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.