ThirdWorld Quarterly, Vol22, No 1, pp 83 – 97, 2001

Theglobal in formationin frastructure: empowermentor imperialism?

LINDA MAIN

ABSTRACT Thehope has arisen that the internet will ultimately evolve intoa GlobalInformation Infrastructure ( GII). The GII will create aglobalinformation marketplaceand in the process narrowthe poverty gapand eliminate many of the geographicobstacles to prosperity andequality. However commerce— primarily UScommerce—is driving the developmentof the internet. Asaresult investors will wanta return ontheir moneyin the form ofaccess to newmarkets. Manycountries will haveto acceptprivatisation andcompetition wholeheart- edly.Also, sooner or later local resources will haveto replace external funding andexternal technical expertise. Manycountries lack the regional,social and economicintegration foundin the USAandin addition have deep political, linguistic andcultural divisions that donot exist in the USA.This article examinesissues ofconnectivity, languageand content and concludes that in reality the internet concentrates economicactivity andpower more narrowly in onegroup. As aresult there is areal risk that we are movingtowards a two-tier technologysociety that perpetuates the olddistinctions betweenNorth and South.

NUA Internet Surveyshave estimated that, as the newmillennium begins,same 304million peoplearound the worldare connectedto the internet ( NUA, 2000). TheComputer Industry Almanac puts the numberhigher, at around490 million people(Computer Industry Almanac, 1999). Datamonitor puts the numbereven higherand projects that bythe year2 003the numberof internet users aroundthe worldwill bein the regionof 5 45million (Datamonitor,1999). eMarketer projects 228million by2 002(eMarketer,2 000).Although the accuracy—or the basis ofcalculation— of some ofthese projections mightbe questioned, 1 there is noquestionthat the developmentof the internet is ahistorical prime mover.Like the alphabetand the printingpress the internet is atechnologythat has inuenced other technologies. It has also hada direct impact onthe worldof ideas bycreating aspace in whichnew f orms ofexpression can  ourish.An amusingexample occurred in Brazil inearly 1994whena popularsoap opera aired anepisode on television inwhich a gypsywoman protested at herpeople’ s repressive treatment ofwomen. She used the internet toreach for help and found acharminghandsome millionaire businessman.Brazilian internet mania was born! Theinternet appearsto havethe potential off ulŽlling the philosopherIsaiah

LindaMain is aProfessorat SanJose StateUniversity, SanJose, CA95192,USA.

ISSN0143-6597 print; 1360-2241 online/ 01/010083-15 Ó 2001 ThirdWorld Quarterly DOI: 10.1080/01436590020022592 83 LINDA MAIN

Berlin’s belief that society shouldstrive notto agreewith eachother but to understandeach other. Since onlineusers perceivethat theydo not have to identify themselves ethnically, religiously orpolitically, theyfeel free to inuence, discuss andresolve issues andpolicies that affect their varied communities. Theinterconnectivity offeredby the internet has enabledminority groupsto share their struggles with the rest ofthe worldmost notablyin Mexico, in the USSRandin the Balkans.In 1995 Mexican President ErnestoZedillo announcedthe start ofa military offensiveaimed at capturingthe Zapatista leader SubcomandanteMarcos (Rafael Sebastian Guillen) andbringing the rebellion in Chiapas to adecisive close. Within hoursthe President’s wordswere onthe internet via the rebels’fax machines andlaptop computers. Many thousandsof faxes weresent directly to the president’s ofŽce. The government orderedits troopsto halt. Inadditionthe Catholic Churchhuman rights ofŽce in SanCristo ´bal gatheredinformation about human rights abuses andsent the informationto aninternet server in MexicoCity fordistribution across the networks.As Guillen pointedout, what governments should really fear are not rebels inthe junglebut a communicationsexpert. In1991 while Boris Yeltsin andhis supporterswere in the Russian White Housenews bulletins, includingYeltsin’ s edicts, weresent outon the internet. Thesebulletins werepicked up bythe Voiceof America ( VOA)andsent backto the USSRbyradio. Duringthe 1995con ict inthe Balkans the ZaMir networkconnected Zagreb, Sarajevoand Belgrade. The server was basedin the Germancity ofBieleŽ eld. Itconnectedto central terminals in the three Balkancities andpicked up email messages. Peopleseparated bythe conict wereable tokeep in touch;and informationabout war crimes distributed. Duringthe 1999con ict in Kosovo andSerbia Bosnet playeda similar role ( http://www.bosnet.org/ ).Both sides in the 1999con ict foughtthe waron the internet as well as onthe ground,making attempts tocontrol inf ormationcoming out of Yugoslavia pointless. Ofcourse eachside presentedits ownviewpoint. OfŽ cial Serbpositions couldbe foundat the Pristina Media Centre.The Kosovo Press representedthe viewpointof the KosovoLiberation Army ( KLA).Father SavaJanic, aSerbianorthodox monk, still runsan extensive website that supportsKosovo Serbs andargues that one formof oppression in Kosovohas beenreplaced by another f ormof oppression (http://www.decani.yunet.com). Theabove are onlysome examples ofthe powerof the internet. It is interesting that most countries that haveallowed internet access havetolerated freer expressiononline than is permitted in the local newsmedia. Stories that newspapershave declined to publishbecause of political pressure havecircu- lated widelyon the internet. It has becomea headquartersfor every type of political action fromplans forcorporate boycotts to tactical deliberations; andit is usedin disputes all overthe worldfrom Peru to Ecuador to the Tibetan InformationNetwork out of London distributing informationto Tibetan exiles. It is usedto support separatists inChechnya, Nigeria andEast Timor.Citizens ofArab countries havedebated and conversed with Israelis in ‘chat rooms’and onlineforums at times whenit is difŽcult orimpossible to havef ace-to-face contact. 84 THE GLOBAL INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE

