TAD Consortium March 2000 Information Update 2

TAD Consortium March 2000 Information Update 2

This TAD Consortium Information Service has been sponsored by Juta Publishers - Web: www.juta.co.za - Phone:021 797 5101

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CONTENTS
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NEWS/TRENDS
--- International Finance Corporation joining with SOFTBANK to spawn startup Internet companies in 100 developing countries
--- Tills Light Up For Telecoms Suppliers
--- India May Threaten China for King of Netizens
--- Ecommerce Bypasses Developing World
--- Bandwidth Glut Unlikely to Happen
--- IS/Schoolnet SA Help Mmabatho Learners Get Online

PROFILED ORGANIZATIONS
--- Kalaallit Nunaata Radio (Radio Greenland)
--- Intellectual Property body established
--- NetWise
--- Climate Action Network South Africa

ONLINE RESOURCES
--- "Grameen Phone: Empowering the Poor through Connectivity"
--- "Shouting With A Gagged Mouth: India's Reluctant March Towards Democratising Its Air-Waves"
--- Copyright Resources
--- Resources on Disability Access
--- WIDE Initiative (Web of Information for Development).
--- Site for free fonts
--- Centre for Environment Information and Knowledge in Africa newsletter on environment issues that include ICT issues

ARTICLES
--- Efforts Urging Responsibility on Net Call for a Pause to Reflect, Teach By Gary Chapman
--- Why The Poor Villager Too Must Not Be Deprived Of Phones, Internet

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NEWS/TRENDS

"TOKYO, JAPAN, February 12, 2000 - In the most significant single initiative yet to start to narrow the global digital divide and jumpstart the new digital economy in the developing world, the International Finance Corporation is joining with SOFTBANK of Japan to spawn startup Internet companies in some 100 developing countries.

SOFTBANK, a Japan-based global Internet company, and IFC, part of the World Bank Group, will invest US$200 million to found SOFTBANK Emerging Markets (SBEM) to incubate Internet-related businesses in developing countries. IFC will also join SOFTBANK's recent Latin America- and China-focused Internet investment funds, bringing the total commitment to global Internet development to $500 million.

SBEM (http://www.softbank.com/sbem/) will nurture new Internet enterprises both by investing seed money and by providing an array of technological, legal, and management support to quickly turn ideas into solid businesses. SBEM will serve as an accelerator to speed the creation of Internet-anchored enterprises in developing countries by working with a network of global industry leaders and local partners.

SBEM will help entrepreneurs in developing countries use established business models to start up locally adapted versions of some of the world's leading Internet companies. And SBEM will also provide risk capital and support for entrepreneurs in the developing world to turn their own business concepts into successful Internet enterprises."

For more information, check out the new Web site of SBEM at http://www.softbank.com/sbem/ or contact them at ifc-sbem@ifc.org

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TILLS LIGHT UP FOR TELECOMS SUPPLIERS

Source: ITWeb

The integration of voice and data traffic on corporate networks, a surge in the number of employees accessing these networks remotely and the growing use of the Internet as an indispensable business tool will combine to fuel a multi-billion rand telecommunications boom in South Africa in the next three years. The year 2000 also marks the first time that data traffic will account for more than half of corporate South Africa's telecommunications budget, says IT research house. BMI-Techknowledge in the latest edition of its authoritative "Top 200 Telecommunications Users in South Africa" survey - and this will have a major impact on the way businesses communicate with customers and suppliers. "The Internet has revolutionised the way business is conducted," says BMI-T analyst Nozicelo Nqcobo. "But it is not only becoming an important business tool within companies: increases in areas such as advertising, customer service, selling to customers and voice integration with call centre show without a doubt that the Internet is being used as enabler for things like efficient customer care and servicing." Increasing reliability and wide area network (WAN) capacity emerged as two key issues in the report, says Ngcobo. "South African companies are much more focused on obtaining key business benefits, such as increased reliability and reduced costs, than implementing the latest technology solutions such as virtual private networks (VPNs) or technologies like ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) implementation."

