PR - Leading telecommunication company, Huawei, has shared its vision of Building a Better Connected World at the Pacific Islands Telecommunications Association (P.I.T.A) Forum 2016 in French Polynesia.

Samoa was represented at the meeting by the Minister of Communications and Information Technology (M.C.I.T), Afamasaga Rico Tupa’i and the Chief Executive Officer of M.C.I.T, Tuaimalo Asamu Ah Sam. 

They were among 300 members of P.I.T.A; including telecom operators, government leaders, and regulators, standards organizations such as ITU-T, industry experts and vendors, gathered to discuss the challenges to the Pacific and how smarter and more sustainable Islands could be developed through telecommunications and information technology. 

By improving the ICT network infrastructure across the Pacific, ICT will attract more tourists by offering a better tourism experience, thus creating greater tourism demand that will eventually contribute to the local economic growth.

The Pacific region faces many challenges; managing natural disasters, increasing the socio-economic status, health and education of the nation’s citizens, and building a local ICT industry and skill set to ensure each country can participate and compete in the global digital economy.  

In the coming years, ICT will play a significant role in enabling the goals of the Pacific.  

Based on Huawei’s recently published Global Connectivity Index, which benchmarks digital economic transformation, a 1% increase in GDP can result from a 20% increase in ICT investment.  Both Governments and Telecom Operators have a pivotal role to play and are poised to enable this transformation through the creation of policies and implementation of new and innovative ICT technologies and tools. 

To build Better Connected Pacific Islands, Huawei discussed new approaches, models and technologies for developing a Smart and Sustainable Island Nation Blueprint in support of climate change and disaster management. Huawei also discussed how Submarine Cable will facilitate the much need of broadband connectivity to link the Pacific to the global digital economy. 

“Despite being one of the most remote regions in the world, the Pacific Islands are seeing an increase in ICT development which is playing an important role in the prosperity of Island economies. Consumer and business behaviours are changing and today people are expecting more.  Mobility, smart devices, social media, broadband internet connectivity are changing the way we live, work and play. 

Telecom Operators need to respond by evolving their services to meet the needs of the market and at the same time support the growth of the local ICT industry,” said David Wei, President of Huawei Southern Pacific Region.

“With our leading technologies and solutions, Huawei is working together with Pacific Island local authorities, telecom operators and business partners to implement future-proof ICT solutions enabling Better Connected Pacific Islands. The PITA Forum is an ideal platform to collaboratively exchange ideas and experiences around smart approaches in telecommunications and information technology that meet the unique needs of the Pacific Islands.”

Over the past 12 years, Huawei has worked closely with local governments and telecom operators across the Pacific to modernize their networks and deliver higher speed fixed and mobile broadband connectivity with a superior customer experience. 

Huawei networks are based on the premise of providing a Real-time, On-demand, Always-online, Do-it-yourself, Socially aware environment through what Huawei calls the ROADS experience.

At PITA, Huawei showcased their leading ICT solutions including; 4G LTE Mobile Networking, Smart Tourism Solutions, Submarine Cable, Data Center, Smart Devices and many more. Visitors to the Huawei booth were provided with key takeaways about how digital transformation can impact their business and deliver a compelling ROADS experience for all.