ASEAN phone links important

ASEAN phone links important

MANILA (AFP): Regional cooperation in telecommunications among Southeast Asian nations can make the region "an attractive single market for foreign investment," according to International Telecommunications Union (ITU) analyst Michael Minges.

Minges told a Philippine telecommunications conference here Monday that the region was ripe for such cooperation, and that "after declining in the 1980s, inter-ASEAN telephone traffic has been on the rebound since 1990 and growing faster than overall international traffic."

ITU statistics show that telephone traffic among ASEAN countries has risen by 20 percent, compared with a 10 percent rise in telephone traffic out of member-nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the early 1990s.

The Philippines talks least to its ASEAN neighbors, Minges said, with only seven percent of its overseas traffic diverted to the region.

Regional telecommunications initiatives such as the ASEAN Optical Fiber Submarine Cable Network, to be completed this year will provide extensive connections among the ASEAN countries, he said.

Reduced tariffs on calls originating from the growth triangle of Sumatra, north Malaysia and southern Thailand have been implemented following an agreement between telecom operators from the three countries to develop telecom networks and services in the area.

Singapore Telecom has been "the most active," in cross-ASEAN telecommunications investment, with investments in Malaysia and Indonesia and a 30 percent stake in Global Telecom of the Philippines, Minges said.

He described it as another "interesting development," in ASEAN regional cooperation.

"A modern trans-ASEAN network can do much to enhance trade and investment," considering the swift growth of the region, he added.