For the full story go to: http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/monitor/2000/0002250745.asp

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India May Threaten China for King of Netizens

India could be second only to China in terms of Internet usage by 2004, according to a report by Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia. This explosive growth would be dependent on the availability of cheaper PCs and Net access through cable television, but the number of Internet users in India could increase as much as 11-fold to 30 million in four years time.

Broadband access via cable is important to Internet growth in India because there are more televisions and cable connections in India than there are PCs and telephone lines.

Other estimates on the number of Internet users in India come from IDC, which predicts 17 million Internet users in India in the next five years, and NASSCOM, the industry association for the Internet in India, which says there are currently 2.6 million Indians with Internet access.

February 24, 2000
http://cyberatlas.internet.com/big_picture/geographics/article/0,1323,5911_309751,00.html

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Taken from Nua Internet Surveys: February 28th, 2000

Computer Economics: Ecommerce Bypasses Developing World

While ecommerce will continue to boom in the next decade, Africa, South America and parts of Asia will be largely left out of the trade revolution.

According to Computer Economics, only 6 percent of ecommerce will be transacted in these regions this year and this figure will only rise by 1 percent by 2003. Only 0.1 percent of b2c transactions will not take place in North America, Europe or the Asia Pacific region. The b2b market will be slightly more open.

The slow growth potential for ecommerce in the developing world is attributed to high access costs and a lack of infrastructure. Analysts say that it will take at least a decade before ecommerce becomes a truly global phenomenon.

The total ecommerce market should grow from USD2.9 trillion this year to USD9.5 trillion by 2003.

http://www.computereconomics.com/new4/pr/2000/pr000222.html

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Taken from Nua Internet Surveys: February 28th, 2000

Inter@ctive Week Online: Bandwidth Glut Unlikely to Happen

Contrary to many previous predictions, experts now believe there could be a global bandwidth shortage as the Internet continues to grow rapidly. According to a report in Inter@ctive Week, increases in demand for bandwidth will outstrip increases in capacity by at least twice as much in the coming years.

Research reports from Nortel, Renaissance Worldwide, Qwest and others show the possible bandwidth glut predicted last year is unlikely to happen. As more and more subscribers purchase DSL or cable modem access, public networks will come under increasing pressure.

Some analysts say traffic could be ten times the current level in a few years' time and demand for bandwidth could be up to 200 times today's demand by 2005.

Furthermore, the number of subscribers to the Internet will continue to grow, possibly at a rate of 25 percent per year. Thirdly, sophisticated new applications that will require huge amounts of bandwidth are expected to come online quite rapidly. These factors will also push the demand for bandwidth.
http://www.zdnet.com/intweek/stories/news/0,4164,2441081,00.html

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IS/SCHOOLNET SA HELP MMABATHO LEARNERS GET ONLINE

The site, at Mmabatho High School, forms part of the World Bank's World Links for Development (WorLD) project. The North West Province hub site provides computer, telecommunications and Internet technologies that will be put to work for the benefit of the local community and will be officially opened on Tuesday February 29 by the Provincial MEC for Education, Mr. P Tolo. IS is connecting these sites to the Internet via 64Kbps leased line access, which gives members of previously disadvantaged communities Internet access equivalent to that of South Africa's elite corporate sector. The World Bank is funding the World Links Project in partnership with SchoolNet SA, a non-profit organisation focusing on the effective use of information and communication technologies in education in South Africa.

According to IS MD, Derek Wilcocks, the choice to partner with SchoolNet SA has vindicated itself repeatedly over the past eighteen months. "We are committed to continuing with this relationship indefinitely, although subject to annual reviews to ensure the project continues to be as fruitful as it has been. We have no doubt that it will live up to our best expectations," he says. "Our aim, from the beginning, was to plug into an existing, thriving system and add value in our areas of natural competence. Since the launch by then telecommunications minister Jay Naidoo of the first centre in Mphopomeni, Kwa-Zulu Natal, a number of other centres have sprung up in other provinces, and we are proud to have been able to make a worthwhile contribution."

According to SchoolNet SA Executive Director Denis Brandjes, the IS and World Bank sponsorships, along with the contributions of other IT sector players, has played an invaluable role in extending the reach of SchoolNet SA's activities. "We face a huge task in trying to wire up and assist the thousands of schools around the country. So far, SchoolNet SA has provided some form of Internet access to hundreds of schools," says Brandjes, "but there are still 28,000 schools in South Africa that need to gain access to the information super-highway. We are about the educational application of the technology, rather than being an ISP for schools, which is why we value the contribution from major players such as IS so much," he says.

