[WSIS CS-Plenary] Re: The Economist on the 'real digitaldivide'

[Robert Guerra]

Anriette:

I asked the other day if anyone was going to=20
submit a letter to the economist. Glad APC did. I=20
hope they publish the response letter.

regards

Robert

At 8:58 PM +0200 3/17/05, Anriette Esterhuysen wrote:
>Below is a letter sent to the Economist in response to the 'digital divide'
>article.
>
>To the Editor, Economist
>
>In response to:  The Real Digital Divide. March 10th 2005
>
>"The Real Digital Divide" correctly asserts that this divide is merely a
>symptom of deeper, more important divides. However, the article has
>two serious flaws.=CA
>
>Firstly, it falls into the 'generalisation' trap. It assumes that solutions
>that worked well in one context will necessarily work well everywhere.=CA=
=CA
>
>Mobile phones are NOT always the cheapest or best way to provide
>telephony, especially to poor and rural populations. Newer and
>cheaper technologies such as WiFi, WiMax, CorDECT and VOIP
>(voice over internet protocol) could prove far more cost effective, and
>they have the added advantage of providing data services such as
>internet.    Furthermore, sparsely populated rural regions are proving
>less attractive to mobile providers, and the growth rate in network
>coverage (as distinct from subscribers) is slowing down, long before it
>reaches many of the poorest people.=CA
>
>Secondly, why does the author conclude from the undisputed value of
>mobile telephony that other new technologies are superfluous in
>addressing development challenges?=CA
>
>People living in the developed world's lives have been transformed by
>the power of the internet in multiple dimensions: work, social
>connectivity, banking, entertainment, political debate.  They live in a
>context of increasing access and efficiency.  Why deny these benefits
>to developing countries and the poor?  Avoiding the infrastructure and
>capacity development challenges of introducing these technologies to
>developing countries is NOT an effective response to growing
>inequities.=CA
>
>Digital inclusion is not simply about access to computers or the
>internet, it is about not being left behind when such far-reaching
>institutional changes are revolutionizing every aspect of social and
>economic life.=CA
>
>Regarding regulatory approaches, it is now widely acknowledged,
>including by the World Bank that the market alone is not sufficient,
>especially in remote and rural areas and poorer populations.   There is
>a major role for investment and regulation in the public interest, in an
>environment that is increasingly horizontally segmented between local
>access networks, backbone providers, and service providers.=CA
>
>The need for universal service access funds is widely accepted. But
>current thinking is now considering ways of providing wholesale
>bandwidth, where a single provider, publicly-owned or in consortium,
>sells backbone bandwidth cheaply and transparently to all. At local
>level, community-owned networks already exist from Poland to
>Argentina - following the lead of the USA where over 500 local rural
>telephony cooperatives have flourished for decades and now provide
>broadband.   The point here is not to say that competition does not
>play a key role. Rather, it is essential to pursue continuous and
>ongoing regulatory innovation, and to remain open to all suitable
>solutions.=CA
>
>Exclusive solutions, be they technical or regulatory, are simply too
>restrictive for the diversity of needs and environments.=CA
>
>Association for Progressive Communications, Johannnesburg
>Digital Divide Data, San Francisco
>IT For Change, Bangalore
>Bread For All, Lausanne
>NEXUS Research, Dublin=CA
>
>
>
>------------------------------------------------------
>Anriette Esterhuysen, Executive Director
>Association for Progressive Communications
>anriette at apc.org
>http://www.apc.org
>PO Box 29755, Melville, South Africa. 2109
>Tel. 27 11 726 1692
>Fax 27 11 726 1692
>
>
>
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###
Robert Guerra <rguerra at privaterra.org>
Privaterra - <http://www.privaterra.org>