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The final report of the study on the update of the Universal Service was presented yesterday. This update project, entrusted to the Groupement Challenges et Strategies / Titane Conseil, was tasked with carrying out a technical, economic, legal and institutional study in order to allow an adapted and coherent update of the strategy for access to the Universal Service.
To update the Universal Telecommunication Service of Senegal, a study was commissioned and entrusted to the Groupement Challenges et Strategies. The validation workshop of the final report of this study opened yesterday in Dakar, with the participation of stakeholders. According to Aly Coto Ndiaye, president of the Universal Telecommunications Service Development Fund (Fdsut), the updating of the universal service will make it possible, among other things, to review the limits of the universal service, to take into account the changing needs and technologies for a better quality of service and give it more weight by clearly defining the vision and overall strategy for the Universal Service Development Fund.
According to him, the universal service strategy will have to be regularly contextualized in depending on technological developments and needs. But also for a better integration of the disadvantaged populations in the socio-economic development in order to promote their development. However, recognized Aly Coto Ndiaye, the battle can not be limited to the only strategy; it remains the challenge of its financing. "I would like to draw the attention of everyone to the fact that 2017 has been a turning point which, except for a redevelopment, may be a limit in the expansion of the Universal Telecommunication Service. Indeed, since its creation, the tax on the turnover of the telephone operators for the development of the Universal Service has not paid into the accounts of the Fdsu ", lamented Aly Coto Ndiaye.
In his opinion, this a shift in the supply curve plunges the FSDS into a situation of perplexity, uncertainty and questioning. "By our attention, the attention of the decision-makers in charge of finance has been drawn to the issue so that a rectification is made to enable the Universal Service to continue its mission in poor rural and urban areas. I hope that our advocacy will flourish at the risk of annihilating all the efforts made so far, "he said.
The representative of the International Telecommunication Union (UIT) for Africa West, Ali Drissa Badiel, thanked the authorities for the initiative taken to update the Universal Telecommunication Service. For Mr. Badiel, the Universal Service is more than a necessity for inclusive ICTs in accordance with one of the flagship recommendations of the World Summit on the Information Society.
Presiding the opening of the work of the validation workshop of the study on the update of the Universal Service, the Minister of Communication, Telecommunications, Posts and the Digital Economy, Abdoulaye Baldé, said that the development of the Universal Telecommunication Service puts a character particular to one of the objectives of the Senegal Digital Strategy 2025 and specifically the strategic axis number 1, relating to "open and affordable access to digital networks and services".
In addition, he emphasized that the update Universal Service is in line with the recommendations of ECOWAS and the International Telecommunication Union (UIT). According to him, Universal Service policies are generally intended to promote or maintain the universal connectivity of all homes to public network facilities and services at affordable prices.
communication networks have diversified and different types of infrastructure must be put into service as efficiently as possible to reach all target populations. Thus, since a relatively recent date, the definition of universal access includes innovative services such as the Internet, "said Mr. Baldé.
For the Minister of Telecommunications, this study is the best guide, a user guide for efficiently conducting their digital inclusion policy. In the sense that it calls on all stakeholders in the information society: public authorities, especially those in charge of the Development Fund, members of the private sector and civil society, academics and technical experts from international organizations. It aims to encourage and continue to support efforts in the direction of the generalization of digital uses by populations, especially those who have difficulty accessing networks.
Maguette Guèye DIEDHIOU
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