Oleh 		: 	DATO SERI DR MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD 
Tempat		: 	MANDARIN ORIENTAL HOTEL
KLCC Tarikh	: 	06-11-2000 	
Tajuk 		: 	THE OPENING OF THE 40TH MEETING 
			OF THE	COMMONWEALTH 
			TELECOMMUNICATIONS COUNCIL 
Penyampai	: 	PM	
May I firstly extend a warm welcome to all delegates from the Commonwealth
countries by saying "selamat datang". 2. I would also like to thank the
Conference Organisers for inviting me to officiate at the opening of the
40th Meeting of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Council. 3. I
understand that while the Council is the governing body of the
Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO), it is also a key forum
for deliberating on important issues in telecommunications policy,
business and technology. This is the second time that Malaysia is hosting
the Annual CTO Council Meeting, the last time being held in 1990 when it
hosted the 30th Meeting of the Council. 4. There is no industry which is
as furiously as science and technology driven as the telecommunications
industry. So fast has technology grown up and expanded that both the
telecom's people and people in related and unrelated industries are quite
breathless in trying to apply the technological capabilities and
potentials of the newer and newer technology. And now wireless is
everything. It is going to replace cables, outdo cables and out-price
cables. And we haven't even begun to fully use cable
telecommunication. Technology is really pushing us faster than we can
utilise it. And it seems that we are only at the beginning. 5. Because of
the speed of technological improvements, today's application may become
out of date a few months later. Thus the Iridium. It sounded so logical
when it was being promoted. To be able to phone anywhere in the world with
a portable handset even if you are in the Arctic or Antarctic or in the
middle of the Sahara Desert sounded fantastic. It meant that you can go
anywhere and everywhere in the world and still can phone home. 6. And so
the sixty or so low-orbit satellites were launched at tremendous cost. In
the meanwhile wireless cellular technology was improving all the
time. Roaming capacities extended enormously the area which can be reached
by cellular phones. More new technologies were being introduced all the
time and everyone can phone anyone anywhere except from the North or South
Poles or the vast deserts. It suddenly dawned on everyone that they would
hardly ever be phoning from these out-of-the- way places. They would be
phoning from where cellular antennas are within reach and then on by
satellite, or ground lines. Why do they need to have a relatively heavy
expensive portable phone (too big for the pocket) when small, cheap
cellular phones can do about everything the iridium can do and
more? 7. And so billions of Dollars worth of investments were lost because
technology had moved faster than application. The same can be said of
optic fibre. As an enormously increasing number of signals are made to
travel along each fibre at practically the same time, the myriad of fibre
to cater for the expected increase in the number of calls in a given time
becomes redundant. It is of course possible that new technology will make
fibre optics useful again. And so we go on. 8. The rapid advance of
technology also creates difficulties for Governments and politicians. They
don't understand the technology and suspect that they are being taken for
a ride. They feel that Government must control and license
telecommunication companies and limit their numbers. The investments
involved are very big and it is likely that many would fail, with serious
consequences for investors, employees and also the Government. 9. But
telecom companies dislike licensing unless of course they have already
been licensed and newcomers are excluded. However the earlier ones may be
stuck with expensive old technology which they plan to use and get a
return on their investments. New technologies, we are told are cheaper and
more efficient as well as lending to wider applications. Not to use them
would make a country backward in terms of communication and business. And
so new companies come up with proposals for state-of- the-art application
since the old companies are not too keen. 10. The Government will then be
faced with a dilemma. To reject new technology will be bad, to accept can
cause a lot of losses for large old companies. 11. New technologies offer
faster speed and a variety of new application, which can increase the
productivity of a country. Rejecting or even delaying new technologies
will reduce the competitiveness of a country's economy. With E-commerce
and the K-economy demanding ever faster communication, the country cannot
afford to delay or reject the new technologies. Besides there is the
problem of convergence. It is no longer practical to separate
communication from broadcasting, even less between telephony, faxing and
internet transmission. And so different licenses cannot be given for
different services. One license would cover all. Obviously new
technologies cannot be licensed separately from old technologies. The
obvious answer is to have one license for everything. Still the
convergence game goes on. There is no way of knowing where one begins and
the other ends. Wherever the licensee begins he can expand to cover all
areas. 12. The quality of the transmission has improved tremendously. I
remember the days of having to shout into the mouthpiece when telephoning
long distance. Today the reception is so clear that one does not know the
speaker is 12,000 miles away. This poses a special problem for the
user. He might think that he is calling someone in the same town when
actually the person is on the other side of the world. The cost of his
casual call would be very high. I still cannot figure how the callers are
billed. It is no wonder that off and on someone gets a huge bill for calls
he did not make. Maybe his foreign maid made it. 13. Suddenly all these
marvels and more have become everyday things. The whole scenario has
changed. Many people seem to be talking and gesturing, laughing and
screwing up their faces all by themselves. They seem to me to be slightly
mad. But of course they are all communicating as they have never
communicated before. Maybe Mr Soros was selling a billion Dollars of
Malaysian Ringgit and causing its exchange rate to plunge and
