[governance] Africa, ICT and electricity

[Dan Krimm]

At 2:10 PM +0100 9/14/07, kwasi boakye-akyeampong wrote:

>I think what we have to be doing is to take a reflection on how much
>effort and resources have been pumped into bridging the digital divide and
>see whether the gains match up. If not, which I think is the case, then we
>should look for appropriate models that would suit each particular
>environment.


I think this is a very sensible approach, as each local context likely has
unique characteristics that are best served by a custom blend of solutions.

In fact, this is true in developed countries as well as developing
countries.  In the US we had a big implosion recently of EarthLink with
regard to municipal wireless systems (for communities that either had
little or no broadband coverage, or wanted to expand broadband options and
assure universal coverage within the municipality, etc. -- that is, the
digital divide exists within the US itself, not just in developing
countries).

EarthLink, for example, laid off 900 staff including the former head of
wireless business, is opting out of its contract for Houston, TX, and has
backed out of the proposed (but not yet ratified) deal in San Francisco, CA.

The hype is that "this is the end of muni wireless" but that of course is
claptrap.  The rational analysis suggests that "nothin's for nothin'" and
the business models that followed a few pilot projects and supposed that
all municipalities could get "wireless for free" was unrealistic.

What this leaves us with in the US is an understanding that (1) there are a
whole range of options in terms of how to build muni broadband systems
(including both wireless and fiber, involving both public and private
assets where private can be some mix of for-profit and non-profit entities,
with various different models for financing, etc.), and each case should be
developed bottom up on its individual merits.

That is, one must (a) evaluate the current state of the community or
communities that one wants to provide access, (b) assess the primary needs
of those communities in terms of how they would most benefit from Internet
(or broadband) access, and particularly involve community members and local
community-based organizations in assessing those needs, and (c) let those
needs and whatever current assets be the driving factors in choosing how to
design a plan that will most effectively address the needs that have been
identified.

One size most definitely does not fit all in the US, and I suspect
elsewhere as well.

In Africa some of the details may differ, but the overall process may still
be applicable. So for example, just getting *any* access is a first step,
rather than worrying about how to get from dial-up to broadband (although,
in some cases it may be possible to go directly to some variant of
broadband, even if not the highest speeds -- note that in the struggling US
broadband market, speeds in the hundreds of kbps are often still considered
"broadband" -- personally I live out of DSL and cable range, so I have only
satellite service beyond dial-up, and that is rather expensive and entailed
a huge setup cost, and my speed is about 750-800 kbps down and about 150
kbps up).

Interesting technology is starting to come on the market too.  In San
Francisco, as the delay in the muni wireless project dragged on, a small
Silicon Valley startup called Meraki (yes, funded partially by Google)
began a pilot project setting up a wireless mesh network that has as an
option a solar powered kit that can power a wireless mesh repeater.  See:
http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/19260/?a=f

Now of course, such options still require funding for setup and
maintenance, and that will always be a challenge when resources are
extremely scarce.  But it occurs to me that funding pools might be arranged
on more of a large-scale basis even while the details of local designs
might be case-specific.  But where money concentrates, power politics
follow, so this must be evaluated in the local political context as well.

As for battery-charging services, someone mentioned wind-up charging (which
is available on some "camping" radios, etc. in the US, but at prices that
may not make sense in Africa unless subsidized -- still, they would pay
themselves off in under a year at the rate of 50 cents/day, so does a
typical African have resources to self-finance an amount of that magnitude?
perhaps this is a task for micro-finance).  If a large market were
developed for such technology, perhaps one or more manufacturers would be
attracted to building inexpensive wind-up chargers for battery-powered
devices in bulk, as a complement to centralized electric power service.  So
there is an aspect of chicken-egg here, but if addressed under a
comprehensive policy maybe the chicken and egg could be established
simultaneously in a large-scale package deal.

In any case, I'm not suggesting that these are at all fully-developed
answers to the issues, but that one ought to continue exploring as many
varied options as possible, while understanding that a complete solution in
any one case will involve a whole complex of related markets, and that each
local case will likely have some unique characteristics.

I think this principle of local variation is applicable pretty much
everywhere, regardless of the state of one's economy.

Dan
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