 | Issue: | Latin America 2012 |
| Article no.: | 3 | |
| Topic: | Internet Access – A Right or a Privilege? | |
| Author: | Erick Contag | |
| Title: | Chief Operating Officer | |
| Organisation: | GlobeNet | |
| PDF size: | 204KB |
About author
Erick Contag is the Chief Operating Officer for GlobeNet. Mr Contag brings more than twenty years of sales, marketing, business development, strategy and corporate management expertise to GlobeNet. His responsibilities include strategic management of the company’s business operations and expansion into new regions.
Mr Contag has held executive positions in the U.S. and Latin America including founder, President and CEO of DataViz, a leading systems integration firm, CSO/CTO of Simbacom, a wireless service provider, and VP of Engineering for ProtokolSistemas, a leading network Integration firm. He also has served on the Board of Directors of several companies and organizations. In 2011, Mr Contag was awarded the Global Telecoms Business Power 100 Award, an honour bestowed upon the most powerful 100 executives in the telecom industry.
Mr Contag holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Tulsa, U.S. and an Executive Engineering Management certification from Instituto de Estudio de Superiores de Administración (IESA).
Article abstract
In Latin America, the digital divide is still preventing many communities from enjoying the prosperity of the information age. Universal Internet services should be a right not a privilege of the affluent. The Latin American regulators have much to do. They need to converge to allow provision of true multimedia, Telecom and entertainment combined. They need to free up the market for any service provider by opening the local loop, offering reasonable roaming and licensing MVNOs. At the same time, they must balance Net Neutrality while encouraging investment by Network Providers and foreign investors. Citizen rights means much more than just access. It means browsing anonymity, data confidentiality, anti-spam and interceptiononly when it is strictly lawful.
Full Article
It has been debated for several years, whether Internet access is a basic right or simply a privilege. Recently governments in the LATAM region have come to understand that access to broadband is a right similar to the right to education or healthcare. In the interconnected world we live in today, individuals and communities that do not have access to a broadband infrastructure cannot overcome the digital divide, and that is greatly inhibiting growth, education and prosperity. Fortunately today, many leaders are developing national broadband plans to ensure even the most remote areas have access to the Internet. Many countries outside of Latin America, including Australia and the U.S., are supporting this charge along with several Latin American governments, who have officially proposed that broadband or Internet access should be a Fundamental Right.
According to a recent study by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), titled‘Building BridgesCreating Opportunities(La Banda Anchaas a catalyst foreconomic and social developmentin LatinAmerica andthe Caribbean)’, the design of national broadband plans in Latin America should be based on three components: training of consumers to increase demand; deployment of telecommunications infrastructure in coordination with private industry; and the improvement of regulatory frameworks.
The study also notes that despite large increases of penetration in Latin America in recent years, broadband services are less used and more expensive than the average for countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), with many differences between countries. Barbados, Uruguay, Trinidad and Tobago have rates of fixed broadband penetration similar to that of Europe and North America, while countries such as Haiti, Paraguay and Nicaragua have much lower rates. Additionally, in the region, mobile broadband surpassed fixed broadband in many countries such as Venezuela and Brazil. The effect of broadband on economic growth is significant, and stronger in developing countries than in developed countries. The impact may be even more significant once the penetration reaches a critical mass. The potential contribution to economic growth in broadband networks is so strong that today no one doubts that broadband must not only be widely available at affordable prices, but it must also be an integral part of national development strategies.
Regulatory challenges
Although many people and governments believe Internet access is a right, there are many regulatory challenges to overcome in order to enable widespread access to broadband services. Here is a snapshot of challenges that affect many countries throughout the Americas.
• Providers want to be able to offer converged services – voice, data and video to their customers. In addition, users increasingly want bundled services and the protection schemes should focus on connectivity. However, regulators must also be converged. For example, it is increasingly difficult to have separate regulators, one for television and one for telecommunications, as individual regulatory agencies tend to be divided between networks and content – therefore, they may diverge rather than converge.