It has also helpedrelief efforts inplaces suchas Kobe,Japan; andin Denmark all publicauthorities havean email boxto whichall citizens andcompanies can sendletters. Ofcourse, while wecanargue that the internet opensup the world as neverbef ore,it canalso beused to promotepropaganda and hatred and to legitimise oppressiveregimes that use it tomarket themselves tothe world. Inone way all this is nothingnew. Inf ormationtechnology has always been apotentially revolutionaryand f earedweapon. Almost as soonas the printing press was inventedgovernment and churches tried to regulate it. Controllingthe owof inf ormationhas always beenof primary concern in armedand political conicts. Duringthe coldwar years radioprogrammes from West Germanywere beamedinto East Germany;and the West regularlybroadcast f romHong Kong into China. However,the informationtechnology tools ofradio and television are cen- tralised anddependent on the assignment offrequencies. Thus they are subject to governmentcontrol in that governmentscan jam unauthorisedsignals. The internet onthe otherhand is decentralised. Anyonecan build an inf ormation networkof his/ herown to circumvent local andgovernment-in uenced media outlets. As aresult, there has beena signiŽcant shiftin boththe wayin which informationcan be distributed andthe speedwith whichit canbe distributed. Goodshave always moved.People have always moved.Ideas havealways moved.Cultures havealways changed.However, it tooktelevision 13years and the telephone75 years toacquire 50 million users. It tookthe internet Žveyears. Thusthe internet is notonly a technologythat affects othertechnologies but it is also akindof knowledge market imperviousto the efforts ofstates to control it (Wiilkinson,1995). Thehope has arisen that this internet—this networkof networks— will ultimately evolveinto aGlobalInformation Infrastructure ( GII).Thevision is that the GII will enablea massive acceleration ofeconomic and social development that will narrowthe povertygap and eliminate manyof the geographicobstacles to prosperityand equality. 2 Potentially the notionof ‘ country’, currentlydeŽ ned asanarea distinguished byits people,its geographyor its culture,may even be rethought. Butwill the GlobalInformation Infrastructure everbe truly global?A case couldbe made that currentlythe worldinternet mapstill resembles amediaeval mariner’s chart.Africa has manyblanks; the Far East still has conspicuousholes, asdoesEastern Europeand South America. eMarketer doesproject that during the Žrst decadeof the newmillennium achangewill occurand that the number ofnon-US users will greatly increase, withmore users becomingconnected in Europe,the Asia – PaciŽc Rim andSouth America (eMarketer,2 000).However, it is commerce—US commerce—that is drivingthe developmentof the internet. USbusiness wants to increase consumerspending in all Želds ofretail. As a result there is acommitment bythe USfederal governmentto the development ofa high-speednetwork that is designedto carryvoice, data andvideo. Multimedia services are bandwidthhungry so moneyis comingin froma variety ofsources, such as the telephonecompanies and cable TVproviders,computer manufacturers,and software developers.In addition, traditional commercecan nolongerexpand f oreignmarkets fast enoughto absorb American products. The 85 LINDA MAIN

USA,therefore,is workingto accelerate the process ofconnecting all countries tothe internet soas toallow large multinational corporations—based in the USA—to enter markets aroundthe world.The argument is that, if internet connectivityand access is in place,other beneŽ ts canfollow. Connectivity that canpromote and handle e-commerce can also providetelemedicine, distance education,and agricultural helpwith pest control,farm practices anddrought management.Electronic access canminimise rural –urbandistinctions. Infor- mation cancure illness andbring food. The USAID LelandProject is aninteresting exampleof aid to Africa with a viewto opening up markets forthe developedworld through the internet. The LelandInitiative is aŽve-year$15 million USgovernment-fundedproject to connectAfrican countries to the internet ( USAID LelandInitiative, 1999).In order to qualifyfor Leland aid acountrymust allow service deliveryby private providersand permit anunrestricted owof information. Internet service providers (ISPs) workingas part ofthe Lelandproject payabout $ 2000per month toconnect to the internet, comparedwith $12000per month in countries with state-controlled service. JohnL Mack,director ofAfrican and Middle East trade anddevelopment policyat the USState Department,summarised the goalof the project as ‘trade notaid’ . Healso addedthat interconnectivity was apowerfulforce for democ- racy,although in fact there is noempirical evidencelinking already developed electronic media suchas radioand television to the spreadof democracy. Admittedly this maybe becauseof state controlof radio and television in many countries.3 Otherprojects that aim to helpdeveloping countries participate in electronic commerceand attract foreigninvestment are the International TelecommunicationUnion ( ITU)Electronic Commercef orDeveloping Countries (EC-DC)project (http://www.itu.ch/ECDC/)andinfoDev (h ttp:// www.worldbank.org/infodev)set upby the WorldBank. Both the ITU and the WorldBank are encouragingthe participation ofprivate sector organisations throughpartnership agreements. Sooneror later, however,local resources will haveto replace external funding andexternal technical expertise. Inaddition investors will wanta returnon their moneyin the formof access to newmarkets. Forthis to happencountries will haveto accept privatisation andcompetition wholeheartedly.However, internet provisionis notas simple in the rest ofthe worldas it is in the USA.Consider the following.