So far, centres have gone live in Kwa-Zulu Natal, Gauteng, and North West Province. The centres for Eastern Cape and Northern Province are due to go live before April 2000, while in the remaining provinces suitable locations still have to be found. "We would hope to have the full network of nine provincial hubs up and running by the end of the year," Brandjes concludes.

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PROFILED ORGANIZATIONS

(This component of the TAD Consortium Newsletter kindly sponsored by Times Media Limited – www.tml.co.za)

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KNR-online

"Kalaallit Nunaata Radio (Radio Greenland) is an independent public body administered by the Greenlandic Government. It is headed by a 7-man board, with its day-to-day running in the hands of a management committee. KNR -Radio and TV - broadcasts both radio and television programmes every day, which can be received throughout Greenland." Website in Danish, English, and Inuit.
http://www.knr.gl/

Greenland Public Broadcasting Service Radio & TV Greenland

Kalaallit Nunaata Radio (Radio Greenland) is an independent public body administered by the Greenlandic Government. It is headed by a 7-man board, with its day-to-day running in the hands of a management committee. KNR - Radio and TV - broadcasts both radio and television programmes every day, which can be received throughout Greenland. KNR, which is the most important media enterprise in Greenland, is financed by contributions from the national treasury, by advertising, sponsorship, etc. Its range of programmes include social affairs, youth programmes, cultural material, entertainment, music and news, both domestic and from all over the world.

In recent years, KNR has embarked on modernization and acquired its own TV building. KNR TV broadcasts about 300 hours of Greenlandic, and about 2,000 hours of Danish programmes per year. KNR Radio broadcasts about 5,400 hours of material each year, divided into 2,500 hours in Greenlandic, 900 in Danish and 2,200 hours of music.

KNR's news departments in Nuuk, North Greenland, South Greenland and Copenhagen deliver news to the whole of Greenland in both Greenlandic and Danish. Domestic production in both the cultural and youth departments of Radio and TV mainly produce material in Greenlandic. Domestic production on both radio and TV are financed partly by TV advertisement earnings.

KNR TV also transmits TV news from Danmarks Radio every day of the year, while broadcasts from Danmarks Radio can be heard on another channel in Greenland. About 120 people are employed at KNR.

For further information about KNR, please contact:
Kalaallit Nunaata Radio
(Radio & TV Greenland)
P.O. Box 1007
DK-3900 Nuuk
Telephone (+299) 32 53 33
Fax (+299) 32 50 42
Comments mailto:webmaster@knr.gl

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Taken from Screen Africa News Bulletin 29 February 2000

Intellectual Property body established

Concern about the status of intellectual property law in South Africa and the lack of priority given to this area by the Government has led to the establishment by concerned industry bodies of a loose association, IPACT (Intellectual Property Action Group). IPACT considers intellectual property to be of great importance and a significant factor in creating the right climate for foreign investment in South Africa and for the development of local business and industry. Amongst the 26 organisations who have involved themselves in IPACT are the Independent Producers Organisation, Motion Picture Association, National Association of Broadcasters, Association of SA Music Industry, National Association of Model Agents, Southern African Music Rights Organisation, Association of Marketers and Creative Directors Forum. The object of IPACT is to foster the implementation of an effective and efficient system for the protection and enhancement of intellectual property and thus to promote economic prosperity in South Africa by means of liaising with and motivating Government.

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NetWise is a SADC internet based network, focussing on natural resource management in SADC and it offers free data storage, electronic media networking and publishes news items on the website free of charge, this is especially relevant for organisations who cannot afford a website, but would like to have their organisations data and news available on the www, they can even use the NetWise web address as their web address, this makes Internet as a medium for information exchange available without the cost of setting up and running a website. The network aims to encourage exchange of information around natural resource management, with special reference to training and research.

