[governance] Effects of lack of electricity on the digital divide

Mon Jul 23 07:47:23 EDT 2007

Dear Ann-Kristin

During the early development of the Internet there was an AUP - an
Acceptible Use Policy.

This was a means of restricting commercial participation and political
pressure.

The scientific and technical development was possible because the commercial
and political pressures were being managed and kept from impeding the
scientific and technical development.

The Information Processing Techniques Organization (IPTO) which provided the
leadership for this development was also subject to political pressures and
by the mid 1980s this became a serious problem which eventually led its
ending.

So there are political pressures to be sure - for science and technology to
function there is a need to have an environment where the scientists and
engineers can do their research and the political pressures are kept from
impeding the developments.

So Ann-Kristin I would disagree with your formulation. There's a need for
science and the scientific approach to the technology to dominate, not
poltiics. (I realize you could say this is political, but then the science
is lost.)

best wishes

Ronda

On 7/23/07, Ann-Kristin Håkansson <akigua at telia.com> wrote:
>
> Dear Ronda,
>
> Isn´t this what we tried to describe all along the WSIS process? However,
> I´m not sure that building infrastructure is only a scientific or commercial
> problem, I think it is mainly political.
>
> Regards,
>
> Ann-Kristin
>
> Indigenous ICT tf
>
> ----Ursprungligt meddelande----
> Från: ronda.netizen at gmail.com
> Datum: Jul 23, 2007 1:26:34 AM
> Till: governance at lists.cpsr.org, yehudakatz at mailinator.com
> Kopia: ronda hauben
> Ärende: Re: [governance] Effects of lack of electricity on the digital
> divide
>
> Thanks for sending this article to the list. It just seems that the job of
> connecting Rawanda and other African
> countries to the Internet and building infrastructure is a scientific
> problem, not a commercial problem.
> The problems described remind me of the kinds of problems (though
> different) that the pioneers building
> the Internet faced, and they figured out how to solve them as they were
> focusing on a scientific
> approach and using the technology they had developed to help them solve
> the problems.
>
> At the UN there was a presentation by Professor Juma, a Harvard Professor
> originally from Kenya,
> talking about how Rwanda is a prototype for others. He didn't mention the
> problems being encountered
> so it is good to see the real situation described.
>
> After the WSIS meeting in Tunisia I met a government official from
> Tanzania who described the problems
> of spreading connectivity and how the commercial efforts were to make a
> profit not to spread the net.
> So its not that the commercial should not be part of the situation dealing
> with the problem, but putting
> the solution in their hands is probably not going to solve the problems in
> itself.
>
> Ronda
>
>
>
>
>  On 7/22/07, yehudakatz at mailinator.com <yehudakatz at mailinator.com > wrote:
>
> > Brilliant post Kwasi - excellent
> > I also found this article interesting:
> >
> > Africa, mostly offline, struggles to get on the Internet
> > By Ron Nixon
> > Re: The International Herald Tribune | www.iht.com
> > http://www.iht.com/bin/print.php?id=6765556
> >
> > Sunday, July 22, 2007
> > On a muggy day in Kigali in 2003, some of the highest-ranking officials
> > in the
> > Rwandan government, including President Paul Kagame, flanked an American
> > businessman, Greg Wyler, as he boldly described how he could help turn
> > their
> > small country into a hub of Internet activity.
> >
> > Wyler, an executive based in Boston who made his fortune during the
> > technology
> > boom, said he would lace Rwanda with fiber optic cables, connecting
> > schools,
> > government institutions and homes with low-cost, high-speed Internet
> > service.
> >
> > Until that point, Wyler, 37, had never set foot in Africa - he was
> > invited by a
> > Rwandan government official he had met at a wedding. Wyler never
> > expected to
> > start a business there; he simply wanted to try to help the war-torn
> > country.
> >
> > Even so, Wyler's company, Terracom, was granted a contract to connect
> > 300
> > schools to the Internet. Later, the company would buy 99 percent of the
> > shares
> > in Rwandatel, the national telecommunications company, for $20 million.
> >
> > But after nearly four years, most of the benefits hailed by him and his
> > company
> > have failed to materialize, Rwandan officials say. "The bottom line is
> > that he
> > promised many things and didn't deliver," Albert Butare, the Rwandan
> > telecommunications minister, said.
> >
> > Wyler says he sees things differently and that he and the Rwandan
> > officials
> > will probably never agree on why their joint venture has been so slow to
> > get
> > off the ground. But Terracom's tale is more than a story about a
> > business
> > dispute in Rwanda. It is also emblematic of what can happen when good
> > intentions run into the technical, political and business realities of
> > Africa.
> >
> > Attempts to bring affordable high-speed Internet service to the masses
> > have
