Access and Digital Divide

1. Access and Digital Divide COM 300 3 March 2008

2. Today’s Agenda • Lecture/Discussion • Discussion Leaders • Wrap Up Questions

3. Areas of Discussion Today • Digital Divide • Access and Accessibility

4. Digital Divide, Defined • The gap between those who have access to or who can benefit from technology and those who cannot

5. Digital Divide: More Than Stereotype Examples: • US: Rural/Urbanbroadband access • US: “poor” v “rich” (access) • And yet … half of the world’s population has never made a telephone call (ITU)

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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)

9. 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”

10. 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%

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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.

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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?

20. 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

21. 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”

22. 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?

23. 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

24. 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

25. 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

26. 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

27. 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

28. 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.

29. 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

30. 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

31. Discussion Leaders • Leaders spread around the room • Catherine, Christopher, Jenn, Marilyn, Matt • Count off, find your discussion leader, and begin!

32. Discussion • Pick one question. Think/write/share/turn-in • You’re leader in a developing country. Where should you invest limited resources? Education, internet access, clean water, reliable electricity, good roads? Why? • You’re leader in rural American town. Should you develop your own broadband network or rely on a telecomm? Why?