Desert Research Foundation of Namibia
Penelope Orford          Tel:   + 264 61 229855
Project Manager          Fax: + 264 61 230172
NetWise                     Email:      netwise@drfn.org.na
PO Box 20232            Website: www.netwise.drfn.org.na
Windhoek
Namibia

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CLIMATE ACTION NETWORK SOUTH AFRICA

In February 2000, a group of South African Non governmental organisations (Earthlife Africa Johannesburg, Group for Environmental Monitoring, Mineral and Energy Policy Centre, Energy and Development Research Centre, Global Legislators for a Balanced Environment- SA, and GroundWork) decided to establish a local node of the global NGO climate change network, Climate Action Network (CAN). This decision was based on discussions that began in June 1999.

The overall goal of the Climate Action Network South Africa is to facilitate civil society organisations participation in responding to climate change at national, regional and international levels, and to promote government, industry and individual action to limit human-induced climate change to ecologically sustainable levels.

In pursuit of this goal, the objectives of Climate Action Network South Africa are: To coordinate information exchange on national, regional and international, climate policies and issues, between civil society organisations; To formulate national, regional and international policy options and position papers on climate-related issues; and To undertake further collaborative action to promote effective NGO involvement in efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and avert climate change.

ENQUIRIES: Richard Sherman, Earthlife Africa

E-mail: rsherman@icon.co.za

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ONLINE RESOURCES

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By any measure, Grameen Bank is a success story. What worked? See "Grameen Phone: Empowering the Poor through Connectivity" by L Jean Camp and Brian L Anderson in the "iMP: The Magazine on Information Impacts" (December 1999) [http://www.cisp.org/imp/december_99/12_99camp.htm]

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Frederick Noronha has written an excellent article "SHOUTING WITH A GAGGED MOUTH: INDIA'S RELUCTANT MARCH TOWARDS DEMOCRATISING ITS AIR-WAVES" (size: aprox. 48K). It has been posted to the DevMedia, and Creative Radio mailing lists. A copy is available on the Creative Radio archive at http://www.egroups.com/group/creative-radio/749.html?

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Copyright and Digital Media in Education http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/copyright/prospects.html Informative educational site includes link to US Copyright Office report

Digital Copyright Issues http://www.exu.ilstu.edu/dlisu/DEdci.htm Resources on copyright issues

Digital Future Coalition http://www.dfc.org//index.html U.S. organisation established to tackle intellectual property issues (includes distance learning)

Distance Learning & Copyright http://waltoncollege.uark.edu/disted/distance_education_and_copyright.htm Short historical essay on some of the relevant issues for distance educators

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DISABILITY ACCESS

CSUN 2000 http://www.csun.edu/cod/ This conference focuses on "technology and persons with disabilities"

The Web Isn't for Everyone ...Yet (Margolin) http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/design/site_building/tutorials/tutorial5.html Tutorial on web accessibility

Distance Education - Access Guidelines for Students with Disabilities http://www.htctu.fhda.edu/dlguidelines/final%20dl%20guidelines.htm Initiative from California Community Colleges

Promoting Universal Design and Disability Access http://198.202.75.150/enVision/v14.4/eot_udda.html Article describing the Universal Design and Disability Access project

W3C - Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/REC-ATAG10-20000203/ Recommendations from the World Wide Web consortium

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The United Nations Development Programs Special Unit for Technical Cooperation Among Developing Countries (SU/TCDC) is pleased to announce the launch of the WIDE Initiative (Web of Information for Development).

Details can be found at http://www.undp.org/tcdc/wide

SU/TCDC, established within UNDP by the United Nations General Assembly in 1974, is launching the WIDE Initiative in support of, and to further, technical cooperation among developing countries (TCDC).

The WIDE Initiative introduces a new array of internet-based services and efforts to give more visibility to developing country expertise, foster communications and promote more effective technical cooperation among developing countries.

The first of these services, WIDE Online, is a public access database for collecting and accessing (i) experts bio-data (expertise, location, contacts, publications, etc.) and (ii) information on institutions, products, services and best practices.

WIDE Online started life in 1977 as INRES, a paper-based Information Referral Service system. Today, in partnership with CESAR (Recife, Brazil), WIDE Online transforms INRES into a modern global information service.

