We knew long before anyone else that the mobile phone was no longer a luxury item. We knew long before anyone else that it was in fact more than a necessity. Today we know that that the mobile phone � along with its cousin the Internet � is a prerequisite for economic growth.

It is arguably one of the biggest nation builders of our time.

If the World Bank has said that ten phones per hundred people in a developing country boosts GDP by 0.8 percentage points, by compensating for inadequate infrastructure, including poor or non-existent land line connections, and if a survey in Latin America found that most users would give up fixed telephone, Internet and subscription telephone service before surrendering their mobile, then we must be onto something.

But, with this opportunity comes a moral obligation, we cannot walk away from. It is an obligation to develop and enrich livelihoods, improve safety and generate national prosperity and ensure access to information especially in developing nations.

Today, we are at a crucial juncture in the evolution in the ICT sector, a place where regulators and policy makers must join the operators on the same journey because quite simply, our goals cannot be achieved as long as there exists a �them and us�.

I say to you, let us in. Let us be a partner. Give us more opportunities to discuss and share issues and concerns. After all, transparency and good governance are a two-way street and all we ask is that you let us drive the business; you can do your bit by providing a fertile and transparent business environment, one in which operators can grow, and intervene only when our �self-regulation� falls short. Cash cows do not live forever and are not sustainable, whereas telecom driven and productivity induced growth generated by ICT is! Mobile networks must be seen in terms of paving the way for genuine sustainable economic and social development.

There is no time like the present, a time in which the world is embroiled in its worst economic and financial crisis in over a decade. For us at Zain, we have to add this to a longer list of challenges that includes climate change and intermittent conflict. We complain about how the crisis has dented our bottom line but we are not looking at how we can contribute, if not to recovery per se, then at least to cushioning the blows and using communication as a proactive tool to overcome the problems that plague the lives of many.

Now is the time to move beyond the traditional mindsets and activate genuine motors for change. We need to push through initiatives, such as the low-cost roll out of broadband and convergence that should have been activated long ago, while reaching actionable and practical resolutions on infrastructure sharing and the contentious Universal Service Obligations. The technology is there and the money is there and the benefits are obvious to all. So why the delay? These are more an obligation and a necessity than an option and every day that goes by without these essential tools, prosperity is denied.

The challenge, therefore, is to seize the nettle and effect change. At Zain, we would like to think that we have done our bit in setting a standard in this regard. As a company that cut its teeth in Africa, we have seen close up how mobile phones have changed the economic and social face of a continent and how in doing this we have seen our core business change, and in many cases, save lives.

On Lake Victoria, we have, with our partners, extended the mobile network coverage of the three East African states that border the lake to promote safety and security. The coverage allows for communication and SMS exchange to and from phones and will fuel economic and social development in the lakeside communities, where 80% of fishing activities takes place. Just as important, the initiative will reduce the thousands of fishing-related deaths that occur each year.

In the Middle East, a region we understand like none other, we have shown that we have a duty to our customers. During the 2006 Summer War in Lebanon, coincidently where we are convening, we stood shoulder to shoulder with the Lebanese government and the Lebanese people. We ensured that the effects of that appalling humanitarian disaster was in some small way mitigated by ensuring that families and friends could stay in touch with loved ones across the country during the fighting.

But possibly our biggest contribution to trashing the notion of mobile telephony as an uncaring and monstrous cash cow, has been our borderless �One Network� and �One Office� platform for voice and data respectively. It being Africa, we had to think outside the box, and in doing so, we stripped traditional roaming of its aura of exclusivity. On a continent where borders mean less than they do probably anywhere else in the world, we were able to see Africa through the eyes of our customers and deliver a product that represented their reality.

We can do more, if the regulators have the vision and the will to use the technology � our technology � their disposal to enter into worthwhile and mutually-beneficial, concretely articulated private-public partnerships.

To do this, we must first discuss with policy makers, the finance ministries and revenue authorities, and convince them to reassess the traditional attitude towards taxing ICTs. I, along with my colleagues, can deliver pages of evidence on how lowering taxes on handsets and airtime can increase the overall tax revenues via increased VAT receipts and wider economic activity.

We also need for governments and regulators to free up more spectrum with rational pricing that could be used by mobile operators to bring much desired and needed broadband to the masses.

Only then can we really realize our vast potential to give the people of the developing world new lives through freedom of mobility and prosperity.

It really is that simple.

Source: ITU Newsroom