—Roughlytwo-thirds ofthe internet populationresides in the USAandCanada (WorldBank, 2 000). —Southeast Asia is hometo 23%ofthe world’s populationbut to only1% of internet users (Netwizards,2 000). —Twohundred and eighty million peoplelive in the Middle East andonly 1.1 million are online,with half ofthose living in Israel. Thusonly 0 .7%of the total populationis online(DITnet, 2 000). —Morethan 97% of all Internet hosts are in developedcountries that are home toonly 16% of the world’s population(Petrazzini &Kilati, 1999). —Onehal fofhumanity has nevermade a phonecall (WorldBank, 2 000). 86 THE GLOBAL INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE

—Seventypercent of telephones and 80 %ofrevenues belong to 16%of the world’s population(World Bank, 2 000). —Thirteenpercent of the world’s populationresides inAfrica (UnitedNations PopulationDivision, 1998) but in some Africancountries teledensity is as low as onetelephone per 1000 people (World Bank, 1999). 4 —ManyUS companieshave faster connectionsthan entire countries. —Thereare moretelephone lines inManhattan than in sub-SaharanAfrica. —The NASA mission to Mars has moreinternet connectivitythan most Caribbean islands. Problems varyfrom country to countrybut the most pervasiveissues that must beaddressed everywhere are connectivity,language and content.

Connectivity It is true that there is absolutely nopoint in discussing the prosand cons of internet access if there is noway to becomefully connected.The internet is dependenton the telephonenetwork (made up ofthe cost ofthe line andthe cost oflocal andlong-distance charges), the availability andaffordability ofaccess equipment(in Bangladeshthe cost ofa modemis equalto the cost ofa cow) and,at aneven more fundamental level, the pervasiveness oftelematics (the mixingof hardware and software with humanskills, organisational skills and knowledgetransfer). Inaddition it is notenough just to havea telephone network.The telephone network must also beable to handlean internet backbone.This is anetworkcable with verylarge throughputcapacity, dedicated to internet trafŽc, and usually leased fromthe publicnetwork. Thereare twomain problems.Some countries haveconnectivity within the countryand just needto connectto the international internet backbones;others also needto improve access toconnectivity within the country.This means greatly improvingnetwork inf rastructures—atask that canoften be difŽcult. For example,the averagedelay in obtaining a phonein Ethiopia,Azerbaijan, Haiti andthe Sudanis 10years; inAlgeria 7.9years; in Bulgaria,Honduras and Nepal 7.6years; in Bangladesh6.6 years; andin Kenya 5.6 years (WorldBank, 2 000). Thecost ofconnecting to the international internet backbonescan also behigh. This is becausethe developingcountry ISPshaveto paythe full cost of connectionto backbonesin othercountries (typically the USA),including costs forpeering and transit trafŽc. Ironically it usually costs less to connectto the USAthanto connectwith othercountries within aregion.Of course, once a connectionis established it canbe used by all users fromanywhere in the world. Thus US ISPsandusers obtainfree connectivityto overseas sites. Inthe absenceof suitable networkcabling some countries haveused low-cost store andforward electronic communications.The Tool Foundation in Amster- damused such a system in several Africancountries. It installed single PCs with modemsat several central regionalpoints andmade these PCsgatewaysor Tool access points ( TAPs)fora wholeregion. The central TAP inAmsterdam called the regional TAPsandpicked up the email theycontained, and sent it to other TAPS oronto the networks.The Tool Foundation is, however,no longer active. 87 LINDA MAIN

