Instead, they agreed on a compromise "Digital Solidarity Agenda" for formal endorsement by about 150 governments, including some heads of state, at the World Summit on the Information Society starting on Wednesday.

Marc Furrer, head of the Swiss Federal Office of Communication, said European Union, Canadian and Japanese government negotiators had agreed to look into what a fund could do by December 2004, while African states could go ahead with funding.

"Every country sees that we need new resources to bridge the digital divide," Furrer told journalists, admitting that western countries were skeptical about the value of another, separate international fund.

"Some want to create it and the others must at least study the fund. It was a hard fight," he added, after trying to broker an agreement during the final session of talks.

Furrer said negotiators had also drafted a final text for a political declaration and plan of action for the summit, which officials hope will spur political commitment to broadening access to internet and communications technologies.

"This recognition of the objective of Internet and communications technologies is the objective of the summit," said Yoshio Utsumi, secretary-general of the UN's International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the organisers of the summit.

The outstanding issues are due to be put to the second phase of the summit in Tunis in 2005, Utsumi added.

About 12,000 people, including about 40 government leaders are expected to attend the summit in Geneva, home to the United Nations' European headquarters.

They hope to set out a global framework so that all countries can benefit from the information age, a term used to describe the boosted flow of information and knowledge brought about by mobile telephones, Internet access and electronic media.

SPACE.WIRE