Volume-based Internet is detrimental to developing countries, think ...
A proposal on how to pay for telecommunications network traffic may end up making the Internet too expensive for ordinary users, an information and communication technology (ICT) think tank has warned.
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Dr. Rahan Samarajiva referred to the proposal by the European Telecommunications Network Operators Association and the Africa Region - to charge rates depending on how much bandwidth their content will consume.
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"Such a change would have enormous implications for the expansion of the digital economy in the developing world," said Samarajiva, chairman and CEO of ICT think tank LIRNEasia.?
"The proposals from ETNO and the Africa Region seek to reverse 20 years of liberalized, pro-market policies in international telecom regulation. These policies have delivered affordable connectivity to some of the world?s most remote peoples and places and are beginning to bring the benefits of the Internet to them as well," he added.
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Samarajiva's paper came before the ITU will convene the 2012 World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT-12) in Dubai, to revise international telecommunication regulations that govern how nations handle telecom traffic as it crosses their borders.
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He said that with the proposal, access to content would become more expensive if content providers must pass along costs.
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Worse, he said content providers may respond by terminating connections with operators, especially in countries whose people have limited buying power and access to payment mechanisms.
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"The Internet would be 'balkanized' by cutting off some countries from large swaths of content," he warned.
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"Although the stated purpose of these proposals is to provide broadband to millions in the developing world, ironically, the effect will be to push them off the broadband platforms they just clambered aboard. ?They will suffer, but so will the broadband providers in their countries," he added.
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In turn, he said the loss of this access to content and applications, given the role played by the Internet in supporting these countries? transitions from low-income to middle-income economies, could cost them billions of dollars in lost growth.
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ETNO wants the International Telecommunication Union to designate Internet content providers as ?call originators? and subject them to a ?sending party network pays? rule.
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Such a rule would allow telecommunications operators to charge them rates they believe are commensurate with the bandwidth their content consumes.
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He said sending party network pays will hurt populations in developing countries, particularly those in Africa and Asia the most.
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"Its unthinking adoption has the potential to cut off much?
of the developing world from the Internet applications they have come to depend on, resulting in a 'balkanization' of the Internet where the majority of multimedia applications?
are available only to wealthy countries," he said.
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Also, he said free content that goes behind a paywall will exclude millions of users in the developing world from access to information, even if they are willing to pay for it.
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On the other hand, he said the Africa region's proposal aims to impose "broad regulations" on the economics and content of the Internet.
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He argued the international Internet today does not require ?fixing,? especially by adding "lumbering bureaucracies" into the mix.
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Instead, he said government delegations to WCIT should "recognize the progress that multi-stakeholder processes, market mechanisms, voluntary agreements and open access to information is creating in the developing world."
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"Recent history and common sense show that this is the correct Internet governance model to endorse and promote," he said.
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To illustrate his point, Samarajiva cited the example of a schoolgirl in Ghana who, when challengd by a quadratic equation, looks up the solution using a browser on the family's smartphone.
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"As it is, this schoolgirl would be among the just one in 10 Ghanaians who have it. Even so, Internet use in Ghana?is growing fast. From 2010 to 2011, the ITU reports that Internet penetration in Ghana nearly doubled, increasing from 5.2 percent to 10 percent," he said.
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In turn, he said the growing use of the Internet has prompted more telecom investment in these developing countries.
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"More investment means more telecommunications network infrastructure and capacity. More infrastructure spurs greater use of the Internet, and so on," he said. ? TJD, GMA News
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