The world still faces the risk of the widening of the Internet broadband divide, despite the fact that half of the world's population is becoming connected through mobile telephones.
This warning comes from Hamadoun Tour'e, secretary-general of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
Tour'e addressed the two-day Global Forum on Access and Connectivity, which started today in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, says UN News.
The Global Forum is organised by the UN Global Alliance for ICT and Development. It brings together participants from different sectors to seek ways to expand affordable connectivity, applications and services in the Asia-Pacific region.
Tour'e outlined some of the factors that would increase ICT penetration in emerging markets and prevent the widening of the digital divide.
The private sector needs to believe in governments' intention to roll-out ICT-related initiatives, and governments needed to set up fair rules that encourage companies to invest in their countries, he said.
There is also a strong need for ICT capacity-building programmes, he said.
Connecting the world
Last week, at the ITU Telecoms Africa 2008 conference, in Cairo, Tour'e said the ITU planned to launch Connect Asia and Connect Latin America initiatives.
These would build on the initial success of the Connect Africa initiative, which aims to connect more than a billion people by 2012.
The Connect Africa initiative has seen some success since its launch, garnering strong support from both governments and the private sector.
African governments signed a protocol during the launch of the Connect Africa initiative in Kigali last year to create an enabling environment.
Financial support continues to pour in, with the mobile industry committing $50 billion to expand infrastructure, and the satellite industry committing $20 billion to deploy 20 new satellites.
"The private sector has room to invest when roles are clear and there is stability," Tour'e previously noted.
Home-brewed
At the ITU Telecoms Africa 2008 conference, Tour'e emphasised the importance of designing ICT connectivity initiatives based on input from the communities they are intended for.
The ITU was not designing initiatives to provide ICT connectivity in Geneva and forcing them on communities, he said.
He also issued a warning to other development institutions: "Don't design programmes from Washington and Paris. Let the people design them. They know what they want and need."
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