impoverishing millions of people just by talking on handphone. That is now
entirely possible with the new telecommunication technology. A word on the
phone while walking along a street can make millions for the speaker while
millions are thrown out of work, riot and destroy shops and
vehicles. 14. But we are not deterred of course. It is not the technology
which is bad. It is the people who apply the technology who are bad. And
so Malaysia intends to make full use of the technology for its growth and
development. 15. First we have launched the Multimedia Super Corridor
(MSC), a chunk of land 15 kilometres by 50 kilometres extending between
the twin-towers in Kuala Lumpur to the spanking new, state-of-the-art
Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Within this area new policy, practices
and laws which will facilitate the use of telecommunications for
E-commerce and K-economy have been introduced. There will be incubators
for small start-up companies and Research, Development and Operation
centres for the big world-class companies. There will be software
programmers and content producers. 16. A university, The Multimedia
University, will train the majority of the knowledge-workers and will do
research in new technologies, and content production and will interact
with the R&D facilities of the big companies. An Entertainment Village
will provide facilities for pre-production, production and post-
production of animated and normal films and combinations of these. 17. All
the necessary telecommunication and other infrastructure have been put in
place. Everything that is needed for research, development, worldwide
operational centres, have been provided. 18. Despite the economic downturn
of 1997-1998 the MSC and the cybercity called Cyberjaya had not slowed
down and has more than achieved its target. Today more than 3/5 of the
companies including world-class companies have been located in the MSC
although we still have three years to go. 19. Investments by local and
foreign companies have increased significantly from 196 million Ringgit in
1997 to 1.7 billion Ringgit while expenditure by MSC status companies have
reached 2.3 billion Ringgit in the 1997- 1999 period. Total investment in
the MSC is expected to exceed 20 billion Ringgit by 2005. In terms of
employment, some 35,000 jobs will be created by 2005 compared with only
5,500 new jobs between 1997 and 1999. 20. The digital divide is synonymous
with the knowledge divide. When countries develop they move into a higher
level of knowledge. Today prosperous economies are essentially
knowledge-based economies. When we talk about the knowledge economy, we
are really talking about information sharing. Technology should not be a
privilege of those in the urban areas only, or in the rich countries
only. Everyone, whether urban or rural, rich or poor must be able to share
in this knowledge. The use of information technology must be
democratised. 21. However, while prescribing technology to bridge the
`digital divide' one must remember that technology simply provides the
means. It is an enabler. The important thing is the application of the
data and information that can be accessed. Handling data and information
is a different skill. It requires imagination and innovation. It is not
just a question of doing what others are doing or what has been learnt. It
is about applying data and information to do old things and to devise new
things so that greater efficiency and productivity is achieved. One is
always amazed that someone else's application or innovation is so simple
that one should have thought of it. Thus the idea of selling goods and
service via the internet. Enough information and illustrations in 3D can
be provided to enable a buyer to decide. The method of payment is also
provided. 22. In this regard, I believe the Commonwealth
Telecommunications Organisation can play a meaningful role in narrowing
the digital divide by committing funds, resources and computer and
internet training to the less developed countries before they fall further
behind in technology and wealth. I understand that there have been
on-going activities and technical cooperation programmes being implemented
under one of CTO's flagship activities namely the Programme for
Development and Training (PDT). Nevertheless I hope greater focus will be
directed towards addressing the issue of the digital divide. 23. We are
aware that for a number of years successive CHOGM have articulated support
for a Commonwealth Network for I.T. Development
(COMNET-IT) forum. However, beyond this high level lip service, there is a
total void by way of any explicit resourcing or programming in
Commonwealth functional cooperation and programme of the Commonwealth
Secretariat. While the Council Meeting may not be the exact forum to
champion this cause, the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation
could serve as a platform to leverage for action in the spirit of making
the Commonwealth truly an association of countries where wealth is
common. 24. Unlike the Industrial Age which initially involve only the
already rich Imperial Nations, the Information Age provides an opportunity
for all countries to start together. All the countries, big and small,
have potential markets for telecommunication. Even remote islands in the
Pacific can serve telecommunication needs because as independent nations
they can make available certain licenses and facilities. 25. However it is
true that the rich and the technologically advanced are in a better
position to exploit the technology worldwide. There is now a rush to gain
shares in the telecommunication industry in all the countries of the world
by the major international players. The situation is not unlike the oil
industry where at one time the Seven Sisters monopolised the industry
worldwide. I do hope that the big international companies will not try to
monopolise everything. If they are needed to help the industry in poorer
countries they should apportion a bigger share of the profits to their
partners. 26. This is an opportunity in a millennium for many poor
countries. Do not let them miss out on this. 27. I do hope the
Commonwealth Telecommunications Council will play a role in ensuring fair
and equitable sharing in this field. 28. With that ladies and gentlemen,
it is my pleasure to declare the meeting open. I hope you have fruitful
deliberations. Sumber : Pejabat Perdana Menteri Download Teks Ucapan