A brief note to reassure those concerned to hear of the interruption of the
Internet service at Kothmale that this seems to be just a temporary hitch.
When the Kothmale Internet Radio project started in Sri Lanka, both Telecom
and broadcasting came under one ministry. The recent split into two separate
government departments means that Telecom and broadcasting have to create
new interdepartmental links for the project. We hope to report before the
end of May that Kothmale is back on-line.
For all of us at UNESCO involved in the Kothmale Radio Browsing project, it
has been impressive to see the degree of concern within the international
development community to the suspension of the free Internet service to this
rural community. This testifies to the significance of Kothmale as a
successful pilot and prototype for community multimedia centres (CMCs). This
incident also raises the tricky problem of sustainability and connectivity
costs for CMCs, which merits an in-depth examination and response. IDRC's
suggestion of a seminar on CMC sustainability appears more timely than ever!
Stella Hughes
Programme Co-ordinator,
Community Multimedia Centres,
Communication Division
UNESCO
1 rue Miollis
Paris 75015
FRANCE
Tel. 33 1 45684041
Fax. 33 1 45685585
Vendredi 27 avril 2001 18:38, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> a ecrit:
>It is ironic that since Gaston Zongo sent in his message about
>sustaunability, I found out that the Internet part of the community
>radio in Kothmale, Sri Lanka has been shut down. I understand it is
>because the government owned Telecommunications operator has cut off the
>free Internet service it was providing to the station. The cost of
>operating the link has been roughly estimated to be in the order of
>US$100 to $300 per month which seems to be very little for the sevice it
>enabled the station to provide to perhaps some 100,000 to 200,000
>listeners. But then, those of us in the developed world may not
>appreciate harsh, cold economic realities that exist in developing
>countries.
>
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