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

[Andy Carvin]

Several members of the telecentres caucus are also working on letters, 
and others have submitted letters already. For those of you considering 
doing the same, I'd encourage you to keep it as short and as succinct as 
possible, as this increases the chances of it being published.

thanks,
ac

Robert Guerra wrote:
> Anriette:
> 
> I asked the other day if anyone was going to submit a letter to the 
> economist. Glad APC did. I 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.�
>>
>> Firstly, it falls into the 'generalisation' trap. It assumes that 
>> solutions
>> that worked well in one context will necessarily work well everywhere.��
>>
>> 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.�
>>
>> Secondly, why does the author conclude from the undisputed value of
>> mobile telephony that other new technologies are superfluous in
>> addressing development challenges?�
>>
>> 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.�
>>
>> 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.�
>>
>> 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.�
>>
>> 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.�
>>
>> Exclusive solutions, be they technical or regulatory, are simply too
>> restrictive for the diversity of needs and environments.�
>>
>> Association for Progressive Communications, Johannnesburg
>> Digital Divide Data, San Francisco
>> IT For Change, Bangalore
>> Bread For All, Lausanne
>> NEXUS Research, Dublin�
>>
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------
>> 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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> 
> 
> 

-- 
-----------------------------------
Andy Carvin
Program Director
EDC Center for Media & Community
acarvin @ edc . org
http://www.digitaldivide.net
http://www.tsunami-info.org
Blog: http://www.andycarvin.com
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