To raise the visibility of developing country expertise and knowledge TCDC is also undertaking WIDE InterLink, a program of strategic partnerships with TCDC stakeholder organizations.

The InterLink program is designed to (i) promote stakeholder participation in the WIDE Initiative by using WIDE Online, or its offline version, to raise the profile of developing country expertise and knowledge and (ii) assist stakeholders in strengthening their capacity for sharing expertise and promoting technical cooperation among developing countries.

The Initiative also includes TCDC/WIDE Innovative Experiences. A database of experiences and projects demonstrating innovative development activities or cooperation carried out by institutions and professionals in developing countries. These valuable experiences are to be shared for use in other developing countries. They are also available in book format.

The WIDE Initiative, in cooperation with Bellanet (Ottawa, Canada) includes two online WIDE Discussion Forums, accessible by email and web browser.

WIDEFORUM-L is the WIDE Initiative discussion area, and a forum for policy dialogue and knowledge networking for strengthening the WIDE Initiative and technical cooperation among developing countries.

GOODWIDE-L collects and critiques innovative experiences in technical cooperation among developing countries.

TCDC/WIDE is also providing an internet broadcasting News Service, in cooperation with Comcast Inc. (Republic of Korea). SU/TCDC and Comcast are collaborating to deliver this state of the art news service for news related to development and to South-South cooperation.

The WIDE Initiative launches today with partnerships across three continents, and plans to expand both its partnerships and its services.

* WIDE Initiative Web Pages and Innovative Experiences are hosted by SU/TCDC in New York (USA). WIDE Online is hosted by CESAR (Centro de Estudos e Sistemas Avancados de Recife) in Recife (Brazil)

* The WIDE News Service is hosted by COMCAST Co.,Ltd. in Seoul (Rep. Of Korea)

* WIDEFORUM-L and GOODWIDE-L are hosted by Bellanet in Ottawa (Canada)

Experts in and from the South, and institutions, are invited to register in the WIDE database and to participate in the WIDE Initiative discussion forums. Everybody is invited to subscribe to the WIDE Discussion Forums in order to receive announcements of new services, and to participate in the implementation of the WIDE Initiative.

All WIDE services can be accessed through http://www.undp.org/tcdc/wide .

Please contact SU/TCDC for information on partnerships, the InterLink strategy, or for offline ways to register in the WIDE Online database:

The Special Unit for TCDC United Nations Development Programme
One UN Plaza, ff-1208
New York, NY 10017
United States of America
Tel: (212) 906 5732
Fax: (212) 906 6352
Email: atsede.worede-kal@undp.org
URL: http://www.undp.org/tcdc/wide

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Taken from Mantex Newsletter - March 2000

http://www.mantex.co.uk/newslet.htm

There are some people who just can't get enough free fonts - fontaholics, as they're known in typography circles. If you are suffering from this collection mania - help is at hand! We have compiled a long, long list of resources. The fonts range from classics to the bizarre, and there are plenty of buttons, dingbats, and other gizmos thrown in.

http://www.mantex.co.uk/samples/fonts.htm

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Through CEIKA (Centre for Environment Information and Knowledge in Africa) http://easd.org.za/ceika.htm, we have launched a newsletter on environment issues that include ICT issues. Check out the first newsletter on the web.

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ARTICLES

Efforts Urging Responsibility on Net Call for a Pause to Reflect, Teach

By Gary Chapman

It's commonplace now to hear about how different "Internet time" is from merely ordinary time -- Swatch, the Swiss watch company, even sells a wristwatch that displays "Internet time."

Internet time is said to be dramatically speeded up compared with ordinary time. A few months in Internet time is equivalent to a year or more of ordinary time.

The chief characteristic of Internet time is a headlong rush into the future, with no time available for contemplation, reflection or pondering alternative futures.

But some computer experts are beginning to question whether the widespread acceptance of the Internet's acceleration of everything in life is wise or good for society.

So late last year, computer scientists Peter Neumann and Lauren Weinstein launched a new effort they call People for Internet Responsibility (http://www.pfir.org) because, as Weinstein explains, "Things need to slow down somewhat. All this is happening in the absence of any thoughtful technical, legal or regulatory framework."