> > made little headway on the continent. Less than 4 percent of the African
> > population is connected to the Web. Most subscribers are in North
> > African
> > countries and the republic of South Africa.
> >
> > A lack of infrastructure is the biggest problem. In many countries,
> > years of
> > civil conflict destroyed communications networks, and continuing
> > political
> > instability deters governments or companies from investing in new
> > systems.
> >
> > E-mail messages and phone calls sent from some African countries have to
> > be
> > routed through Britain, or even the United States, increasing expenses
> > and
> > delivery times. About 75 percent of African Internet traffic is routed
> > this way
> > and costs African countries billions of extra dollars each year that
> > they would
> > not incur if their infrastructure was up to date.
> >
> > "Most African governments haven't paid much attention to their
> > infrastructure,"
> > said Vincent Oria, an associate professor of computer science at the New
> > Jersey
> > Institute of Technology who is from the Ivory Coast. "In places where
> > hunger,
> > AIDS and poverty are rampant, they didn't see it as critical until now."
> >
> > Rwandan officials were especially interested in wiring schools, seeing
> > information technology as crucial to modernizing the rural economy.
> >
> > But as of mid-July, only one-third of the 300 schools covered in
> > Terracom's
> > contract had high-speed Internet service. All 300 were supposed to have
> > been
> > connected by 2006.
> >
> > Overall, less than 1 percent of the population is connected to the
> > Internet.
> > Rwandan officials say Terracom seems more interested in tapping the more
> > lucrative cellphone market than in being an Internet service provider.
> >
> > In November, Wyler stepped down as chief executive of Terracom, saying
> > he
> > wanted to spend more time with his family. He still serves on the board.
> >
> > Wyler said by telephone from his Boston home that he would not address
> > the
> > government's criticism. He said he did not want to be quoted as saying
> > anything
> > negative. But he said there were some things he had not anticipated,
> > particularly the technical challenges of linking the Rwandan Internet
> > network
> > to the rest of the world.
> >
> > "Terracom has done everything it can, " he said. "Because of the
> > technical
> > challenges, the Internet service is as good as it's going to get. But
> > given
> > what we started from, I still think we have accomplished a lot. In the
> > beginning there were a few people with Internet service. Now there are
> > thousands."
> >
> > The Rwandan government had hoped that the number of Web surfers would be
> > much
> > higher by now. Rwanda has little industry, and its infrastructure is
> > still
> > being rebuilt after the 1994 genocide in which 800,000 to a million
> > people were
> > killed.
> >
> > "We have almost no natural resources and no seaports in Rwanda, which
> > leaves us
> > only with trying to become a knowledge-based society," said Romain
> > Murenzi, the
> > Rwandan minister of science, technology and scientific research.
> >
> > Wyler said he had not been involved in Terracom for nearly 10 months and
> > could
> > not comment on its current operations.
> >
> > Christopher Lundh, Terracom's new chief executive and a former executive
> > of
> > Gateway Communications in London, has worked in several African
> > countries. He
> > now lives and works full time in Rwanda, and many government officials
> > say
> > Terracom's performance has improved under his leadership.
> >
> > Lundh said there were problems with the company's operations in the past
> > but
> > that the Rwandan government was responsible for some of the delays.
> >
> > "We would get to schools that don't even have electricity or computers,"
> > he
> > said. "That is not our fault."
> >
> > In addition, he said that many of the complaints about the company
> > concerned
> > things beyond its ability to control. Getting adequate bandwidth remains
> > a
> > constant challenge. Like most telecommunications companies in eastern
> > Africa,
> > Terracom depends on satellites for Internet service. Satellite service
> > is much
> > slower than cable because of delays in the signals. Satellites also
> > provide
> > less bandwidth than cable.
> >
> > Adding to the problem is that most of the satellites serving Africa were
> >
> > launched nearly 20 years ago and are aging or going out of commission. A
> > satellite set to go into service last year blew up on the launching pad.
> > Power
> > is also an issue, as intermittent power failures in Rwanda hamper
> > efforts to
> > provide a steady electricity source.
> >
> > Despite these limitations and earlier setbacks, Lundh said Terracom was
> > moving
> > ahead with plans to give Rwanda the most advanced Internet
> > infrastructure in
> > Africa. A nationwide wireless connection should begin operating near
> > year-end,
> > he said.
> >
> > Magnus K. Mazimpaka contributed reporting from Rwanda.
> > ____________________________________________________________
> >
>
>
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Netizens: On the History and Impact of Usenet and the Internet

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