Access and Digital Divide

COM 300

3 March 2008

Today’s Agenda

Lecture/Discussion Discussion Leaders Wrap Up Questions

Areas of Discussion Today

Digital Divide Access and Accessibility

Digital Divide, Defined

The gap between those who have access to or who can benefit from technology and those who cannot

Digital Divide: More Than Stereotype

Examples: US: Rural/Urban broadband access US: “poor” v “rich” (access) And yet … half of the world’s

population has never made a telephone call (ITU)

Broadband: Speeds

US speeds lag the world: DSL averages half a megabit per

second Cable averages 1.5 megabits per

second Canada: 5-10 megabits per

second Asia and Europe: 100 megabits

per second

Broadband Access: US Definition FCC defines “broadband access” by

zip code If there is one subscriber in a 5-

digit zip code, the FCC assumes that everyone in the zip code has access

If there are two providers, FCC assumes competition -- even though generally people have either DSL or cable access

Result? Numbers are over-stated

Broadband: US Global Position Canada leads the G7 group of

industrialized countries in broadband penetration per 100 people (OECD) 2001: US ranked 4th in the 30 OECD nations 2007: US ranked 15th

Pew: “our broadband access tends to be slower and less capable than that of a number of other nations, but the lack of solid data from the federal government makes this hard to quantify.” (InfoWeek)

Broadband: Rural/Urban Divide

The problem: population density 25% population; 75% land mass

We faced this problem with electricity and the telephone: the result was rural electric and telephone cooperatives, given gov’t loans (all were re-paid)

WiMax may be the “fix”

Global Literacy (1/3)

Another issue: literacy Many definitions -- makes it

difficult to compare data UN Data, literacy rate,15-24

year olds Afghanistan, 34% Congo, 70.4% Ethiopia, 31.2% Liberia, 67.4% Yemen, 75.2%

Global Literacy (2/3)

United Nations Literacy Decade (2003-2012) 2000: one in five adults aged 15+ was illiterate

Women: two out of three illiterate adults. 2000: about 70 per cent of the world’s illiterate

adults lived in three regions: Sub-Saharan Africa, South and West Asia, and the Arab States / North Africa

Global Literacy (3/3)

For internet access to be beneficial, literacy is a necessary condition

This is where TV has an “advantage” in oral cultures But TV promotes consumerism and

requires media literacy skills to effectively decode commercial messages

The other “oral” tech: telephony

Mobile: US Global Position

New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman, Aug 2005: (tongue-in-check) considering a run for President, promised that after four years, our cell phone service would be at least as good as Ghana's, and if elected for a second term, as good as Japan’s.

Mobile: US Technology

In Europe, gov’t standardized on GSM

In US, gov’t was “hands off”, let the market decide Now transitioning to GSM

(AT&T/Cingular) Verizon: CDMA

Mobile: The Global Picture

GSM is the fastest growing communications technology of all time (cite) 82% of the global market 29% of the global population

Mobile: Connecting The World Mobile Internet (which

definition?): Browsing Internet from mobile device Accessing Internet from a mobile

network Taiwan: more mobile phones than

people! Leapfrog technology (wireless v wired)

Less power required

Mobile: Asia "We want to make the mobile phone a

Swiss Army knife that can do anything for you," China Mobile chief executive officer Wang Jianzhou to BusinessWeek.

Japan, South Korea, Australia, Taiwan, and Hong Kong are the leaders in mobile convergence

Contributing cultural issues: Commuting patterns Minimal private spaces Low per capita PC ownershp

Mobile v WiFi (1/2)

In Europe, mobile phones can access WiFi networks to minimize the use of carrier network for data (text messages, email, Internet, Skype)

In US, mobile carriers have resisted, forcing phone makers to “turn off” this capability Apple iPhone leading the change

Mobile v WiFi (2/2)

Carriers want the premium payment for data traffic

Public (free) WiFi could serve computers and mobile phones. Examples: Spokane Marymoor Park New York Parks, Google in NY/SF Coffee shops in Seattle Free WiFi Directory

What should local government role be in creating WiFi networks within its borders?

Mobile: Convergence

US lags the world due to competing “standards” for how the data (voice) is transmitted has led to slower adoption

Mobile internet adoption is also impeded by expensive and slow data plans

The Digital Divide Is …

… more complex than developed world versus developing world

And we also have to think about the divide in terms of “access”

Access and Accessibility

There’s “access” and then there’s “accessibility” Do we have access to a technology?

AND Does the technology allow everyone access (accessibility)?

Whose responsibility is it to help make the internet more accessible to all? Government, Industry, Us?

Access: Application Neutral (1/2)

Core Internet Value “Anyone who slaps a 'this page is

best viewed with Browser X' label on a Web page appears to be yearning for the bad old days, before the Web, when you had very little chance of reading a document written on another computer, another word processor, or another network.”Tim Berners-Lee

Access: Application Neutral (2/2)

Competing web technologies Windows Media Player, Quicktime,

Real Flash as mediator?

Competing cellular technologies US v Rest of the world: Verizon v

AT&T/Cingular Competing IM technologies Reminder: competing technologies

slows consumer adoption rates

Access : Network Neutrality (1/5)

In the US, network neutrality is hot “access” topic

Better described as “network discrimination” Telephone network operators cannot

discriminate Corporations are fighting over

“the last mile” to our homes

Access : Network Neutrality (2/5)

Feb 2006: AOL and Yahoo proposed fee to ensure e-mail delivery (IHT, 6 Feb 2006) $0.025 to $0.01 per e-mail Will not be subject to existing user

spam filters A benefit for businesses (

Ascribe, 2 Feb 2006) AT&T and others proposed “access-

tiering” (two-tier Internet) (Red Herring, 31 Jan 2006) Prioritize packets? Streaming video

is the rationale

Access : Network Neutrality (3/5)

There is something wrong with network owners saying “we’ll guarantee fast video service from NBC on your broadband account.” And there is something especially wrong with network owners telling content or service providers that they can’t access a meaningful broadband network unless they pay an access tax.

I don’t mean “wrong” in the sense of immoral, or even unfair. My argument is not about the social justice of Internet access. I mean “wrong” in the sense that such a policy will inevitably weaken application competition on the Internet, and that in turn will weaken Internet growth. Testimony, Lawrence Lessig, Stanford, Senate Commerce, Science and

Transportation Committee, 7 February 2006

Access : Network Neutrality (4/5)

Traffic analogy and the latest Comcast controversy:To purists, the Internet is just a highway system whose

builders shouldn't care whether a tractor-trailer hauling food belongs to Safeway or Giant or Wegmans - or whether the truck is full of corn flakes or bananas. We're all subject to the same speed limit.

Not so fast, says Comcast. The company says it has the right to take actions that amount to "reasonable network management" to keep up network speed for the rest of its users.

Access : Network Neutrality (5/5)

HR 5353: Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2008 Lays out four core principles and directs

the FCC to investigate violations Learn more and then contact your

Congressman Google statement SaveTheInternet.com ItsOurNet.org

Summary

Digital divide is larger than developed versus developing world

There are issues of accessibility as well as access

In the US, “network neutrality” is the current “hot” access issue, politically and economically

Discussion Leaders

Leaders spread around the room Catherine, Christopher, Jenn, Marilyn, Matt

Count off, find your discussion leader, and begin!

Discussion Pick one question. Think/write/share/turn-in

1. You’re leader in a developing country. Where should you invest limited resources? Education, internet access, clean water, reliable electricity, good roads? Why?

2. You’re leader in rural American town. Should you develop your own broadband network or rely on a telecomm? Why?