FidoNetis anotherpoint-to-point and store-and-f orwardemail widearea network whichuses modemson a direct-dial telephonenetwork and which is still in use in manyAfrican and Central Americancountries (http://www.Ždonet.org) .While some access is better thanno access, point-to-pointand store-and-forward systems donot permit full use ofthe internet. Fora truly globalinf ormation infrastructure the networksmust beweb-enabled. Forcountries withouthigh-speed networks, undersea cables andsatellites can helpwith the connectivityproblem. For coastal states that alreadyhave an internal networkin place, connecting to a cable landingpoint is likely toinvolve onlysmall additional costs. Forland-locked countries, or forcountries with too small ademandto justify acable landingpoint, the costs ofconnecting to a cable mayoffset entirely the initial cost advantage.For example, no one single African countrygenerates enoughtrafŽ c tojusti fythe constructionof a cable linkingit toany other country or groupof countries. For these countries,satellite systems maybe the preferredtransmission option.Satellites havean advantage inthat theycan potentially offera means ofconnecting to the networkvia mobile handsets.This canbe an important considerationfor areas with a dispersed population.Satellites canalso price capacity asymmetrically. It maybe that the ideal connectivityis ahybridof landlines, underseacable andsatellite (Flanagan,1999; Global Satellite Services, 1999;Gohring, 1999; Mason, 1999; Spaceand undersa projects struggle,1999). For example, Teleglobe Globeinter- net (http://www.gi.teleglobe.net)has teamed upwith variouspartners suchas Telstra tooffer a highspeed internet connectionbetween Australia andthe USA via ahybridsystem ofcable andsatellite.

Underseacable systems Cable systems are morecheaply laid onlandthan under the sea, mainly because the repeaters are accessible andcan be poweredindependently of the cable itself. Forcables that are laid onland,the numberof Ž brepairs percable is notlimited bythe extremely highstandard of reliability requiredin the designof undersea repeaters. Asaresult, underseacables havetraditionally beenused only between continental landmasses, whereterrestrial links are notfeasible. 5 The costs of underseacable schemes varyaccording to manyparameters: routelength, capacity,number of locations servedand network design. Traditionally, terres- trial andsubmarine cable systems havebeen installed andoperated by groupsof operatorson a co-operativebasis, with the scale ofinvestment byeach operator tied toanticipated usage.Recently the commercial basis onwhichcable systems are plannedand installed has changed.Several recently developedsystems, such as FLAG (see below),have been initiated as private commercial venturesby groupsof investors rather thanby operators themselves. Others,such as Project Oxygen(see below),are beingplanned and marketed by organisations that expectto raise the fundsrequired for the scheme frominvestors, the operators the scheme is intendedto serve, and other users. Theseproject promotersexpect thento receive their returns inthe formof a share ofthe investment fundsraised andmanagement fees forsupervising operation and maintenance of the system onbehalf of the investors. 88 THE GLOBAL INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE

Countries canaccess submarinecable schemes directly orindirectly via anothercountry. Direct access is achievedat the landingpoint for the cable.For direct access tobe feasible, sufŽcient capacity must beorderedto justifythe cost ofa cable landingpoint. Similarly, fora land-lockedcountry, connecting to a submarinecable system requires anevaluation of the costs andcapabilities of alternative transmission options.Cross-border links canbe via terrestrial cable or microwaveor satellite. Somecountries will decidethat direct satellite links with destination countries are moreappropriate than indirect connectionthrough a cable scheme. Themain underseacable systems are: 1)Fiberoptic LineAround the Globe (FLAG)usedby Sprint, AT&T, ChinaTelecom, MCIWorldCom, and Deutsche Telekom. FLAG is eight times longerthan the Great Wall ofChina. It has the potential toreach 75% of the world’s populationthrough 14 landingpoints in11 countries; 2)Global Crossing— Atlantic links the USA,the UK,the Netherlands andGermany; PaciŽ c links the USAandJapan; Mid-Atlantic links NewYork, Florida,Bermuda and the Caribbean;and Pan Europe will have18 centres includingLondon, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, and landing points inthe USA,Asia andLatin America; Project oxygen—plans tolink 171 countries with 265 landingpoints. Phase 1has 99landingpoints in78 locations. This will beavery fast cable with speeds upto 1.2terabits persecond.

Underseacable systems indevelopment US/ChinaŽ ber cable. Plannedto runbetween two points in China(Shanghai andShantou) and two points in the USA(Bandon,OR andSan Luis Obispo, CA).It will also landin South Korea, Guam and Japan.

APAN. The Asia– PaciŽc AdvancedNetwork will linkthe membercountries of Asia PaciŽc EconomicCooperation ( APEC).The member countries are Australia, BruneiDarussalam, Canada,Chile, People’s Republicof China, Hong Kong, Indonesia,Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico,New Zealand, Papua NewGuinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore,Taiwan, Thailand, USA andVietnam.

APCN2. TheAustralia PaciŽc CommunityNetwork 2 will connectpeople in the PaciŽc Islands region,including Aotearoa, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea,Melanesia, Polynesia andMicronesia.

Southerncross cable. This will connectAustralia, NewZealand, Hawaii, and the USwest coast.

