Page 28 - Islands Business May-June 2022

ICT ICT

TELCOS URGED TO MAINTAIN

MOMENTUM OF COVID-19 GAINS

By Dionisia Tabureguci something we should be talking about
here. I know it’s one of those terms
While COVID-19 crippled economies across the globe, the that’s continually brought up, but I
telecommunications industry was among the very few sectors think that this time around, it really is
gifted with an unexpected windfall. relevant. To actually have an agenda
Never has life been more dependent on its services than and have that conversation with your
over the last three years, when wave after wave of coro- government leaders to ensure that
navirus outbreaks forced countries into lockdown, limited e-commerce and connectivity at the
international travel and changed business, work and play edges takes place for whatever pro-
overnight. gram is initiated.”
While the impact upon the telcos’ bottom lines was wel- While the worst of COVID-19 may Robert Suber, Intelsat’s
comed, the market, according to one top executive, was so have passed, the world is still reeling Managing Sales Director
Oceania.
drastically transformed that new avenues for growth literally from its disruptive impact, with work,
sprung up overnight, initially as a response to the pandemic, business and play still in the throes of transformation and
but now a very real part of the post-COVID “normal”. “hybrid” modes emerging as part of post-COVID normal.
Robert Suber, Managing Sales Director Oceania at global “Hybrid working conditions are now the norm – with three
satellite service provider Intelsat, urges industry players in days of work at home then travel to the office for the rest of
the Pacific to further explore this potential. the time. Or even more so, work completely and totally from
“To be frank, COVID-19 has presented itself to be a tremen- home,” said Suber.
dous opportunity for the telecommunications sector,” Suber This is changing the way businesses are thinking about
said. physical and virtual connectivity.
“What we should not do is lose the momentum that has “They’re saying ‘well, you’re not just working from home,
been gathered politically, economically, socially and through you’re connecting to the broader wider area network, you’re
business, about COVID and the importance of being able to part of the complete corporate network, do we need to con-
be connected wherever you are, whenever you are remotely sider you as a branch office almost? So what does that mean?
working from home.” Does that mean we have to provide you with SD-WAN con-
Suber was speaking at last month’s Business expo organised nectivity? Or do you need multi connectivity access type TV,
by the Pacific Islands Telecommunications Association (PITA) to have your network managed from a distance?’ So, it’s not
for its members. Intelsat, a U.S.-headquartered satellite ser- just connecting to your home broadband anymore. They’re
vice provider covering 99% of the world’s populated regions starting to think of more sophisticated ways of connecting
including the Pacific, was a major sponsor of the event. that remote end user and that’s something that’s dramatically
Suber identified three promising areas of growth. changed. And over that, the overarching umbrella theme of
“If I turn first of all to what I’ve observed out of govern- working from home is really business continuity. It’s about
ments. What I’ve seen certainly across Asia and across the making sure that the business that you work for or that the
region is the awareness of how important it is to have pro- home that you’re running can operate 24/7 if need be. Any
grams in place to enhance connectivity. That could be ‘black ICT or IT managers that aren’t thinking about that at the
spot’ programs, it could be regional connectivity programs, moment aren’t doing their job and we as the telecommunica-
it could even be universal service obligations. And if we look tions industry need to get behind that to push that.”
at those programs that government funds or has levies upon Suber also encouraged telecom companies to take advan-
telecommunications companies to attract income, the reality tage of the current push by funding agencies, including gov-
in maybe Indonesia or the Philippines or across the Pacific or ernments, to put more money into improving connectivity.
Australia, New Zealand, we’re seeing these programs being “The other massive change that I’ve seen is in the realms of
tweaked, changed or enhanced to make sure that connectiv- the economics of what COVID has created,” he said.
ity is deepened into the area where nothing exists today,” “We have to remember that organisations like Asia Develop-
Suber said. ment Bank, World Bank, could we say foreign affairs funding
“And any one of those countries which I’ve mentioned still initiatives from various countries, are all pouring money into
have a lot of people unconnected or with just a PSTN service initiatives on how they can improve telecommunications in
of some sort. So we’ve got a real opportunity to keep pushing the ICT sector. So, that is an absolute target that we need to
that momentum. The other thing on government is for the foster, that we need to amplify in our message of connectiv-
last two years in a lot of countries, they’ve had no idea who’s ity.”
been born, who died, who needs a passport, where they
need to travel to, so all of a sudden, e-commerce sounds like editor@islandsbusiness.com

28 Islands Business, May-June 2022