government owned apparatus. It is dishonest to claim the private enterprise shield of approval, because Government services should be provided free or at reduced costs to the public. TCC is still Government owned, a semi-monopoly operation since Government does not allow free entry to the market − except for Digicel.

The competition between Digicel and TCC is like a “cat-and-mouse” game. What are they competing on? Service level, or on prices? Actually, I don’t like either one of them because they are charging me an arm-and-a-leg for my Internet data access, and for my cell-phone services. Competition should drive the level of service up, and the cost should go downward. But they’re picking my pockets each time I turn around, and I’ve heard similar complaints from a lot of folks.

Privatizing the telecommunications sector would be the ideal arrangement: Government can sell its controlling shares and TCC to the highest bidders in the open market to invite investors like Digicel to compete. The lucrative telecommunications business is booming around the world, and investors should be allowed to come in and compete with Digicel in the open market. Whoever survives with high level of service and competitive prices will serve the public as prices of their products decreased.  

FREE INTERNET SERVICE “BEST PRACTICE” FOR ECONOMY & SOCIETY

But lets get back to the ITU gifts of computer equipment for the outer islands, and the need for free Internet access.

Listen up Government decision makers: In case you didn’t know, the Internet business in Tonga is too expensive for the majority of the public to benefit from its full capacity. Therefore, Internet access is the privilege of the elite and lucky wealthy individuals of Tonga. The poor folks in the villages (and in town) don’t even know what it is. But their children do know about the Internet in school.  And they want to take full advantage of it but their parents are too poor to afford a computer, and then are scared off by the expensive Wi Fi services currently available.

Tonga is a very small place, with not too many people, let alone those who are constantly working on the Internet. Mind you, the whole City of Paris, France is being wired by their Government to provide free Internet to anyone who wishes to “go online”. And don’t give us the baloney argument that the Internet is harmful to our culture. There are “parental control” buttons on every computer, and every smart phone to select appropriate Internet programs.

The Internet is the Operating System (OS) to the wealth of information available on the World Wide Web, as Windows Operating System is to personal computers (PCs), and OS X is to Apple/Macintosh computers. Without the Internet, a computer is nothing but a word-processing machine. With the Internet, school children and educators will join the rest of the world talking to each other, and access the wealth of information they can find on the World Wide Web. This is the “Information Age,” the “Computer Age,” the “Information Technology Age,” the “Digital Age,” etc.  

 Let’s get free Internet access for all Tongans; the benefits outweigh the risks; and Tonga’s “computer literacy” rate will be as high as the 98% literacy rating we now enjoy. Let us parents decide what’s good for our children, but please make the Internet available to all Tongans.

(Sione A. Mokofisi is a published Tongan bilingual writer in English and Tongan. He holds a MBA degree from the University of Phoenix-Arizona where he’s a candidate for the doctor of business administration; he earned a B.S. in electronics communications and a Diploma in travel industry management from BYU-Hawaii, with a minor in mass communication. He’s Director of English-Journalism & Business Management at Tonga International Academy, Havelu, Tongatapu. E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).