And the blockage of Web sites this month due to denial-of-service attacks -- which brought down Yahoo, Amazon.com, E-Trade, CNN and several other high-profile online services -- has given PFIR some new visibility and urgency.

After the attacks, Weinstein wrote, "For now, it might be advisable for everyone to remember that the Internet, for all its wonders, is in many ways very fragile. We must not allow ourselves to get into a position where being cut off from a site for a few hours -- or even longer -- puts people or property at risk. Our lives should not revolve around guaranteed 24/7 access to EBay, or Yahoo, or ANY site on the public Internet, regardless of its importance."

Neumann says, "This craze to get on the Internet, irrespective of whether it's secure or not, is ridiculous."

Weinstein notes that the Internet was designed for collaboration, not for e-commerce. There are things that can be done to make the network more secure, but for the foreseeable future the public needs to understand the network's vulnerabilities and capabilities, and there's little financial incentive for companies to educate people in this way. That's what PFIR is all about, he said.

Neumann and Weinstein are not just curmudgeons.

Neumann, a researcher with SRI International in Menlo Park, Calif., is the longtime moderator of the Risks Forum on the Internet, the premier place for technical experts to share information about the perils of using computers and networks.

And Weinstein, of Vortex Technologies in Woodland Hills, is the moderator of the Privacy Forum, the most-respected and longest-running conversation on the Internet about privacy and technology. His experience with the Internet goes back to the days of the ARPAnet, in the 1970s.

Weinstein and Neumann have pointed out that with the current rush to get nearly everything we do onto the Internet, and as quickly as possible, long-established principles of safety, security and system reliability are being compromised. And there's insufficient reflection about the possible impacts.

"Do people really stop and think about what it might mean to vote on the Internet?" asks Weinstein. "Or about the vulnerability of their health information?" Once data are revealed from a system, he says, "you can't put it back in the bottle."

Neumann concurs. "Privacy is an issue that's just being trampled on."

Weinstein says that it's equally ominous that legislatures or policymakers may, in a rush, adopt Internet-related laws and regulations that are not well designed.

Neither Weinstein nor Neumann is exactly sure what PFIR is, for now. Weinstein says they're in a "request for comments" phase. The use of this term is an appeal to the kind of people who helped develop the Internet and who may be increasingly alarmed by what it's turning into.

"We're interested in ideas about how we can get across critical information about the Internet to citizens and policymakers. The key thing is to keep important information about system security, vulnerability, risks, privacy and other issues in the public eye," Neumann said.

"We intend to take a hard, objective, nonpartisan look at problems that have yet to be addressed."

Neumann said that he thinks PFIR will not be a grass-roots organization, such as Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR) in Palo Alto, "but we will need grass-roots support."

Both Weinstein and Neumann are pursuing this without any compensation, but they are open to financial support "from institutions that have no desire to shape the message," Neumann said.

There have been quite a few efforts in the past to develop a form of "civil society" for the computing and networking field -- a form of dialogue and influence that is independent of both private sector enterprise and the government.

Unfortunately, not many of these efforts have been wildly successful.

CPSR is still around but not very influential, unfortunately. The Electronic Frontier Foundation is in the same straits. The Internet Society has been flourishing but has yet to tackle the kinds of issues that might divide their professional constituency.

The most successful examples of a "third way" have been the loose collaborative efforts of the technical professionals who built the Internet itself, and the ongoing work of the Open Source software movement.

Neumann and Weinstein appear to be mapping PFIR to these models, which they not only understand but deeply respect. The open question is whether an international class of selfless technical experts can turn their attention to policy issues, including some in which their employers will have specific interests.

If that happens, if Weinstein and Neumann are successful, we may be able to keep the Internet aligned with the public interest.

Gary Chapman is director of The 21st Century Project at the University of Texas in Austin. He can be reached at gary.chapman@mail.utexas.edu.

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WHY THE POOR VILLAGER TOO MUST NOT BE DEPRIVED OF PHONES, INTERNET

By Frederick Noronha fred@vsnl.com

Is the handset and the keyboard only for the affluent? Or, can telephones and software serve the poor too? Prominent experts working on the technologies which may not rake in the millions. But their work could help in the fight against poverty. And to build links, a large number doing work in this field are meeting at an international programme in South India in early-March.

