Re: [GKD] The Great African Internet Robbery
Dear GKD List, My posting in response to the article The Great African Internet Robbery that appeared on the BBC web-site has attracted a good deal of opposing views and arguments (on and off the list). I would like to thank all that took the time to write as it helped me to verify some of my statements and encouraged me to further investigate the matter. Unfortunately, some of the responses I received mixed-up technical, economical, political and even philosophical arguments. In order to reach a coherent understanding of the issues (and ultimately improve the situation of the African continent) one needs to dissect the different levels of analyses and must be careful not to confuse the diverse issues at hand. I will hence briefly put forth my argument and will include what I believe are realistic approaches to bring down the costs of Internet connectivity in developing countries. Finally, I will directly address some of the points made by the other authors in the appendix. The initial news item and my response were dealing with the issue of high-costs for Internet connectivity in Africa and possible explanations thereof. To make this very clear: I wholeheartedly agree that the costs are too high and that they hinder real access for many Africans. And I also agree that intercontinental data transfer is prohibitively expensive. However, I am unsatisfied with the answers brought forward in the article as to why the costs are so high; especially because such answers are ultimately shaping the discussion about possible solutions. One of the points made was that following the practice of telephone traffic, the costs for international data connections should be divided btw. both parties - rather than one side picking up the entire tab. I agree with all political and ethical arguments in support of this request: namely the fact that the haves should help the have-nots to benefit from the potential of ICT. However, the argument seems to disregard completely the inherent difference between telephone networks and the Internet. The telephone network itself does not contain content, it only connects people (and their content) and therefore provides a medium of communication. The Internet, on the other hand contains content. It actually IS content, rather than just a grid of cables that connect nodes. And therefore different parts of the network have higher value than others and it is more attractive for non-content carrying sub-networks to connect to the content-carrying sub-networks than vice versa. Besides, is it really surprising that a T1 connection from Nicaragua to the US should be more expensive than a comparable connection within the US? Isn't this likely due to the high amortization costs for the network, which are split between fewer interested and potential users than the hundreds of thousands users in the U.S. (and cut-throat competition)? In my original posting I argued that African monopolistic structures and mis-management in the telecommunications sector are two major culprits for the high-costs. These points were also heavily disputed. Let me support my reasoning with two further arguments: One solution to bring down connectivity costs are network interchange points to connect sub-networks, which btw is also recognized by the Kenyan ISPs in the BBC article. South Africa features two of these and they help to route local traffic through local networks more efficiently, avoiding constant detours via the major U.S. or European backbones. In addition the resulting African backbone could be connected to the European backbone via a few shorter links than the ones currently in use. However, today many requests even for African content still traverse the Atlantic, because no national or regional infrastructure is in place to avoid this. Monopolies have shown little interest in peering, effectively hindering the implementation of more national and international interchange points, AND ultimately inflating the costs. Furthermore, cheaper than monopoly-offered bandwidth (via satellite) exists in many developing countries. HOWEVER, access is denied by legislation designed to protect the existing monopoly. The following OECD report provides additional food for thought in respect to some of the above points. It explains the evolution of global end-to-end data networks and describes the relevance of exchange points. http://www.oecd.org/pdf/M00027000/M00027258.pdf Again I am pro lower connection costs, but I think local solutions would solve the substantial part of this problem and would do so in more sustainable manner, than pointing the finger at evil western telcos and governments. Thanks, Philipp Schmidt Cape Town, SA [Appendix: Direct answers to some of the replies] From: Steve Little [EMAIL PROTECTED] Phillip's argument was certainly valid 15-20 years ago, when I and my generation of IS researchers were dependent upon the largesse of the US DoD for international e-mail. Since then,
[GKD] Using TV to Improve Literacy (India)
Independence from Illiteracy through TV: Putting an old ICT to new ends On the eve on India's Independence Day, 2002, an experiment is being launched by Doordarshan and the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad to contribute to making every Indian independently literate. This most ambitious of goals is being approached with the simplest of ideas, under a grant won in Development Marketplace 2002 (World Bank's global innovation competition).* What is this all about? Watch DD-1's Chitrahaar** Wednesday, August 14, 2002 (or later episodes on Wed) 7:30pm to 8:00pm The longest running film-based programme in the history of television, especially popular in the villages, is being transformed from staple entertainment to edutainment that is 'more' entertaining. The potentially major by-product is improvement in the literacy skill levels of millions of people. Same Language Subtitling (SLS) Can music-videos on TV herald a revolution in literacy? Yes, if you simply subtitled the lyrics of the existing songs-based programming on TV in the same language as the audio! In SLS the lyrics of Hindi songs appear in Hindi, Tamil songs in Tamil, and so on in any language. The synchronisation of audio and text is created through colour changes in the subtitles, identifying every word as it is being sung. Thus, SLS strengthens grapheme-phoneme associations which are weak in early literate people. Research with SLS The use of SLS for literacy was first proposed six years ago and on-going research since then, conducted in three separate experiments at the level of the classroom, village (on local cable) and state (in Gujarat on DDK Ahmedabad) have been consistent in finding that reading ability improves steadily as a result of viewing film and folk song based content with the addition of SLS. What is perhaps more relevant to network acceptance of the idea is that surveys have found that over 99% of viewers, semi-literate and literate alike, actually prefer song programming with SLS than without. Why people like SLS? Viewers have been video-taped in villages and slums trying to sing along through lip-synching. SLS enables viewers to know the song lyrics, 'hear' the words better (useful not just for the hearing but also the hearing challenged or deaf), and write down the lyrics. The cost of SLS? SLS integrates everyday reading/writing transactions into the lives of 500 million TV viewers in India at a cost of 3 paise (US$0.0065) per person per year. *** See SLS in action at: http://sls4literacy.tripod.com SLS was awarded the Best Social Innovation for the year 2000 in the Education category for the project, 'Subtitling TV Songs for Mass Literacy', awarded by The Institute for Social Inventions, London (U.K.). *** * For information on Development Marketplace: http://www.developmentmarketplace.org **Chitrahaar's production team: Research Script: Manav Kaushik Creative Consultant: Sandhya Anchor: Tarana Editor: Nishikant Sathe Cameraman: Narsing Pothkanti Technical Expert: R. Sekhar Producer/Director: Mohan Middha [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** CONTACTS (SLS project) Brij Kothari Associate Professor Wing 14, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad Ravi J. Matthai Centre for Educational Innovation Vastrapur, Ahmedabad-380015 Gujarat, India Tel: 91-79-632 4938 Fax: 91-79-630 6896 e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** Mukesh Sharma Director, DDK, Mumbai 91-22-493 8444; 493 8788 Sudhir Tandon Controller of Films, Doordarshan, New Delhi Telefax: 91-11-338 2981 *** Shankar Narayanan, Social Development Specialist South Asia Sector for Environment Social Development The World Bank, 70, Lodi Estate, New Delhi- 110 003 INDIA Phone: +91 11 461 7241-4 Extn. 128 Fax: +91 11 461 9393 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * ***GKD is solely supported by EDC, an NGO that is a GKP member*** 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/