Satellites

Currentlyless than1% of network access usedby ISPscomes fromsatellites. 89 LINDA MAIN

This is expectedto changewithin the Žrst Žveyears ofthe twenty-Žrst century as newtypes ofsatellites are deployed. Satellite systems consist ofa space segment,comprising the satellites, andan earth segment,which includes all ground-basedequipment. The satellite itself is aradiotransmitter andreceiver poweredby solar energyand held in positionby special motors.The earth segment consists of: —operationcentres that monitorthe movementof the satellite andcorrect its orbit whennecessary; —gatewaysthat are the points ofconnection between the satellite andthe public national network; —earth stations whichcommunicate with the satellites. Thesecan be verysmall apertureterminals ( VSATs) oreven mobile handsets with the ability toconnect tothe cellular wireless network. Beforelooking at the types ofsatellites moreclosely some generalissues should bebornein mind. First, electronic data cantake as longas halfasecondto travel upand down to Earthfrom certain kindsof satellites. This is called inherent latency.When TCP (the transmission protocolused by the internet) encounters this delayit believes that there is aback-upin the system. Theprotocol then disrupts the electronic acknowledgmentsthat the receivingcomputer must relay to the computersending the data inorder to conŽrm that the messages are being receivedcorrectly. As aresult connectivityis lost. This canbe corrected by a techniquecalled spooŽng, where a false acknowledgmentis sent to the user equipmentso that it will keepon transmitting. Often,however, this involves modifying TCP/IP settings. Second,because of the time it takes forthe signal to travel upto the satellite andback data travelling bysatellite canbe slower thandata travelling byŽ bre. Sof orexample 1 28kbit/ sbysatellite is slower than1 28kbit/ sbyŽ bre. Third,the highspeeds advertised bysatellite operatorsoften refer to down- stream capacity only.Upstream capacity is usually muchless. Finally, band- widthmay be shared among many users. Typicallythe bandwidthnumbers providedby the satellite companyrefer tothe maximumnumber of users that the dish canhandle. The actual speeddepends on how many users are onlineat the same time. Satellites canbe divided into three main technical types.Geostationary or geosynchronousEarth orbit satellites ( GEOs)moveeastward alongthe equatorat aconstant altitude ofabout 3 6000kilometers andare always visible froma Žxedpoint on earth. The great distance betweenthe geosynchronousorbit and the Earth’s surface means that the satellite cancover a large area (called a footprint).At aminimum,only three GEO satellites are neededto provideglobal coverage.Spaceway (backed by the HughesNetwork Systems), Astrolin (backed byLockheed Martin) andCyber Star (backedby Alcatel andLoral Space and Communications),are planningto launch GEOsoverthe nextf ewyears to provideextensive internet access. At the altitude requiredto achievethe geostationaryeffect, the time fora signal tobe transmitted toand received from the satellite is abouta quarterof asecond.This delayis noticeable buttolerable in conversation.However, it does 90 THE GLOBAL INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE cause inherentlatency problemsfor internet transmission that has to beover- comeby spooŽ ng. MediumEarth Orbit ( MEO)satellites revolvearound the Earthat around10 000kms fromthe surface.The shorter distance to earth means less reductionin amplitude ofthe signal comingfrom the satellite. Inconsequence, the satellite canbe smaller as less poweris requiredto reachEarth. Alternatively, if power levels are maximised, lighter transmitter/receivers canbe used. Communication signals maybe transmitted andreceived from MEO satellites bymobile tele- phones.About 10 – 12satellites are neededto provide global coverage with a MEO system. Thealtitude ofa LowEarth Orbit ( LEO)satellite is roughly1000 km abovethe surface ofthe Earth.There is nosigniŽ cant transmission delayand the strength ofa signal is high.Terminals totransmit andreceive communicationsignals can becorrespondinglylighter, althoughmore satellites are neededto provide global coveragethan in MEO orGEO.This increases the complexityof the system, for calls must betransferred fromone satellite toanother as satellites disappearover the horizon.The largest LEOs, however,are able to offer real-time video transmission. LEOscanalso beused for global mobile personal communication services (GMPCS). In a GMPCS network,the satellite mayperform two different functions.It maybe used f ortransmission withinthe network,including direct transmission betweensatellites; andit relays signals betweenusers’ handsets and anaccess pointin the network(the gateway). GMPCS systems havebeen designed tooperate with fewerservice providersthan other satellite systems—ideally only onein eachregion rather thanin each country. The absence of a GMPCS gateway in most countries maycause problemsf orthe national regulatoryauthorities. It is difŽcult to license amobile satellite service providerwho has noinfrastructure andno domestic pointof interconnection with the existing publicnetwork. For suchcountries, regulation will focuson the use ofradio frequencies for communicationbetween satellites andhandsets. However, one of the largest GMPCS networkproviders, Iridium WorldCommunications, Ž led Chapter11 bankruptcyin August 1999. The reasons wereslower thanexpected subscriber growthand technical problems(Satellite TelcoCrashing, 1999). Theability to link mobile orwireless phonesto satellite networkscan help poorercountries overcomethe lack oftraditional copperphone lines. Aradio transceiver connectinggroups of phones linked by wires (called wireless loops) ina buildingor a village canbe connected to the main telecommunications network.A cellular telecommunications studyconducted by the Cellular TelecommunicationsIndustry Association reportedthat wireless connectionsin 1998made up 255 of all phonelines inAsia andLatin America.The Cellular TelecommunicationsIndustry Association also reports that the use ofwireless phonesgrew in Africa fromone million in 1996to 3 .7million in 1998;in Asia (notincluding Japan and the Middle East) from17.3 million in1996 to 60 million in 1998;and in Latin America fromseven million in1996 to 20.9 million in 1998.Figures also showan increase in Eastern Europe(notably in Bulgaria,Hungary, Slovakia and the CzechRepublic), China, Guatemala andthe Philippines. ThePaciŽ c islands ofTonga and Niue are makingtheir whole telecommunication system wireless (Frauenheim,1999). El Limonin the 91 LINDA MAIN

