West: Covid19 accelerates govt's universal digital access plan

Minister of Public Utilities and Digital Transformation Allyson West explained part of government’s action in response to covid19 at a ministerial round-table discussion at the ITU Virtual Digital World 2020 event.

The three-day online event, from October 20-22, was co-organised by the Ministry of Information and Communications of Viet Nam, the International Telecommunication Union and the UN specialised agency for Information Communication Technologies (ICTs).

The meeting brought together ministers, regulators and private-sector leaders, who examined the significance of connectivity during the global pandemic. It also explored the future roles of digital technologies in national digital strategies.

West, who spoke on Thursday at a panel discussion on “The role of digital technologies during and after the covid19 pandemic,” said TT was aspiring to become a digital nation in which the pandemic has accelerated the purpose.

She said connectivity had increased throughout the country and work has been ongoing to ensure 100 per cent connectivity and access to digital devices were achieved.

West said, “Almost 82 per cent of our households have fixed internet access of 25 megabit per second (mbps) and we have 158 per cent mobile phone penetration.

“To support the increased ICT demands associated with the covid19 induced work-from-home and distance learning initiatives and increased e-commerce, the government introduced the (national) regulator to assign more spectrum free of charge to mobile operators, and to take steps to ensure that the service provision in both urban and rural communities were configured to deal with the increased traffic.”

She said a survey done in collaboration with the Ministry of Education revealed that nearly 68,000 students in low-income households had no access to digital devices or internet access.

West added that both ministries were acquiring devices and providing free internet access for such students, who will now be able to participate in classes remotely.

“The government opted to remove taxes on mobile phones, computers and computer peripherals, to make these devices more affordable. The internet service providers offered low-cost packages and agreed to defer disconnection activity during the height of the lockdown,” she said.

West said government also introduced free the WiFi initiative, TTWiFi, which has started in public libraries, public transport hubs and public healthcare institutions.

Additionally, she said more ICT access centres were being set up in underserved communities.