Dear All,
Extremely sorry to barge in this later stage, but I had no
other option because the past few days were exceptionally busy.
Let me share some of the useful findings from the study Benchmarking National Telecom
Regulatory Authority websites of Asia-Pacific Region For
those who are not familiar, This study systematically benchmarked National
Telecom Regulator websites in the Asia-Pacific region, evaluating their
usefulness to telecom operators, investors, consumers, researchers and even the
general public. Each website is awarded marks for the availability of
information and features that are useful to the regulator’s stakeholders.
A total of 27 websites are evaluated from a region that includes 62 economies. (More
details: http://www.lirneasia.net/projects/completed-projects/regulatory-web-survey)
1.
For the study I have considered 62 independent Asia Pacific
economies (Hong Kong could have been the only exception, but that needs to be taken
into account because of its independent regulatory environment, which cannot be
put in the same category as China.) The definition used for ‘Asia’
was the broadest that can be thought of because it included Middle East and
Central Asia as well. Out of that 62, only 33 NRAs had web sites. (This was in
2004, the situation is a bit better now) Anyway the bottom line is only 60-70%
of the NRAs have some sort of websites. This raises the question how far the
NRAs have thought about communications.
2.
If my memory serves me right I could not
benchmark NRA sites (Japan, China, Korea, Thailand, Indonesia and Yemen)
because then they did not have English versions. So the number has to be limited
to 27. (I do not say ever NRA should have an English version, but this was a practical
difficulty that we could not avoid) Even out of that 27, there were many NRAs
that had not given any information relevant to end consumers. The limited
information gives perhaps the mandate and the top officers at NRA. One NRA website
even had a page for foreign tourists.
3.
Then there were sites that provided consumer
information to levels varying from basic minimum to very good. There was one
site that reproduced every customer complaint and monitored the progress. I am
not sure whether we expect NRAs to do to that level. There were also some sites
(eg. Singapore, Malaysia) that provided a gamut of information including
technical details many consumers might not even follow. Anyway, I do not think
this is a bad practice. We do not need everybody’s grandmother to
understand this information, but the fact that they are in public domain
implies that all consumers (including grandmothers!) receive a better service.
4.
Not many NRAs were worried about presenting the
information in a language understandable to the end consumers. (The six
countries I have mentioned in No. 2 were exceptions) So even if the information
is available it is not sure whether the consumers can take any use of it. We
also have to take into account that some of these countries have extremely low
Internet penetration levels. So we come to the same problems again. The content
is there, but can the consumers realistically access that?
These observations raise the important question how far NRAs
can use websites as a tool to interact with the end consumers. I do not try to
provide an answer right now. May be I can give a better answer at GK3.
Then the question how NRAs can improve their communications
using e-tools. I have some good new here. After publishing the survey results
some NRAs have taken serious efforts to improve their websites. India and
Bangladesh are two examples. I know both these countries have benefitted from
the survey results at best. I do not see any reason why others could not.
Think this is adequate for the moment. I hope I have brought
in the Asian dimension to the discussion.
Best Rgds,
Chanuka Wattegama
LIRNEasia