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How to make the web go worldwide
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By Darren Waters
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Technology editor, BBC News website, Athens
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Only one billion people out of the six billion-strong world population
have internet access. So what is being done to connect up all the
world's citizens? </b>
<p> In South Korea more than
70% of homes have a high-speed broadband connection. It is probably one
of the most connected areas on earth, with the possible exception of
California and other localised parts of the US. </p><p> Contrast that with Africa where out of a population of
close to a billion people about 3.6% have net access and only 0.1% have
broadband speeds. </p><p> Often people say Africa needs food and water more than
it needs broadband access and that may be true, in part, but the global
economy is becoming reliant on the net and without access how can
countries ever hope to be able to clothe, house and feed their
citizens? </p><p> It has taken a few decades for the net to reach a
billion people, but how long will it take to reach two billion and
where will those new net users be found? </p><p> Jim Dempsey, of the US Center For Democracy and
Technology, said: "The next 500 million will be easy because it will
all come from China." </p><p> Speaking at the Internet Governance Forum in Athens, he
said: "The other 500 million will be spread around the world. I worry
particularly about Africa being left behind here. </p><p>
"The hard problem, in my view, is Africa."
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Africa is not alone in struggling to keep pace with the online world -
there are similar problems in parts of Asia, South America and the
Middle East. </p><p> And often the problems are common: lack of technical
infrastructure, telecoms monopolies who do not have the financial means
or motive to invest in technology, lack of competition, inequality of
access compared with the Western world and a lack of local compelling
online services. </p><p> Craig Silliman, of network provider Verizon, said: "The
number one factor in improving quality and price of access to networks
is competition. </p><p>
"Why is there not more competition in many countries? What are the barriers?"
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Some at the conference felt access was needed to local loops - the
local exchanges which effectively connect areas to the global net. </p><p>
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Vincent Waiswa Bagiire, director of CIPESA, an initiative to educate
Africans about telecoms policy, said: "How can we get independent
regulation to unbundle monopolies to increase competition?" <p> Professor Milton Mueller, of the Internet Governance
Project, said the key to closing the infrastructure gap was the
mobilisation of "local capital" so entrepreneurs on the ground could be
helped to fund the much-need technology if big business was turning
away. </p><p> Sam Paltridge of the OECD agreed: "Get a commercial
core network built-out with competitive principles and then the
government can, in an economical way, provide connectivity to schools
and health centres." </p><p> But should net access be left to private enterprise at
all? Should national governments or international bodies like the
United Nations step in? </p><p> Kishik Park, president of the IPv6 forum in South
Korea, said: "The net should be treated as food or housing. Because the
net today is not just a means to communicate ideas. It is a kind of
daily infrastructure for every citizen." </p><p>
He argued that competition alone is not the answer.
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"We must think about collaboration before competition."
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Wireless ways
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But what happens in areas where there are no local loops or no infrastructure at all for net access?
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Much of Africa is rural and the roll out of broadband or net access
faces the "last mile problem" - connecting those people to the last
point of infrastructure when they are beyond the reach of telephone
wires. </p><p>
Some feel the solution in Africa is mobile networks.
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Jonne Soininen, a systems engineering manager at Nokia Networks, said:
"There are now about 2.5 billion mobile phone users worldwide and soon
it will be three billion. </p><p>
"This means that half of people have access to phones. This can be used as basis for providing internet access.
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"This is not at broadband speed. But its better to get access at narrow
band if broadband is not available - just to get access." </p><p>
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Professor Mueller said adoption of wireless mobile networks could be a
solution for Africa and other areas and lead to fast adoption of the
net. <p>
"We could see dramatic progress because wi-fi allows much smaller investments to be made," he argued.
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"Unlicensed spectrum allows people to enter the market without having to get licenses and create local connectivity," he added.
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But there is anger among some that Africa is being treated unfairly.
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"In Africa everyone is seen as clients while in other countries there
is a peering approach," said Mouhamet Diop, of the Internet Society in
Senegal. </p><p> He feels that the providers of the main network access
to the net - the fat pipe - are dealing with Europe as a continent but
Africa as a collection of countries or individuals. </p><p> "We should be seen as a continent not millions of
different users," he said, arguing that Africa is paying more for less
when it comes to net access. </p><p> In Senegal 500,000 people have net access, around 5% of
the total population, and only 30,000 people have a broadband
connection. </p><p>
The bandwidth and speeds that most net users have in Africa is a fraction of the speeds in western countries.
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In some cases, a whole country has less bandwidth than a single user in a country such as the US or South Korea.
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Mr Park felt the answer lay in harmonising and standardising "the
various ways of using, providing and charging for internet usage to
make the net globally available". </p><p> How to achieve that was left unanswered? And until
there is an answer, the African continent and parts of Asia, South
America and the Middle East will remain outside the global net. </p></div>
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Story from BBC NEWS:<br>
<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/technology/6109008.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/technology/6109008.stm</a><br>
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Published: 2006/11/02 11:54:24 GMT<br>
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© BBC MMVII<br>
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