Internet Policy in South East Asia Internet in South East Asia Bangkok, 21 – 23 November 2001 The views expressed are those of the author and may not reflect the opinions of the ITU or its members

Myth and Reality Internet market is unregulated Competition is good Leave Internet to private sector Every country restricts market in one way or another Generally yes BUT incumbent operators may be able to provide lower price Internet access Fine if you only want the elite to use it

Topics Who is in charge? What can an ISP do? What about content? How much does it cost? To VoIP or not to VoIP Dot names Access for the masses Quality of service What is the market? Promoting the Internet

Who should [Why] be responsible for Internet regulation? Who: –Has generally fallen to telecom regulator to issue ISP licenses and resolve disputes –Broadcasting & other ministries are also sometimes involved in issues such as content, security & digital laws Why: –Public interest –Market referee –ICT access (Digital Divide) Perceived problems concerning the Internet Source: NECTEC, Internet User Profile of Thailand 2000

ISP Market Issues Free entry? In Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, no new ISPs were licensed for several years. In Thailand, market entry has been frozen. In other countries, difference between licensed and operational ISPs. License fees? In Cambodia share revenue with government. In Thailand, share income with international operator. Infrastructure? In Singapore, different class of license. In Philippines must go through licensed telecom operators. In other countries, ISPs often constrained.

Who are the ISPs? CountryHow many * RegistryISP association Thailand18/18www.thnic.netISP Club Indonesia150/60www.iix.net.id/iix.htmlAPJII Singapore44/? BO-IND-PIAS?OpenView No Philippines150/50http:// PISO Vietnam5/4No Cambodia3/3No Laos2No Malaysia18/? new/class_license/class_asp2.htm No * Licensed / In operation.

What can an ISP do? Wireless Access ISP POP International connectivity ADSL? Cable TV ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ISP TELEPHONETELEPHONE EXCHANGEEXCHANGE Dial-up Leased line

International Gateway Should ISPs operate own international gateway? –Pros: Heart of their business, redundancy, quality of service –Cons: Higher costs, content evasion, incentive to exchange traffic Price per 64 kbps of international bandwidth, US$ Source: ITU Case Studies

Internet Exchange Keep local Internet traffic within country to cut down on international bandwidth costs What is mix of traffic? Private peering Internet exchanges: Singapore (2), Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand (2), Philippines (4)

Content No content control: Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand, Philippines Content control: Singapore (firewall to pornographic sites, registration of content providers), Vietnam (firewall, registration of content providers), Laos Malaysia

Pricing Nationwide at local call One number: Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand Internet on demand Prepaid cards Telephone charges Usage: Singapore, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia No charge: Philippines Lower rate: Malaysia, Indonesia Flat rate: Thailand

Internet pricing South East Asia 30 hours of Internet access, US$, October 2001 Source: ITU adapted from ISPs / PTOs. Million $ question: Is the market small because prices are high or are prices high because the market is small?

Internet Telephony Policies on Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) vary across region –Singapore & Malaysia provide for VoIP licenses –Vietnam special case –In Thailand, telecom operators provide –In Cambodia and Laos, technically illegal but widely available

Quality of Service Only Singapore publishes clear QOS results Philippines ask for QOS but does not enforce Thailand has informal user surveys

Internet Quality of Service Singapore Definitions 1.System accessibility measures the ease with which the subscribers are able to access the Internet network. 1.Dial-up users must be able to be connected more than 95% of the time. 2.Leased line users must be able to be connected more than 99% of the time. 2.Service activation time refers to the elapsed time between the receipt of the customer application and the activation of the service. 1.For dial-up, all service applications are to be activated <= 3 working days. 2.For leased line, all service applications are to be activated <= 7 working days (excludes installation time). 3.Number of complaints per 1000 subscribers refers to the total number of complaints received from the subscribers to the Internet operator per 1000 subscribers in a month. Source: IDA.

Domain name

Universal access

Market information

Promotion Broadband Content development Industry collaboration

Conclusions Internet requires some degree of regulation & policy to function effectively Telecom regulators are best placed to monitor market Consumer concerns need to be acted on Internet requires promotion in developing nations