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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=640372418-25022005>Dear
all:</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=640372418-25022005></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=640372418-25022005>> <FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3>The report says there were 59 million fixed-line
or mobile phones in Africa in 2002 - contradicting Senegalese President
Abdoulaye Wade's claim last year that </FONT></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=640372418-25022005><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3>> there were more telephones in Manhattan than
in all of Africa.</FONT></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=640372418-25022005>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=640372418-25022005></SPAN></FONT> </DIV></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=640372418-25022005>I don't know the how
serious that report is or what are it's real objectives, since every body knows
that this statement related to Manhattan was made years ago (even if the
Senegalese present repeated it). Moreover, why claim that:</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT><SPAN class=640372418-25022005></SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT
size=2><SPAN class=640372418-25022005><FONT
face=Arial></FONT></SPAN></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT size=2><SPAN class=640372418-25022005>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN class=640372418-25022005>"Unless
New Yorkers and their commuter friends have 12 phones each, Africa now has many
more telephones than Manhattan," the World Bank report said.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
class=640372418-25022005></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN class=640372418-25022005>This
seems a little synical....</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
class=640372418-25022005></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN class=640372418-25022005>Thanks
for the info.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
class=640372418-25022005></SPAN></FONT><FONT color=#000000 size=3><SPAN
class=640372418-25022005><FONT face="Times New Roman"><FONT size=2><BR>Ken
LOHENTO<BR>Coordinator of the Centre for International ICT Policies - West and
Central Africa (CIPACO)<BR>Panos Institute West Africa (PIWA)<BR>6, rue Calmette
BP 21 132 Dakar Ponty<BR>Sénégal<BR>Tél.: +221 849 16 65<BR><SPAN
class=640372418-25022005><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff><A
href="http://www.cipaco.org">www.cipaco.org</A><BR><A
href="http://www.panos-ao.org">www.panos-ao.org</A></FONT></SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<P></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></FONT></FONT><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT size=2><SPAN
class=640372418-25022005> </SPAN>-----Message
d'origine-----<BR><B>De :</B> plenary-admin@wsis-cs.org
[mailto:plenary-admin@wsis-cs.org]<B>De la part de</B> Rik
Panganiban<BR><B>Envoyé :</B> vendredi 25 février 2005
12:13<BR><B>À :</B> plenary@wsis-cs.org<BR><B>Objet :</B> [WSIS
CS-Plenary] World Bank sees digital divide narrowing, 25
Feb<BR><BR></P></DIV></DIV></FONT></FONT>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid">Dear
friends,<BR><BR>Here is an interesting article on the World Bank views on the
WSIS.<BR><BR>Rik
Panganiban<BR><BR><B>========================================<BR><BR>ABC
News<BR></B>http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200502/s1310673.htm<BR><B><BR>Last
Update:</B> Friday, February 25, 2005. 9:21am (AEDT)<?/color><BR><BR><?/fontfamily><B><?fontfamily><?param Georgia><?bigger><?bigger><?bigger><?bigger><?bigger><?bigger><?bigger><?bigger><?bigger><?bigger>World
Bank sees digital divide narrowing<BR><BR><?/bigger><?/bigger><?/bigger><?/bigger><?/bigger><?/bigger><?/bigger><?/bigger><?/bigger><?/bigger><?/fontfamily></B><?fontfamily><?param Georgia><?bigger>The
World Bank has called into question a costly UN campaign to bring hi-tech
communications to the developing world, saying the "digital divide" between
rich and poor nations is narrowing fast.<BR><BR>The World Bank says in a
report that telecommunications services to poor countries are growing at an
explosive rate.<BR><BR>"People in the developing world are getting more access
at an incredible rate - far faster than they got access to new technologies in
the past," the report said.<BR><BR>It says half the world's population now
enjoys access to a fixed-line telephone and 77 per cent to a mobile network -
surpassing a World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) goal that calls
for 50 per cent access by 2015.<BR><BR>The report says there were 59 million
fixed-line or mobile phones in Africa in 2002 - contradicting Senegalese
President Abdoulaye Wade's claim last year that there were more telephones in
Manhattan than in all of Africa.<BR><BR>"Unless New Yorkers and their commuter
friends have 12 phones each, Africa now has many more telephones than
Manhattan," the World Bank report said.<BR><BR>The UN hopes that widening
access within the developing world to technology such as mobile phones and the
Internet will help eradicate poverty and build stable
democracies.<BR><BR>Poorer countries, particularly from Africa, are expected
to repeat calls in Geneva for a "Digital Solidarity Fund" to help finance the
infrastructure they say is needed to close the perceived technology
gap.<BR><BR>To help fuel fierce demand for communications in countries which
lack fixed-line alternatives, US mobile phone equipment maker Motorola Corp
announced this month it planned to provide an ultra low-cost mobile phone for
less than $US40.<BR><BR>It will be aimed at emerging markets.<BR><BR>About
1,700 international experts are gathering in Switzerland to prepare for the
United Nation's World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).<BR><?/bigger><?/fontfamily><?fontfamily><?param Arial>===============================================<BR>RIK
PANGANIBAN Communications Coordinator<BR>Conference of NGOs in Consultative
Relationship with the United Nations (CONGO) <BR>web:
http://www.ngocongo.org<BR>email: rik.panganiban@ngocongo.org<BR>mobile: (+1)
917-710-5524 <?/fontfamily></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>