DominicanRepublic has goneonline using spectrum digital radioto connectto a phoneline andmodem many miles away,which in its turnconnects to a modem bankin SantoDomingo. The project (called the Little Intelligent Communities) is apartnershipamong Motorola, the MIT Media Lab,and the Instituto Tecno- lo´gicode Costa Rica. Theplan is to replicate the project in 25poor villages in Central America (http:// www.media.mit.edu/unwired ;http://www.lincos.net). Wireless connectionsdo, however, suff er fromthe same problemsas regular phonesystems, namelyconcentration on major metropolitan areas, powersupply whichcan be limited orprone to outages,and lack ofparts andskilled technicians. Inaddition, although costs are falling, connectionfees alone typically cost fromUS$100 to $150per month, which is alot whenone considers that, forexample in acountrysuch as Guatemala,the annualincome fora large part ofthe populationis US$1580.

Mainsatellite organisations Satellites are managedby bothpublic and private companies(Satellite Services, 1999).The use ofpublic satellites forinternational communicationsis handled byorganisations established undertreaty. TheŽ rst satellite organisationwas Intelsat, established in 1968,and it is still oneof the largest. It providesglobal service onaco-operativecommercial basis amongnational operators.The treaty organisations suchas INTELSAThave a commonmethod of organising their satellite systems. While the treaty organisationowns the satellites andoperations centres that controlthem, the earth stations usedfor providing public services are ownedand operated by the national operatorin eachmember country. To participate, anoperator must bedesignatedby its governmentand sign anearth station operatingagreement. Each such signatory then leases satellite capacity fromIntelsat, andtakes aninvestment share in Intelsat that correspondsto its utilisation ofthe system. Capacity is pricedat alevel that ensures anagreed rate ofreturn on investment. This system is designedto ensure that the beneŽts of economiesof scale in the procurementand operation of satellites are passed on tothe operatorswho have invested inthem andwho use them. PanAmSAt(h ttp://www.panamsat.com/)andVITAsat ( http://www.vita.org /) are examples ofprivate satellites. VITAsatis a LEO satellite which,during the time that it passes overa particular spot onEarth, gives users the chanceto connectto the internet. It is usedby manyhumanitarian and aid organisations to gainconnectivity to the networks.In development are several broadbandsatellite systems, notablySkybridge (h ttp://www.skybridgesatellite.com)and Teledesic (http://www.teledesic.com).Skybridge(backed by Alcatel andMitsubishi) aims to permit the entire worldto communicateby satellite by2 003using many LEOs onthe Kubandwidthf requency.This is afrequencybetween 11 and14 GHzthat requires smaller groundantennas, usually nomore than four feet in diameter. Teledesic (backedby Bill Gates, Craig McCawand Boeing) plans tocover 95% ofthe Earth’s landmass, offering6 4Mbpson the downlinkand up to 2Mbpson the uplink.Initially the project hopedto launch 42 0satellites; the numberhas since variedfrom 1 20to 288.It will use the Kabandwidth frequency, which operates from18 to 31GHz. 92 THE GLOBAL INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE

Morethan connectivity Developingor modernising a telecommunications infrastructure requires more thanjust simply installing phonecables. Manycountries havedeveloped a national internet strategy butlack ofco-operation among countries means under capacity ininternational links. Forexample there is nocommonpolicy regarding aninformation infrastructure in Europe(despite the EuropeanUnion), Africa or Asia. While apoortelecommunications infrastructure acts as abarrier todeveloping the internet, the highcosts associated with connecttime is anotherobstacle in the pathof ordinary citizens. ISP chargesvary greatly— between US $10(typically foremail onlyaccess) and$100 a month.Charges depend on the market,the varyingtariff policies ofthe publictelecom operators( PTOs), andthe different national policies onaccess tointernational telecommunications bandwidth.For example,Ghanaian ISPspayroughly $ 2500for a half- circuit butKenyan ISPs pay$8000 for the same use ofa half circuit becauseof extra chargeslevied by the PTO.Thesecharges are passed ontothe users. Locationwithin a countryalso plays apart.For example, Starcom, a Ugandan ISP,charges$30 for email only services inthe capital Kampalaand $50 in Jinja andMbale, two smaller cities in the interior. Currently,the averagetotal cost ofusing a local dial-upinternet accountfor Ž vehoursa monthin Africa is about$60 per month (usage fees and telephonetime included,but not telephone line rental). Accordingto the Organisationf orEconomic Cooperation and Development, 4 0hoursof internet access in the USAcosts $20amonthincluding telephone ( OECD, 2000). AlthoughEuropean costs are higher(on average $ 45),these Žguresare forf our times the amountof access andall these countries haveper capita incomes which are at least 10times greater thanthe Africanaverage (Jensen, 2 000).In addition, Eastern Europe,Af rica andAsia haveall sharedproblems of state centralisation, regulatoryhurdles, artiŽ cial protectionof local government-controlledtelecom- municationmonopolies, and licensing requirements (often explicit permission is requiredto install certain kindsof telecom equipment). It is true that inparts ofEurope national telephonemonopolies are crumbling. TheEU ruledthat telephoneservices must beopenedup tocompetition by1998, althoughseveral countries complainedand got an extensionto 2003.If telephone tariffsare reducedgovernments argued that theywould lose revenues(although this has notin fact beenthe case inthe UK).In a June2 000study the IDC points outthat at least manyWestern Europeancountries are movingto subscription free andunmetered access services ( IDC,2000).However high international rates are still oftenused to offset cheaplocal calls. Theproblem becomes even harder to solve whenone realises that there is one computerfor every 9000 people in sub-SaharanAf rica. InIndia between one and twomillion peoplehave access to acomputerin apopulationof 950 million (WorldBank, 2 000).Businesses in manyunderdeveloped countries face substan- tially highercosts forcomputer and telecommunications equipmentthan their counterpartsin developed economies. For example, a basic PC is at least 50% moreexpensive in Af rica thanin the USA.This is largely becauseof govern- ment duties andtaxes that havekept the prices ofhigh-tech equipment high. 93 LINDA MAIN

Thuscomputers become a veryexpensive proposition, especially whenone comparesthe relative cost ofwages between the twocountries. Adjusting for wagerates, acomputerin Africa becomesabout six times moreexpensive than in the USA.Lookingat this froma different perspective,the cost ofa computer inZimbabwe is about10 times the Zimbabweanper capita GDP whereasin the USAit is about1/ 10th ofthe percapita GDP.InZambia the cost ofa computer is typically six years ofwages and in Tanzaniaa computercosts three times an averageprofessional’ s monthlysalary. Inaddition in Africa there is alack of foreigncurrency with whichto buy secondary equipment and it is oftendi fŽcult toŽ ndreplacement parts. While connectivityis oneof the most important issues, there are othermatters toconsider if aglobalinf ormationinf rastructure is tobecome a reality. Thegoal of a GLL shouldbe access to informationand communication, not just to the Internet per se.Thereforethe issues ofmultiplicity oflanguages and the pressing needto develop local contentin local languagesbecome very important, as does hardwaredesign. Western-style keyboardsand browsers are notideal for inputtingor displaying non-Latin character sets. Improvedbrowser capability, whichenables users toread non-Roman script, is helpingto alleviate language barrier problems.Foreign language newspapers are the major contributorsto the growthof non-English language content growth, rapidly catching up ontheir US counterparts.In addition, in order to meet the anticipated demandf ortranslation services, agrowingnumber of ISPs, portals andnewspaper publishers are developingexisting ornew translation search engineson their sites. Websites in Spanish,Portuguese, German, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Dutch, Italian, Frenchand the Scandinavianlanguages can be foundand the ComputerIndustry Almanacreports that as of1999 only 5 4%of internet users are English-speaking (TheLanguage of the Web,2 000).In 1998 Narrowline Research hadfound the Žgureto be 9 4%(Narrowline Media Research Group,1998). However,almost all the research companiesagree that internet users are a well educatedelite whocan type, know English and are computerliterate. Project Atlas foundthat, althoughmost surveyrespondents said theypref erred to visit websites in their local language,the degreeto whichthis was so varied considerably.For example, 80 %ofthe respondentsin India favoured English- languagesites, as didalmost halfthe respondentsin Hong Kong and the Netherlands(Project Atlas, 1999).Clearly the argumentthat the increasing availability oflocal contentwill in turnbeneŽ t the local user market remains to beproven. Ironically, one might also ask the question: if morelocal contentis developedin local languageswill the globalnature of the internet change?

