[afrinic-discuss] Re: <incom> Fwd: [Fibre-for-africa] OPEN ACCESS EASSy

Tue Oct 24 21:52:25 SAST 2006

Never say, NEVER.

On 23 Oct 2006, at 17:33, Peter Burgess wrote:

> Dear Colleagues
>
> This is a very important subject. I hope there can be progress.
>
> But I am not optimistic ... the critical points in the value chain are
> controlled by a lot of people and organizations whose goal is profit
> and cash flow maximization in the short run, with almost no interest
> in the "value" of what needs to be done for the community of customers
> and society as a whole. The "market" economy works best (from the
> perspective of the powerful) when it is controlled in a monopoly or
> oligopoly mode to the exclusion of competition.
>
> I watched the old AT&T control the political process and decision
> making in the USA ... it started in 1907 and lasted until the 1970s
> when new technology forced change that AT&T could no longer uniqely
> control ... and grudgingly AT&T agreed to be broken up because by then
> it was actually bankrupt (though the accounts did not reflect this).
>
> The old PTTs and regulatory frameworks and the political control of
> the telecom monopolies are a terrible constraint on progress and the
> application of best practice and best technology. They are all totally
> top down and wrong when the best paradigm for tomorrrow is community
> networks linking upwards as far as everyone wants. I am not convinced
> that the proposed paradigm avoids the critical control problems that
> have plagued Africa for the past few decades.
>
> Please include me in the information loop as your efforts progress.  
> Thank you.
>
> ____________
> Peter Burgess
> The Transparency and Accountability Network
> Tr-Ac-Net in New York
> 212 772 6918
> peterbnyc at gmail.com
> Tr-Ac-Net book "Revolutionary Change for Relief and Development"
> 350 pages http://www.lulu.com/content/477773
>
>
> On 10/21/06, Bill Kagai <billkagai at gmail.com> wrote:
>> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>> From: Eric Osiakwan <eric at afrispa.org>
>> Date: Oct 20, 2006 7:12 PM
>> Subject: [Fibre-for-africa] OPEN ACCESS EASSy
>> To: Discuss at afrispa.org, AfriNIC Discuss
>> <afrinic-discuss at afrinic.net>, africasource2- 
>> l at lists.tacticaltech.org,
>> tier at tier.cs.berkeley.edu, Kenya ICT Policy - kictanet
>> <kictanet at kictanet.or.ke>
>> Cc: Private list for use by EASSY Workshop Participants
>> <fibre-for-africa at lists.apc.org>
>>
>>
>> OPEN ACCESS EASSy
>>
>> By Eric M.K Osiakwan
>> Visiting Fellow and Scholar, DV Program, Stanford University
>> http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/eric/
>>
>> In late 2004, I was admitted to the Digital Vision Program @ Stanford
>> University and around the same time invited by the WorldBank through
>> its Information for Development Programme (infoDev @ www.infodev.org)
>> to join other colleagues to conduct a study "Leveraging New
>> Technologies and Open Access Models: Options for Improving Backbone
>> Access in Developing Countries (with a Focus on Sub-Saharan  
>> Africa)" .
>>  The study was done under the auspices of Spintrack AB @
>> http://www.infodev.org/en/Document.10.aspx.
>>
>> Recent experiences in a number of countries with "open access" models
>> for the financing and ownership of backbone telecommunications
>> infrastructure offer interesting insights into how new technologies,
>> including the migration to Internet Protocol (IP) based networks,  
>> make
>> possible new technical and business models for financing this
>> infrastructure buildout. Africa can learn from these experiences and
>> adapt.  In this paper, I look at Open Access in relation to the East
>> African Submarine System, known by the acronymn EASSy (see http://
>> www.eassy.org). In the wake of the fallout in moving this project
>> forward,  I build grounds for commonality, charting the path for
>> re-engagement by the various constituencies.
>>
>> Open Access in the context of communication (Open Communication)  
>> means
>> that anyone, on equal conditions with a transparent relation between
>> cost and pricing, can get access to and share communication resources
>> on one level to provide value added services on another level in a
>> layered communication system architecture.
>>
>> The concept of Open Access to communication resources is central in
>> the ongoing transformation of the communication market from a
>> "vertically integrated" market with a few operators owning and
>> operating everything between the physical medium and the end-user, to
>> an "open horizontal market" with an abundance of actors operating on
>> different levels and providing value added services on top of each
>> other. Put plainly, anyone can connect to anyone in a
>> technology-neutral framework that encourages innovative, low-cost
>> delivery to users. It encourages market entry from smaller, local
>> companies and seeks to ensure that no one entity can take a position
>> of dominant market power. It requires transparency to ensure
>> fair-trading within and between the layers based on clear,  
>> comparative
>> information on market prices and services. It seeks to build on the
>> characteristics of the IP network to allow devolved local solutions
>> rather than centralized ones.
>>
>> Open Access is also about broad approach to policy and regulatory
>> issues that starts from the question: what do we want to bring about
>> outside of purely industry sector concerns? It places an emphasis on:
>> empowering citizens; encouraging local innovation; spurring economic
>> growth and investment; and getting the best from public and private
>> sector contributions. It is not simply about making micro-adjustments
