[governance] IGF review

[Milton L Mueller]

When the costs of something -- anything -- are pushed down by competition and technical innovation, everyone benefits (except perhaps those who operated monopolies built around higher-cost system). So if it once was too expensive to build facilities into poorer areas, then cost reductions obviously especially benefit those with less money or those whose geographical situation creates higher costs. So I reject absolutely Gurstein's assertion that liberalization creates a zero-sum game which benefits only the already-wealthy. Furthermore, I also challenge his assertion that liberalization and a thriving market reduces the opportunities for public intervention. Insofar as those strategies succeed in generating additional revenues and economic benefit, there is more wealth to be redistributed via public intervention, and if there is no wealth, there is nothing to redistribute. Liberalization of telecom is often associated with the reform and restructuring of universal service programs, making them more targeted and efficient, and generating more revenues which can be used to ameliorate poverty. 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: McTim [mailto:dogwallah at gmail.com] 
> Sent: Sunday, May 24, 2009 4:10 PM
> To: governance at lists.cpsr.org; Michael Gurstein
> Cc: Milton L Mueller
> Subject: Re: [governance] IGF review
> 
> On 5/24/09, Michael Gurstein <gurstein at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >  Milton,
> >
> >  There is in many (most?) cases no direct (and arguably little or no
> >  indirect) connection between the "most developed 
> infrastructure" or "the
> >  strongest content industries" and "development"--certainly 
> among the poorest
> >  and the least developed populations...
> >
> >  There are in many cases statistical associations because 
> infrastructure and
> >  content industries support economic and social advance 
> among the alteady
> >  developed sections of those societies, but the reality is 
> very different on
> >  the ground as can be seen quite directly for example in 
> India where highly
> >  sophisticated inftrastructure/content development has had 
> little or no
> >  impact on the bulk of the rural population.
> >
> >  I'm now somewhat familiar with the situation for example 
> in South Africa
> >  where further liberalization whether of infrastructure or 
> of content is
> >  likely in fact to be an impediment to development by 
> restricting the
> >  opportunities for public sector intervention precisely to support
> >  development among the 85% of the population which is currently not
> >  effectively engaged with/enabled by the quite advanced 
> infrastructure and
> >  content industries in that country.
> >
> >  Whether the State or not for profits would or could do any 
> better is not
> >  something I want to argue in this context, but at least as 
> I see the SA
> >  situation for example, further liberalization (i.e. more 
> competition) will
> >  lead to a reduction in cost for the already connected and 
> have virtually no
> >  effect on the not connected.
> 
> hmm,  this project (in SA, but supported by a variety of folk
> worldwide) might prove you wrong.
> 
> http://www.villagetelco.org/2009/05/first-phone-call-on-mp-arc
hitecture/
> 
> and an early implementation of it:
> 
> http://www.shuttleworthfoundation.org/our-work/blogs/yabba-dabba-do
> 
> and Telkom complained to the regulator that Dabba was "interfering"
> with their service and had ICASA confiscate their kit.
> 
> I for one would applaud "restricting the opportunities for public
> sector intervention", if by public sector you mean Telkom SA!
> 
> My original point in this thread was that African CS can actually DO
> something instead of just talking about doing something (at the IGF).
> 
> -- 
> Cheers,
> 
> McTim
> ____________________________________________________________
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