Message-ID: <s5324c2e.049@ntca.org> Date: Mon, 13 Apr 1998 17:32:08 -0400 From: Matthew Parry <mailto:mparry@NTCA.ORG> Subject: International Conference on Rural Telecommunications To: mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU
CALL FOR PAPERS AND PRESENTATIONSfor
The First International Conference on Rural Telecommunications
"There Are No Boundaries"
SPONSORED BY NTCA The National Telephone Cooperative Association "The Voice of Rural Telecommunications" 2626 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037-1695 USA (see below for contact information)
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH The World Bank Under the umbrella of the Global Knowledge Partnership 1818 H Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20433 USA
THEME This conference is devoted exclusively to the issue of rural telecommunications development. Finding ways to serve rural residents is one of the most critical concerns in international communications technology development, and this will be the first worldwide attempt to address this specific issue in a comprehensive manner.
This conference, by bringing together the world's practitioners and policy makers in rural telecommunications development, is designed to stimulate new ideas, new working partnerships, resource sharing and information exchange.
DATES AND PLACE November 30 - December 2, 1998 The Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill Hotel 400 New Jersey Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20001 USA
CONTENT You are invited to submit case studies, experiences and lessons learned in the areas of:
1) policy conducive to rural telecommunications development;
2) technology choices appropriate for rural areas of developing countries; and
3) appropriate or suitable organizational structure of entities delivering telecommunications services to rural areas or isolated communities.
The deadline for submissions is May 20, 1998. Please see the "Deadline" section for more information.
Suggested topics include, but are not limited to:
POLICY ISSUES
-Legal issues resulting from the discontinuation of a single national monopoly telecommunications provider
-Regulatory issues resulting from the discontinuation of a single national monopoly telecommunications provider
-Interconnection issues involved in a multi-provider system
-Defining universal service and universal access
-Privatization: pros and cons of its impact on service for rural areas
-Impact of international accounting rate changes on rural service
-Funding mechanisms for universal service and universal access
-The role of rural telecommunications in local economic development, agriculture, and microenterprise and SME development
-The role of rural telecommunications in education
-Internet: issues of access and control
TECHNOLOGY ISSUES
-Spectrum allocation and frequency issues
-Wireless local loop VSAT Satellite providers Interconnection standards Internet standards and costs Telecenters Distance learning Telemedicine
-Technical problems and lessons learned in serving rural areas
ORGANIZATION
-Models for rural telecommunications development: Cooperatives Community-owned Investor-owned Telecenters Other
-Problems/opportunities of providing service in areas of geographically difficult terrain
-Monopoly telephone companies that successfully provide equitable rural service: who are they and how do they do it?
FINANCING
-Accessing capital markets
-Local resource mobilization
-Levels of service possible with limited resources
-Investor options: Buy-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Build-Transfer-Operate (BTO) Build-Own-Operate (BOO) Build-Transfer-Share Profit (PBH)
-Financing and technology: is there a quick, simple and cheap solution?
-Traditional financing sources - bilateral and multilateral lending agencies
-Examples of creative financing
FORMAT Authors and presenters are invited to submit via e-mail or fax one (1) copy, or via postal service three (3) copies, of an outline not exceeding three (3) pages. The outline should be single-spaced, single-sided, and in English.
Outlines should reflect potential oral presentations -- on panels, in roundtables, or as stand-alone events. All presentations are to be in English.
Each submission should be accompanied by the following information: Full title of paper/presentation Author's name Author's affiliated organization Author's e-mail address, telephone, fax, and postal address Brief author biography
E-mail submissions should not include attachments. All information should be included in the text of the e-mail.
DEADLINE The deadline for submissions is May 20, 1998.
Submissions should be made via e-mail to: mailto:International@ntca.org OR By fax to (1) 202-298-2317. (See Contact Information section below for more detail).
The review committee will consist of senior staff of NTCA and of the Word Bank's Economic Development Institute and the Telematics and Informatics Division, supplemented by other experts and practitioners.
Selected presenters will be notified by no later than June 15, 1998.
CONFERENCE SPONSORS
The National Telephone Cooperative Association
NTCA is a trade association representing some 500 locally owned and operated small and rural cooperative and commercial telephone systems in 46 U.S. states; 56 state telephone associations; 35 rural telephone co-ops and companies headquartered outside the U.S.; and 420 manufacturers and suppliers to the rural telecommunications industry.
The goal of NTCA's international program is to improve the quality of life in rural and small urban communities in developing and newly democratized countries by helping them gain access to modern telecommunications service through community-owned telecommunications systems.
For more information on NTCA, visit our web site: www.ntca.org.
The World Bank and Global Knowledge
Global Knowledge is an ongoing worldwide dialogue on how to harness knowledge and information as tools of sustainable and equitable development.
Its focal point was an international conference, Knowledge for Development in the Information Age, which took place in Toronto in June 1997 and which was hosted by the World Bank and the Government of Canada, in cooperation with a broad range of public and private partners.
Those partner organizations and institutions now comprise The Global Knowledge Partnership (www.globalknowledge.org). The Partnership is headed and coordinated by the Economic Development Institute of the World Bank.
CONTACT INFORMATION
E-mail: mailto:International@ntca.org
Mailing address: NTCA 2626 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington, DC 20037-1695 USA Telephone (1) 202-298-2300 Fax: (1) 202-298-2317
Or contact: Marlee R. Norton Director of International and Domestic Program Development E-mail: mailto:mnorton@ntca.org Telephone: (1) 202-298-2352
Matthew S. Parry Senior International Projects Officer E-mail: mailto:mparry@ntca.org Telephone: (1) 202-298-2334
Halina Salamonik International Projects Officer E-mail: mailto:hsalamonik@ntca.org Telephone: (1) 202-298-2353