>> to the technical rules of the policy and regulatory framework but
>> seeking to produce fundamental changes in the outcomes that can be
>> delivered through it.
>>
>> The study published in August 2005, came at an opportune time, in  
>> that
>> it helped to inform and shape the international debate and planning
>> for the EASSy project now in the final planning stages. infoDev then
>> provided follow-up support for this dialogue and planning process  
>> both
>> by supporting the coordinating role of the NEPAD e-Africa Commission
>> relative to the EASSy project, and by supporting dialogue and joint
>> planning among civil society groups, and other key stakeholders,
>> seeking to promote open access approaches within Africa.
>>
>> This ensured acceptance of open access by the government, incumbent
>> PTTs, Operators, ISPs, educational institutions, private investors  
>> and
>> more generally by civil society. However at the signing of the EASSy
>> protocol, which is the political framework for the build-out, there
>> has been a division among the various constituencies on how Open
>> Access is enshrined in the protocol.
>>
>> EASSy in adhering to Open Access must align with the structure and
>> principles below;
>> Within the structural framework, the cable must differentiate
>> "Infrastructure" from "Services" where Infrastructure is seen more in
>> the "Ownership" realm whiles Service is seen in "Access to capacity".
>> A set of principle would hold for the ownership of the cable and  
>> those
>> principles would be different from those for access to capacity.
>>
>> The most distinguishing feature of the Open Access approach is that,
>> ownership of the infrastructure DOES NOT GUARANTEE any access
>> (discriminatory or not) to capacity on the value chain for the
>> provision of service to the market.
>>
>> Infrastructure ownership principles for the cable include;
>> The ownership of the EASSy cable must be in a public private
>> partnership involving Governments, PTTs, ISPs, Educational
>> Institutions, Civil Society and Consumers.
>> A fair distribution of these constituencies from the member countries
>> in an equal sub-regional distribution leading up to the Board of
>> Directors of the enterprise.
>> One set of rules must be established to identify the various
>> shareholders from the various countries in the different
>> constituencies
>> For the purposes of this exercise a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV)  
>> must
>> be a legal entity with an African wide structure, which must must be
>> majority African owned in order to trade in the various countries.
>> The SPV must have a public interest combined with a private sector
>> approach in it's business model in order to ensure a "regulated  
>> return
>> on investment" to ensure cheap and affordable bandwidth to the
>> end-user.
>>
>> Value Chain access to capacity for Service delivery principles for  
>> the
>> cable are;
>> The SPV must sell capacity to all entities who meet the legal and
>> regulatory requirements in each country directly and without
>> discrimination.
>> Service Providers shall be offered Transport Infrastructure Layer
>> access to different capacities depending on their requirements.
>> End Users shall be free to choose any local Service Provider  
>> connected
>> to the Regional Network.
>> The SPV shall not compete with Service Providers (its customers) by
>> offering services at the Services Layer directly to End Users.
>> All countries must create a regulatory structure that recognizes  
>> the SPV.
>> The SPV shall be formed, owned and operated in such a way as to
>> facilitate competition and to foster innovation at the Services  
>> Layer,
>> and where practical and commercially viable at all levels, with a  
>> view
>> to maximizing usage of the network and benefits to the End Users.
>>
>> This sets out a framework for Open Access as it applies to the  
>> EASSy cable.  .
>>
>> NB: These principles are drawn from the Open Access study  
>> conducted by
>> Anders Comstedt, Eric Osiakwan and Russell Southwood for InfoDEV @  
>> the
>> WorldBank – http://www.infodev.org/en/Project.80.html
>>
>> Eric M.K Osiakwan
>> Executive Secretary
>> AfrISPA (www.afrispa.org)
>> Tel: + 233.21.258800
>> Fax: + 233.21.258811
>> Cell: + 233.244.386792
>> Handle: eosiakwan
>> Snail Mail: Pmb 208, Accra-North
>> Office: BusyInternet - 42 Ring Road Central, Accra-North
>> Blog: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/eric/
>> Slang: "Tomorrow Now"
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> Fibre-for-africa at lists.apc.org
>> http://lists.apc.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/fibre-for-africa
>>
>> --
>> --
>> With Kind Regards,
>> Bildad Kagai
>> MD - Circuits & Packets Communications Ltd
>> Content & Training Partner - JKUAT E-Government Academy
>> Suite B2, Tetu Apartments, State House Avenue
>> P. O. Box 20311 - 00200
>> Nairobi, Kenya
>> Tel. 254 20 2728332
>> Fax. 254 20 2726965
>> Cell. 254 724 226600
>> URL. www.circuitspackets.co.ke
>> URL. www.JKUATEgovAcademy.ac.ke
>> _______________________________________________
>> incom-l mailing list
>> incom-l at incommunicado.info
>> http://mail.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/incom-l
>>
>

Eric M.K Osiakwan
Executive Secretary
AfrISPA (www.afrispa.org)
Tel: + 233.21.258800
Fax: + 233.21.258811
Cell: + 233.244.386792
Handle: eosiakwan
Snail Mail: Pmb 208, Accra-North
Office: BusyInternet - 42 Ring Road Central, Accra-North
Blog: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/eric/
Slang: "Tomorrow Now"

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