Annex 2: Other areas of interest to LIRNEasia that have been included in
the document.
1. ICTs accessibility for persons with disability
• The government will monitor gaps in ICT use in groups including those
with disabilities
• The Universal Service Strategy also identifies measures that will help people
with disability to use communication services.
• Special projects catering to persons with disabilities. Details on the
project are given below
Improved access and usability of various ICT services for disabled people: the
USF will work with notable representative disability groups to identify specific
barriers and requirements from persons with disabilities in regards to using
ICT services; initial indications are that there are already, for example, several
helpful applications for both blind and deaf people but that they only exist in
English and need to be converted into the Burmese language.
2. USF collections and disbursements
As can be seen from the international experience, a careful balance needs to be
achieved between collecting sufficient funds for the needed USF programs, and not
setting the USF levy too high. If USF levies are too high, they could affect
affordability. Especially when collected funds are unused. Lastly, the USF is only
there to fill in a gap that the market cannot fill; this is often a very small gap. Thus,
for the USF to be successful and have true impact, this gap needs to be a) correctly
identified, and b) targeted with the right and well-designed projects.
Based on the monitoring results, the MOTC may consider, as part of the review of
the USF Strategy itself, to readjust the USF collection.