LTA Chief Exec Reveals Plans to Extend Internet Access Countrywide

Maseru. May 14 (LENA)---The Lesotho Telecommunications Authority and the Lesotho Postal Services are to ensure the establishment of telecentres throughout the country to enhance the pledge the world community made at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) held in Geneva-Switzerland in
2003, thus to bridge the present digital divide between developed and developing countries.

LTA Chief Executive, Mr. Monehela Posholi made the announcement at a press briefing on what the country is doing to mark this year's World Telecommunications Day, celebrated annually on May 17. The telecentres would provide Basotho with opportunity to harness Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) such as the Internet to communicate with the world, benefitting  not only educators and students in areas such as research but also allowing health centres the possibility of delivering basic health services to people living in remote areas who would otherwise have little or no access to facilities.

The Authority also intends to help formulate a Consumer Bill of Rights, to educate consumers of their rights, the CEO said, announcing that this year the country has adopted the theme, "ICTs: Leading the way to sustainable development" as part of its commemoration.

In his statement on World Telecommunications Day, the Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union, Mr. Yoshio Utsumi, said reliable and affordable communications can be used effectively as part of the toolbox for addressing global problems. ICTs may not feed the hungry, eradicate poverty or reduce child morality but they are an increasingly important catalyst to spur on economic growth and social equity.

Mr. Utsumi said access to information technology can boost the creation of small companies and groupings of artisans in the poorest and most isolated areas of the world and help them join the mainstream of national and even global markets. He therefore urged that ICTs must be at the centre of any development
strategy because, given their enormous power, they can improve people's economic, social and cultural well-being.

In his message, the United Nations Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, announced that the theme of
this year's observance of World Telecommunications Day,  "ICTs: Leading the way to sustainable development", serves as a reminder that ICTs serve as crucial tools for achieving economic progress.

"Affordable technologies, in the hands of local communities, can be effective engines of change both social and material" Mr. Annan said.

He said if the world is to defeat hunger, protect the environment and achieve the other Millennium Development Goals agreed to by heads of state and government at the Nations Millennium Summit in 2000, consideration of access to information and technological know-how is essential.  In order to harness this potential, global partnerships for development between governments, private sector, civil society and the United Nations system need to be forged.

Mr. Annan therefore appealed to all to resolve to do all that could be done on the World Telecommunications Day to lead the way to a truly open, inclusive and prosperous telecommunications age.
 

19 May 2004