Translation of earlier article:
In a meeting of the Council of Ministers last month (March) the monopoly in the TL telecommunications market was also ended just 8 years after the first government gave a 15 year exclusive right to Portugal Telecom and its friends. “This Wednesday (31/03) we approved a national telecommunications policy. This policy forsees the liberalisation of telecommunications. I also create conditions for us to prepare the law to accept companies that want to enter TL,” say Vice Prime Minister José Luis Guterres for this newspaper on Friday morning.
The majority of the population and many Timor Telecom customers have expressed their thoughts and demanded that the TL Government liberalise telecommunications market in this nation. As shown, it asked public opinion and managed to get replies from nearly 3007 people, in October 2007, showing that 99 per cent want the government to liberalise the telecommunications market and to allow in some new companies to compete with Timor Telecom. The Xanana Government has drawn up plans for liberalisation of the telecommunications market as a priority and this policy is a response to achieving their wishes.
“In Timor this overwhelming majority in a survey that do in some years ago compellingly showed that they want to bring in one or two telecommunications operators to compete in our country,” said Guterres. He also though that another reason about approving the policy of liberalising the telecommunications market was because it has already happened in many European Union nations, like Portugal itself, and mainly in some nations in the Pacific like Korea that once had a monopoly but today have all liberalised.
Therefore, “this policy today brings Timor Leste back into line with other nations that have developed their telecommunications,” added Guterres. The Vice minister for Social Affairs said that, “when I came into Government, something that we could see as possibly impeding process de development in this country nian was monopoly de telecommunications. Because monopoly system has this tendency for business management to maximise profit. The Government want telecommunications that are accessible to the population of Timor Leste to use telephone and ínternet at cheaper prices.
According to this newspaper a Timor Telecom Administrator some moments ago recognised their mistakes as well as making some priorities like paying attention to complaints, lowering prices and increasing mobile phone connections in rural areas. The Government Fretilín in 2002 give right monopolise area telecommunications for TT for15 year but on 31 March 2010 government AMP has liberalised. In a visit a year ago the President of Portugal Telecom gave a guarantee to the TL government that within six months there would be more telephone connections and will cover the whole of Timor although until today there will still be some places in Timor which will be isolated from the mobile network. “The Government must therefore first make contact with these businesses, to see what really we will be able to do together because I personally also believe that businesses that deal with Timor Telecom want good telecommunications for the people of Timor Leste as a whole,” said Guterres.
“I believe,” Vice PM Guterres said, “that there have been contacts and I think that TT will not oppose this policy, because this telecommunications policy similar two what every competent government has done in Portugal, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Cape Verde. Practically within two years, there has been a process of preparation, process of moving and also the process of contact between our telecommunications authorities and TT.
The majority of the population and many Timor Telecom customers have expressed their thoughts and demanded that the TL Government liberalise telecommunications market in this nation. As shown, it asked public opinion and managed to get replies from nearly 3007 people, in October 2007, showing that 99 per cent want the government to liberalise the telecommunications market and to allow in some new companies to compete with Timor Telecom. The Xanana Government has drawn up plans for liberalisation of the telecommunications market as a priority and this policy is a response to achieving their wishes.
“In Timor this overwhelming majority in a survey that do in some years ago compellingly showed that they want to bring in one or two telecommunications operators to compete in our country,” said Guterres. He also though that another reason about approving the policy of liberalising the telecommunications market was because it has already happened in many European Union nations, like Portugal itself, and mainly in some nations in the Pacific like Korea that once had a monopoly but today have all liberalised.
Therefore, “this policy today brings Timor Leste back into line with other nations that have developed their telecommunications,” added Guterres. The Vice minister for Social Affairs said that, “when I came into Government, something that we could see as possibly impeding process de development in this country nian was monopoly de telecommunications. Because monopoly system has this tendency for business management to maximise profit. The Government want telecommunications that are accessible to the population of Timor Leste to use telephone and ínternet at cheaper prices.
According to this newspaper a Timor Telecom Administrator some moments ago recognised their mistakes as well as making some priorities like paying attention to complaints, lowering prices and increasing mobile phone connections in rural areas. The Government Fretilín in 2002 give right monopolise area telecommunications for TT for15 year but on 31 March 2010 government AMP has liberalised. In a visit a year ago the President of Portugal Telecom gave a guarantee to the TL government that within six months there would be more telephone connections and will cover the whole of Timor although until today there will still be some places in Timor which will be isolated from the mobile network. “The Government must therefore first make contact with these businesses, to see what really we will be able to do together because I personally also believe that businesses that deal with Timor Telecom want good telecommunications for the people of Timor Leste as a whole,” said Guterres.
“I believe,” Vice PM Guterres said, “that there have been contacts and I think that TT will not oppose this policy, because this telecommunications policy similar two what every competent government has done in Portugal, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Cape Verde. Practically within two years, there has been a process of preparation, process of moving and also the process of contact between our telecommunications authorities and TT.
2 comments:
weldone mate !
Poor East Timor, getting overcharge for communication and internet by Portugal Telecom.
Look at the neighbors, Bali, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, even Darwin, they have cheap internet and communication.
But East Timor has slow and EXPENSIVE service.
I hope this changes so we can educate East Timorese people better with faster internet so they can get better jobs.
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