Put briefly, this meet will focus on the needs of, and affordable solutions for, the Third World.

This meet is being held at the IIT-Chennai, in the city formerly known as Madras. Says organiser Prof Ashok Jhunjhunwala: "Accessibility to telecom and Internet network is fast becoming a major factor determining the competitiveness of an individual, group or society. Telecom and IT systems and solutions prevalent in the developed countries are not necessarily the best options for developing countries for making the network affordable and available to large sections of their people."

It is increasingly being felt that access to the Internet is creating a new differentiator in society. Those who have access to the Internet have access to all kinds of information. It puts them in an advantageous position in society vis-a-vis others who do not have such access.

Called Commsphere, this meet has a simple rationale.

Internet Access is built upon the basic telecom network. While the telecom infrastructure in advanced countries is well developed (with teledensity well above 50 per hundred population), allowing them to move rapidly towards universal telecom and Internet access, the infrastructure in most developing countries is totally inadequate.

In the Third World, the teledensity in often well below 10 per hundred population and many times even below 2 per 100 population.

Large-scale telecom and Internet access is possible only with large-scale expansion of telecom infrastructure. The problem is that the cost of building this infrastructure hovers around $1000 per line. Considering the high cost of finance (often touching 15%) in the Third World, and after including costs of operation, maintenance and obsolescence, revenue of some US $300 per year will be required from each telephone line to break even.

In the Third World, US $300 per year for a telephone is affordable to less than 5% of the population. How then, ask the Commsphere organisers, can one hope for the development of telecom infrastructure and look for even some semblance of universal Internet Access?

What is needed is lower cost infrastructure. Fortunately, over the last decade, optical fibre technology has already brought down the cost of the telecom backbone to a very modest level.

The cost of the copper local loop, used over the last hundred years, is rising continuously. But even in the copper loop there have been a number of technological advancements. While technologies like HDSL, ADSL and VDSL push the data rate higher and higher on copper, it is now possible to share the copper loop between a large number of users, thereby reducing the costs.

The Fibre Access network is another way by which cost of the local loop is being slashed. Further, the Wireless Local Loop is not only proving to be very cost effective, but also promises very rapid expansion, especially in small towns and rural areas.

Unfortunately research in the First World has focussed on providing better services and greater bandwidth to the user. The requirement in the Third World is starkly different: to provide lower-cost basic access with a reasonable basket of important services such as Internet and voice communication.

Says Prof Jhunjhunwala: "All the known techniques need to be harnessed to reduce the cost of telecom infrastructure to, say, $300 per line. Such an endeavour alone can make telecom and Internet services widely affordable in the developing countries."

What now needs to be looked at are technologies and innovations which could make this possible in a not too distant time-frame.

This meet will look at the telecom and IT needs of different Third World countries, recent innovations in technologies and systems, affordable networks, networks that can be used for education and health purposes, innovations in access terminals, manpower needed and regulatory issues.

Some of the big names and foreign experts taking part in this meet include Brazilian Secretary for IT Policy Vanda Scartezeni, Samir Kallel of Omniacom-Tunisia, Lucent Technologies (US) vice president Mukesh Chatter, and representatives of big players of the Indian telecom sector, including telephone manufacturers ITI Bangalore, besides foreign or private-sector firms like British Telecom's New Delhi office, Shyam Telecom, and HFCL.

Some of the issues this meet will look at include bottlenecks and solutions for telecom and Internet in the Third World, the impact of the Internet on these regions, and challenges of rural telecommunications in various parts of the globe. Further details are available from the web site http://www.tenet.res.in/commsphere/commsphere.html. You can contact the organisers via email at commsphere@tenet.res.in

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Telematics for African Development Consortium
P.O. Box 31822
Braamfontein
2017
Johannesburg
South Africa
Tel: +27 +11 403-2813
Fax: +27 +11 403-2814
neilshel@icon.co.za
www.saide.org.za

* To view an archive of previous updates visit:
www.saide.org.za/tad/archive.htm

* For resources on distance education and technology use in Southern Africa visit:
www.saide.org.za/worldbank/Default.htm

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