Empowermentor imperialism? Animportant questionto ask is whetherinvesting in technologicalinfrastruc- tures in variouscountries will inherentlylead to better lives forthe peoplewho live there.Af ter all there are morecars inManhattan than in sub-Saharan Af rica, butno-one is suggestingsending more automobiles to Africa.Many developing countries are strugglingwith just providingadequate medical andeducation facilities fortheir citizens. It is true that aninf ormationinfrastructure canhelp 94 THE GLOBAL INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE provideat least remote access tothese facilities, especially incountries where manypeople reside in rural areas withpoor access to doctorsand schools. But ofcourse many health problemsrequire nothing more than access toclean water. Akeyissue seems to bethe degreeof correlation betweenpoverty and lack ofaccess to information.The World Bank argues that there is astrong correlation andit points to the relationship betweenforeign direct investment (FDI)andcommunication infrastructure. Themore telephone lines percapita, the greater the FDI perperson (World Bank, 2 000).India is acountrythat has started alongthis path.Various information processing centres usingsatellite earth stations havebeen set up,notably around Bangalore and in the state ofAndhra Pradesh,which has set upa state-wide onlineinformation system ( http:// www.andhrapradesh.com/ ). TheWorld Bank emphasises that increasingly the internet is becominga prerequisite foreconomic development. The competitiveness ofdeveloping countries will dependon their ability to exchangeinformation globally. Compa- nies that canquickly access informationabout conditions in exportmarkets can respondrapidly to changingprices. Anexcellent exampleis the CocoaBoard in Ghanaand the IvoryCoast, whichhas usedthe internet to tie its cocoaproducers to customers in worldmarkets. Theinternet also allows companiessuch as World2Market.com,Importnow.com, and Onenest.com to openup geographi- cally fragmentedmarkets in places suchas Bangladesh,Papua New Guinea and Gozo. Economicdevelopment has traditionally beenassociated withthe movement fromrural agricultural societies to urbanindustrial ones.But industrialisation bringsthe correspondingproblems of urbanisation. The World Bank believes that there maybe a wayto jumpto aknowledge-basedsociety withoutpassing throughall the variousstages ofindustrialisation. Aglobalsociety is emerging with pervasive information capabilities that make it substantiallydifferent from anindustrial society; much more competitive, more democratic,less centralized, less stable, more able to address individual needs and friendlierto the environment. (World Bank, 2000 ) Ideally,developing countries mayeven be able to join the InformationAge at amoredeveloped stage. Digital lines are automatically beinglaid in some countries,whereas developed countries are caughtup in the expensiveprocess ofconverting analog lines to digital. Libraries inparticular couldbeneŽ t by abandoningthe effort oftrying to acquireexpensive books and periodicals and strive forinternet access in orderto gainaccess to informationon an equal footing. However,the ever-presentdanger of the ‘trade-not-aid’route is that countries will becomeeven more import dependent.Many countries are simply not capableof selling enoughnational productsand services in the globalmarkets. Inaddition, i fthe ratio ofprof essional workersto the total workingpopulation in acountryremains low,as it doesin manydeveloping countries, it is difŽcult to see howmarket-driven internet developmentcan go beyond the small groups that constitute the professional classes. Doweneedto take care that the internet revolutiondoes not create aknowledgecaste system? Sucha system could 95 LINDA MAIN furtherwiden the gapbetween the well educatedelite andthe poorlyeducated masses that havesought ref ugein religious militancy in countries suchas Egypt andAlgeria. Couldit bethat the olddivision betweenthe Northand the Southis reected in this newinternet world? 6 Paula Uimonenof the UnitedNations Research Institute forSocial Developmentfeels that the internet is mainly atool ofa transnational ‘virtual elite’and that it canindeed have a polarising effect (Uimonen,1997). The United Nations DevelopmentProgramme report f or1999 concursand points to the elitist natureof internet society (UnitedNations DevelopmentProgram, 1999). The report is concernedthat there will bea two-tier technologysociety. TheŽ rst society (the North?)has access to plentiful informationat lowcost andhigh speed; the secondsociety (the South?)has its quality ofaccess impededby time, cost, uncertaintyof connection and outdated information.The next 10 years will tell us if there is indeedstrength in the argumentthat informationin itself doesnot f eed,clothe orhousethe world,but doeshave the capacity to create wealth that canbe convertedinto food,clothing andshelter. Orwill the relentless demandsof US business meanthat the GLL leads to awideningof the povertygap, concentrating economic activity and powermore narrowly in onegroup and further alienating large areas ofthe world fromparticipating inthe globaleconomy?

Notes 1 Were theŽ guresderived from primary research? Whattesting techniques were used?Was there aresearch bias? 2 Thisvision was clearly articulatedat theInternational Telecommunication Union ( ITU)WorldTelecommu- nicationDevelopment Conference in Buenos Aires in1994 (ITU, 1994). 3 There ishowever evidence that greater access toprint media is associated withhigher levels ofdemocracy inAfrica (Ronning,1994). 4 Teledensityis obtained by dividing the number of main phonelines in a countryby the population of a countryand multiplying the result by 100. 5 Themain organisationsinvolved with undersea cables systems are TycoSubmarine Systems (which has acquiredAT&T SubmarineSystems), KDD SubmarineCable Systems,Alcatel SubmarineNetworks (formed froma merger ofAlcatel Cable andthe British company STC),andthe Marubeni Corporation. 6 Before 1990the West was knownas theŽ rst world,the Communist bloc the second world, and the developingcounties of Africa, Asia andLatin America as thethird World. The concept was derivedfrom thethree estates ofFrench society before the Revolution in 1789. After 1990the term Northis used to refer tothe industralised, developed countries; and the term Southto the underdeveloped areas ofthe world.

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