Laying Transoceanic Cables on Africa's Shores
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) Laying transoceanic cables on Africa’s shores: a Neo-gramscian study Derbe, S.T. Publication date 2010 Document Version Final published version Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Derbe, S. T. (2010). Laying transoceanic cables on Africa’s shores: a Neo-gramscian study. General rights It is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: https://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. UvA-DARE is a service provided by the library of the University of Amsterdam (https://dare.uva.nl) Download date:25 Sep 2021 Laying Transoceanic Cables on Africa’s Shores A Neo-Gramscian Study Samuel Teshale Derbe Laying Transoceanic Cables on Africa’s Shores A Neo-Gramscian Study ACADEMISCH PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam op gezag van de Rector Magnificus Prof. Dr. D.C. van den Boom ten overstaan van een door het college voor promoties ingestelde commissie, in het openbaar te verdedigen in de Agnietenkapel op donderdag 4 november 2010, te 10:00 uur door Samuel Teshale Derbe geboren te Ambo, Ethiopië Promotiecommissie Promotor: Prof.Dr. C.J. Hamelink Co-promotor: Prof. Dr. G. C. A. Junne Overige leden: Prof. Dr. L. F. M. Besselink Prof. Dr. A.J. Dietz Dr. J. Hoffmann Dr. H.S. Gebre Selassie Dr. A. A. M. Schrauwen Faculteit der Rechtsgeleerdheid Acknowledgment I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my promoters, Professor Cees Hamelink and Professor Gerd Junne. I am very lucky for having such knowledgeable and compassionate mentors. I am heavily indebted to Leonard and Alison for their generosity and constant friendship. I thank Haile Selassie for making this PhD project a reality. Meles Habte, Genet Baraki, Kim Bierhoff, and my colleagues at the Amsterdam School of Communication also deserve a special mention for their kind assistance. Finally, I am grateful to my wife, Abeba, and my children, Yonathan and Ruhama. Their love and sacrifice sustained me during my sojourn in the Netherlands. Laying Transoceanic Cables on Africa’s shores Table of Contents Abbreviations and acronyms.................................. v INTRODUCTION .................................................................................. 1 Literature Review............................................. 3 Research on ICAIS........................................... 3 Politics of global communication........................... 10 Africa and the politics of global communication............ 12 Research Questions........................................... 15 Research Methods............................................. 15 Organisation of the Chapters................................. 16 CHAPTER ONE: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ............................. 19 Neo-Gramscian Theory of Political Economy.................... 19 Methodology: Historic blocs, hegemony and civil society.... 22 Strands of Gramscian thought............................... 24 Technology and Social Change................................. 26 Mapping a Neo-Gramscian Route for the Study of the Global Information Society................................................ 29 A shift to postmodern cultural studies..................... 29 Hegemony, ideology and commercialisation of the Internet... 32 CHAPTER TWO: THE BUSINESS OF INTERNATIONAL BACKBONE PROVISION ............................................................................. 34 Technical Description........................................ 34 Providers of Connectivity.................................... 37 Historical Development of Internet Backbones................. 43 Charging Arrangements........................................ 46 Peering arrangements....................................... 46 Transit arrangements....................................... 48 Nature of the Contractual Agreements......................... 49 ii Laying Transoceanic Cables on Africa’s shores Business Strategies of IBPs and Downstream ISPs.............. 52 ICAIS, Regulation, and the Economics of the Internet......... 55 CHAPTER THREE: IDEATIONAL CONSTITUENTS OF THE GLOBAL INFORMATION ORDER ............................................................... 58 Information Society.......................................... 58 A global information society?.............................. 62 Information society and the digital divide................. 65 Communication Society........................................ 69 New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO)/New International Information Order (NIIO)........................... 69 The Post-NWICO vision for world communication.............. 74 Developing countries in the Post-NWICO phase............... 76 CHAPTER FOUR: INSTITUTIONALISATION OF THE GLOBAL INFORMATION ORDER ............................................................................... 79 The ITU and the Global Information Order..................... 79 Origins of the ITU development mandate..................... 80 ITU in a changing business environment..................... 86 The accounting rate system and ICAIS....................... 90 The World Summit on Information Society: Debating the Global Information Order.................................................. 93 The profile of UN summits.................................. 93 The agenda of WSIS......................................... 94 Civil society and the WSIS................................ 100 CHAPTER FIVE: LINKING AFRICA TO THE GLOBAL INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY ............................................................. 107 Ownership of Telecommunications Assets in Africa............ 107 The Politics of Telecommunications Reform in Africa......... 115 Stakeholders of the global information superhighway....... 120 SAT 3/WASC/SAFE........................................... 121 EASSy, open access, and compromises....................... 127 iii Laying Transoceanic Cables on Africa’s shores CHAPTER SIX: INFORMATION SOCIETY WITHIN A RESTRUCTURED AFRICA ........................................................................ 135 Africa’s Information Society Initiative..................... 135 NEPAD, African Development and E-strategies................. 139 Genesis of NEPAD.......................................... 139 Foreign and local engagement with NEPAD................... 144 Framing NEPAD............................................. 148 CONCLUSION .................................................................................. 159 References................................................ 174 Summary................................................... 207 Samenvatting.............................................. 215 iv Laying Transoceanic Cables on Africa’s shores Abbreviations and acronyms Afrispa-African Internet Service Providers Association APC-Association for Progressive Communications APRM-African Peer Review Mechanism CODESRIA-Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa DFID-Department for International Development Dot Force- Digital Opportunity Task Force EASSy-Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System GEAR - Growth, Employment and Redistribution GISPA-Ghana Internet Service Providers Association ICANN-Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ICT-Information and Communications Technology IDRC-International Development Research Centre IICD-International Institution for Communication and Research IMF-International Monetary Fund IPDC-International Programme for the Development of Communication ITU-D- International Telecommunications Union- Telecommunications Development Sector ITU-International Telecommunications Union ITU-T-International Telecommunications Union- Telecommunications Standardization Bureau LAN-Local Area Network MAE-Metropolitan Area Exchange NAP-Network Access Point NEPAD-New Partnership for Africa‘s Development NIIO-New International Information Order NSFNET-National Science Foundation Network NWICO-New World Information and Communication Order Panaftel -Pan African Telecommunications Network v Laying Transoceanic Cables on Africa’s shores POP-Point of Presence PTO-Public Telecommunications Operator PTT-Postal Telegraph and Telephone SADC-Southern African Development Community SAT 3/WASC/SAFE - Third South Atlantic /West Africa Submarine Cable/South Africa-Far East SEA-ME-WE4 -South East Asia-Middle East- Western Europe 4 TWN-Third World Network TNC/ MNC-Transnational Corporation/ Multinational Corporation UNECA-United Nations Economic Commission for Africa UNESCO-United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization USAID-Unites States Agency for International Development USNSF-United States National Science Foundation WIPO-World Intellectual Property Organization WSIS-World Summit on Information Society vi Laying Transoceanic Cables on Africa’s shores Introduction This dissertation explores the material interests, ideas, and institutions shaping