Dear Colleagues, The recent Leaders article "The real digital divide" (March 12, 2005) in The Economist contained factual errors and had controversial claims on the roles of mobile phones in Information and Communication Technologies for Development.
Find below Panos London's response (edited) in The Economist. To read the unedited version, please go to: http://www.panos.org.uk/global/economist2.asp ******** SIR: Pushing for poor countries to open up their telecoms markets doesn't mean that the poor will automatically have access to a mobile network. Mobile providers also need incentives to roll out their services to rural and less profitable areas. For example, in Uganda, mobile-network providers cite a lack of infrastructure for not establishing services in some areas. The digital divide is no longer about whether or not a rural farmer has an online connection in his hut, but is part of the overall development divide: improving the quality of rural peoples' lives relies in part on access to, and the use of, new technologies to communicate. Basic infrastructure, such as proper roads and electricity, are required to make these technologies work. The actual divide is between those with this infrastructure, who can make use of digital technologies, and those without. Murali Shanmugavalen London http://www.economist.com/printedition/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=3809611 ******** Murali Shanmugavelan Communication for Development Programme Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---------------------------------------------- Panos Institute 9, White Lion Street London, N1 9PD Phone: +44 (0)20 7239 7608 (direct) Phone: +44 (0)20 7278 1111(board) Fax: +44 (0)20 7278 0345 ---------------------------------------------- Making Sense of Global Change. Panos-London's mission is to work with the media to enable developing countries to shape and communicate their own development agendas by catalysing and promoting informed public debate. We particularly focus on amplifying the voices of the poor and marginalised. ------------ ***GKD is solely supported by EDC, a Non-Profit Organization*** To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: <http://www.edc.org/GLG/gkd/>