• The radio spectrum resource is no longer a poor or limited resource. The ‘digital dividend’ frequencies that are released by the migration of analogue to digital television should be used to provide universal Internet service.
• The definition of Net Neutrality: Network providers are unhappy with the use made byother entitieswhich are delivering content, and do not accept having to invest millions into the network for distribution that results in no income.
• To promote fair competition, measures need to be implemented that allow the use of infrastructure by other operators (loop, roaming, MVNO, etc).
• The terminal will be the instrument to connect to the cloud; and how it is accessed (service ubiquity, quality, price, etc.) must be part of the regulation.
Additionally, regulators must ensure the new rights of citizens:
• Browse Internet and access content anonymously;
• Keep data confidential;
• Ensure telecommunications privacy that cannot be intercepted except under a warrant; and
• Prevent unsolicited messages (spam).
While regulators are aligned in achieving common goals, there are some issues related to Latin American regulation requiring special rules. For example, the increase of Smartphone related theft and violent crimes is staggering in countries such as Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador where these devices are valued at over US$450 USD. Some Latin American countries have made the decision to restrict the use of stolen cell phones by creating ’blacklists’ that prevent activation of a cell phone that has been stolen from its respective territory. Participating telecommunication ministries are making efforts to create a unified database to restrict the use of devices that were stolen in any country. It has yet to be determined whether or not this will deter individuals and decrease the crime rate; however, these efforts are going in the right direction.
Regulators also face the illegal provision of services, especially those involving copyright material, which are becoming more difficult to control and enforce prohibitions. Illegal connections and TV downloads through various websites, without paying for content, has been included in the negotiated Free Trade Agreements with the United States.
In addition to plans to provide Internet access as a fundamental right, eliminating the digital divide by reaching lower-income households, Latin American countries must also decide on matters relating to:
• Public capital investment plans (Broadband);
• Participation in the digital market (applications, non-traditional services);
• How to distribute / optimize the radio spectrum; and
• Imposing obligations without discouraging investment in networks by foreign operators.
The investment in information society and knowledge society
In Latin American countries the debate is not just about access.Many analysts are examining how to get the information society and knowledge society to transform into a producer of wealth. Today, there are very few iPhone or Android applications created in Latin America simply due to lack of investments (perhaps via venture funding) in that type of innovation. Spending by OECD countries in research and development is equivalent to 2.3% GDP, while Sweden spends 3.8% of its GDP, followed by Finland, Japan, Korea and South Korea at similar levels. Latin American countries’ averages do not exceed 0.4%. Becoming aware of this reality, some Latin America countries have important initiatives, such as the Law on Science and Technology in Mexico where at least 1% of GDP will be invested in the ICT sector; and the Law of Royalties in Colombia where they will spend approximately $410 million each year to promote projects of science and technology. Despite these efforts, some countries are at risk of losing allocated financial resources, simply because of the lack of focus on these projects.
A solid telecommunications infrastructure is a necessity
Once regulations have been defined, it is critical for network and service providers (particularly those who offer international services) to understand them and to be able to support consumer or corporate customers,.
Fortunately, no one doubts that the advancements in telecommunications infrastructure greatly improve the wealth and collective knowledge of a country. Brazil’s Oi in partnership with its international subsea cable subsidiary and its partners in Brazil and Venezuela, were able to establish a creative long-haul broadband solution to provide Internet services to Northern Brazil, with services to the Amazon’s capital city of Manaus and previously to Boa Vista. Delivering broadband Internet services to this region – where previously only low-speed satellite-based services were available – is a great example of where new and advanced Internet services, technologies and improved data communications can attract further investments both locally and internationally.
Immediate impact of providing such broadband services to Northern Brazil can be witnessed in education. Today, kids in schools in Northern Brazil have access to online material, distant learning tools, and other applications that before were only available to students living in major metropolitan areas in Brazil. Having broadband Internet is indeed life-changing.
